The Regal Rules for Girls (40 page)
Mr. Maybe
by Jane Green
This highly relatable London novel depicts the eternal dilemma that all girls face at one point: Do you choose the impoverished guy that you’re head-over-heels in love with or the super-successful guy that’s in love with you? When all the titles and castles and jewels get to your head, this book is a wonderful reminder of what’s really important when it comes to matters of the heart.
Enchanted Love
by Marianne Williamson
I read
a lot
of new age, self-help books during my roller-coaster single years, and a lot of them were useless. But somehow this book managed to cut through the jargon and speak to my very soul. Marianne’s words and affirmations gave me a new perspective regarding the search for love—and the meaning of love—and totally
changed my approach to men, relationships, and dating in general. I was in tears as I read some chapters, but because of this book, I learned to stop some heartwrenching patterns in my love life. Whether you live in London or not, you should read this book. It truly is enchanting.
1
Or, as written in the
London Times
, “to melt the boys down and make them all from the same mold like bullets.”
2
In my experience, British boys that have attended
co-ed
boarding schools or were sent away later in life (age thirteen or older) tend to be slightly more confident around women and/or not so emotionally repressed.
3
Sometimes reaching toward your handbag in search of your wallet is a nice gesture. But when he insists on paying, don’t argue with him.
F
AKE
I
T
T
ILL
Y
OU
M
AKE
I
T
The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream.
—H
ARRY
K
EMP
A
n American friend of mine named Max once told me that living with London’s ludicrously high prices was “kind of like living without a limb”—not ideal or especially pleasant, but eventually you kind of adjust. As weird as it is, this is the best analogy on the subject I’ve ever heard.
I’m not going to lie to you. London
is e
xpensive. Very. But you know what? So is college. So are weddings. So are houses. So are kids. And somehow people manage to get through all those stages in life just fine. Yes, sometimes you might have to decide between buying a fantastic Burberry
1
raincoat and eating lunch for a month.
But believe me when I tell you that living in London will nourish you in its own way.
I’m a girl with very expensive tastes (I can’t help it, I was born that way). When I came to London, I had zero money but was hardly going to let a meager income cramp my style. I abhorred the idea of conforming to any kind of boring sounding “budget”—but the day I had to turn down a date with a cute British boy because I couldn’t afford to get my highlights done was the day I knew I had better start getting my finances under control. And what I eventually discovered was that a little bit of money with a bunch of creativity is
way
more amusing than a bunch of money with zero creativity. (At least that’s what I’ll keep telling myself until I finally move into my very own castle.)
So even though everything in London costs roughly four times more than it should (I’m not joking; a bottle of water is like $8), there are ways to save if you know what you’re doing.
There are no walk-in closets in London, so most Brits make do with a small wooden “wardrobe” crammed into the corner of their already small bedroom. My husband often comments that my wardrobe looks like something in a cartoon because it is literally bursting with items of clothing. (“Do you need me to help you fold some of that?” he often asks me—he was made to fold all his clothes with military standards while at boarding school and apparently some habits never die.) But I never get rid of anything because I actually
wear everything
! And the fact that I never tire of my clothes is proof of their inherent rightness.
So here are my tips—because believe me, the one thing worse than
being
broke is
looking
broke…
Conviction and poise come cheap. Your wardrobe does not have to be expensive or contain a single designer label as long as you wear what you have with confidence and grace—both of which cost nothing.
Never buy anything unless you LOVE it. When you don’t have much money, you should only buy clothing that compels you to press your nose against the shop window and drool.
Shop in America. As mentioned before, I recommend hitting the US sales every time you go home. Clothes in America are at least
30 percent cheaper
than in the UK,
2
and you will have the added bonus of owning items no one else in London has.
Buy classic, timeless pieces. I
still
wear things that I bought nearly fifteen years ago, and everything in my wardrobe works just as well now as it did a half a century ago. I wear bejeweled cardigans that my grandmother wore in her
Mad Men
years; I wear my mother’s pleated skirts that she wore in Paris when she was thirteen years old. “Fashion” is forever in a state of flux, but classics stay in style forever. (There is no
better example of this than Her Majesty the Queen—HM refuses to submit to the tyranny of fashion trends and never deviates from her fabulous 1950s style.)
Buy quality. Chinese cashmere is cheaper that Scottish cashmere but will start pilling within weeks. Throwaway fashion from trendy, but scarily cheap stores will be unwearable in a couple of months, not only because the items will literally be falling apart at the seams, but what were once “must have” fashion pieces according to
British Vogue
now look ridiculous. Buying well-made clothing is better for the environment, better for children in sweatshops, better for your wallet, and better for your wardrobe—everybody wins.
Take care of your clothes. Yes, my tiny closet if filled to the brim, but I always use padded hangers (never metal) and my sweaters are always stored with protective mothballs.
Allow yourself to purchase one new fashion item per month—no more, no less. Spend as much as you reasonably can to ensure quality fabric and quality workmanship. If you always choose timeless pieces, you’ll know you will have them for years to come, and if you divide the cost of the item by how many times you will wear it—it’s always a bargain. Compare this to any cheap catwalk-inspired item that you will stop wearing after a month, and the savings are astronomical.
Check eBay. If you see something you like in a shop but it’s too expensive—look for it on eBay. I’ve bought several brand-new items from J.Crew and L.K. Bennett this way, and the discount is substantial.
Look in the kids’ department. If you’re not too tall, children’s clothing can be a savvy saver’s dream (e.g., an adult raincoat from Burberry is $1,000; the girl’s size 16 Burberry raincoat is $350).
In
Chapter 3
, I mentioned the best London shops for finding classic wardrobe pieces (see
page 78
)—these stores can be pricey, but the craftsmanship is worth every penny. However, if you are craving some British retail therapy and need something more affordable, I suggest browsing through:
Joules
(colorful, preppy casuals),
www.joules.com
Massimo Dutti
(a Spanish brand with a Ralph Lauren feel),
www.massimodutti.com
Do your own nails. English nail salons are atrociously expensive and their standards are subpar. You’re much better off buying a few bottles of nude or clear polish (I like Essie “Sugar Daddy”—it’s very similar to the shade Kate Middleton wore at her engagement photo call)—and taking ten minutes to paint them yourself twice a week. Same applies to your toes (I like Essie “Bordeaux”—the perfect shade of vintage red). Don’t forget to finish with a clear top coat. Not only will your nails look better than any you’ll see on 99 percent of British women—you’ll save about $150 a week! (You can always treat yourself to a professional mani-pedi when you go back to America.)