‘Tis the season for fashionista,frugalistas,and bargain hunters, but MarkdownMom has been M.I.A.  What gives?  Has she lost her nose for finding terrific bargains?  Is she suffering from bad economy ennui?  Au contraire!  She decided, perhaps “decided” is the wrong term, she ended up in the hospital and has been out of commission for over a month.  At peak holiday sales, who says timing is everything.  Well, she is on the road to recovery, so get ready to stretch that dollar and look good girl while you’re doing it!

It use to be that you had to shop the off brands in the New York garment district to find designer knock-offs.  Not anymore.  With a tough economy the designers are creating knock-offs of their popular designs sometimes at two price levels.  For instance, some designers have brought to the home shopping networks their lines at considerable savings, and then to middle income store chains like Target, another line even more affordable.  Such is the case of Carlos Falchi.

With 30 years in design, Falchi is noted for his high end, couture handbags.  These wonderful creations made out of premier leather, snakeskin and with his signature luxurious abstract linings, even at $1000 retail many buyers have become lifetime collectors of his handbags.  Recently, he expanded his line to include apparel, jewelry and accessories on HSN.  And this month he has cast his design net of his handbag line to mainstream distributors like Target. 

Now you won’t get real leather or snakeskin or all the bells and whistles of a $1000 handbag  by Falchi, but you will get the “look” with its’ signature lining incorporating the target symbol, for $19.99+!  Like this faux snake hobo in purple, green or black. Can’t argue with that price point and it’s still an original Falchi handbag, not a knock-off. 

Remember, now you can make a fashion statement at a price that won’t break your budget!