Style on a Budget: Dita Von Teese

I’ve never done any sort of style challenge or ‘style on a budget’ posts here on Rarely Wears Lipstick, but when ReeRee Rockette tweeted asking “Any bloggers want to join in with a under £10 style challenge? The first inspiration will be Dita Von Teese – how creative can we be!“, I just had to join in! But then I panicked. After all, would it really be possible to buy an outfit resembling Dita’s for a mere tenner? As I had no spare time for trawling charity shops for the perfect outfit – which would, of course, be the preferred option – I instead did my research online. I was very pleased with my choices and emailed myself links to every item so that I could compose the post later that day. Of course, I then promptly forgot all about it! Better late than never though, eh?

Black pencil dress – £6.99 – 365digital on eBay
If you want bargain priced fashion online, eBay is a good first port of call. This dress (below) is made from a cotton polyester mix, with Spandex to give the curve hugging shape that Dita loves. The mesh top adds a nice bit of detail to an otherwise classic shape, and it’s a style that Dita has been photographed in before (albeit without the polkadots of her vintage Thierry Mugler, above). The dress is a bargain and shipping is free, although you’d have to make sure you ordered it in plenty of time if you wanted to wear it to an event as the seller is based in China.

Black high heeled shoes – 99p – eBay
Frustratingly, I thought I’d found some perfect 99p heels (‘Buy It Now’ price) on eBay, but it turns out some sellers have a sneaky way of managing to list at that price when the shoes actually cost £15. As soon as you select the colour and price on the listing, the real price is revealed – I’m not entirely sure how they manage to get away with that! Still, there are quite a few auctions for black high heeled court shoes that have a starting price of 99p, so it might be worth holding out for a pair that no one else bids on. Depends on how much time you have on your hands, I guess.

Lipstick – £1 – MUA at Superdrug
A key part of Dita’s look is her bold red lip colour, and so I thought I’d see if the fantactic MUA range had something suitable. I think their matte lipstick in ‘Scarlet Siren’ is perfect for instant glamour.

Conditioner – 99p – Nice’N Easy at Superdrug
Dita is also famous for her gorgeous glossy hair so I had a look on Superdrug’s website to see what I could find to turn my messy mop into something befitting a glamour goddess like Dita. Nice’N Easy Colourseal Gloss conditioner comes in a handful of shades and their Radiant Reds should help to tame my frizz.

So, as long as I could secure some 99p shoes via an eBay auction – or from a charity shop while I waited for my dress to arrive from China – the total for my outfit would be £9.97. You can read ReeRee’s fantastic #styleonabudget post over on the Rockalily blog. I undertook my imaginary shopping trip before reading her post, and I think she’s done much better than me! What do you reckon?

Image of Dita Von Teese wearing vintage Thierry Mugler by WENN.com, via Trend911.