Being an independent thinker and free spirit when it comes to her attire may be a result of her upbringing. Fodor is from a family of Hungarian dressmakers and she loves charity stores. She’s got a Jean-Paul Gaultier jacket, bought for two pounds, and several Giorgio Armani tops she acquired for fifty pence to prove it. “When I pass one [charity store], it just draws me in, and I always feel I’ve got to go in because I’m going to find something and I normally do,” Fodor says.
After communism fell in Hungary, people were eager to experiment with new styles from the West. In her small village near the Romanian border, it was not uncommon for women to spend hours in huge warehouses sifting through bags of second-hand clothes imported from England, France, and Holland, Fodor says. “We never really saw some of those things and we were like ‘my God, that’s really cool, that’s really good quality’ because we just didn’t have anything like that. In a way, my style opened up.”
It’s that kind of openness that can lead you off the beaten track to find some really spectacular pieces to fill out your wardrobe. Indeed, my all time favorite personal score is a pair of leopard-print Manolo Blahnik stilettos that I found for $12 at a charity store in Brooklyn, on Atlantic Avenue. Brand new, never worn, and sitting gloriously on a floor display next to a pair of beat up black Nine West ankle boots, they are my prized footwear possession—well, that and my silver Donna Karan sandals, which I scavenged from one of Ms Karan’s employees-only sample sales in Manhattan. But fast-talking my way into that land of fashion paradise is another story.
Creating your own style doesn’t just come from trolling through charity stores. Mining the local discount store, flea market, or neighborhood pharmacy works for some women, too. Jewelry is Lynley Beukes biggest weakness when she is seeking something fashionable and innovative—and she’s not above shopping in unlikely places if the jewelry is eye-catching. Her new favorite pieces are from Superdrug pharmacy in London. She entered the pill-dispensing British store for some toiletries and exited with a fashionable silver tank watch and several pairs of earrings. “I don’t think people intend to buy [jewelry there] and it’s the last place you expect, but I looked at the designs, I liked it and I went ahead and bought [them].”
