High / Low

February 2015, By Nicole Langelier.

I have a confession – a guilty pleasure you may say… I love Fashion Police (RIP Joan Rivers).

Every week until Joan’s untimely death, I would curl up on the sofa and enjoy the good – the bad – and the ugly of the past weeks red carpets and what not – peppered with Joan’s unique insults and hilariously inappropriate jokes.

It was on Fashion Police where I first heard about the ‘High / Low trend’. The High / Low trend is the mixing of an inexpensive piece of clothing from H&M, Top Shop, or Zara for example – with something high-end and designer. Not to long ago – for example, Beyonce rocked a $100 Top Shop ensemble with a $2,000 Gucci bag.

I love that Hollywood is embracing this trend – something I have been doing for years now has a name of it’s own. I love it because it just goes to show that with some creative mixing and a good eye – you don’t have to spend a boat-load of money to look good. Like the LBD – If you are wearing a little black dress from Zara with a pair of Prada shoes, no one will know that the dress is from Zara. It is all about clever pairing and clever shopping.

The same is true for your home – clever shopping – clever mixing – clever pairing.

Don’t shoot me, but I like IKEA. I also like Freedom furniture – however, both in moderation of course. The key is to use pieces that are not obviously recognizable, and to mix them in discretely. Honestly, is there anyone – in any income bracket – that doesn’t own at least one thing from IKEA? I think not.

It’s called being smart and spending your hard earned cash wisely. We all want our homes to look a million bucks, but you don’t have to shell out a million to get the look.

Above is a shot from an apartment I designed in Milan. The coffee table designed by Paolo Piva in the 1980’s for B&B Italia, and the rug I purchased at IKEA for 10 Euro.

Check out this link for some savvy A – Listeners working the High / Low trend. http://celebs.answers.com/fashion/stars-who-mix-high-and-low-fashion