Getting Started in Fashion + Taking Shortcuts When Necessary: Amuze.com

As crazy and mindblowing as LA is, it keeps trying to set me up to lead a lifestyle that I can't really afford yet. People wear Yohji Yamamoto like sweats and spend $45+ on (unpasteurized!!! think of your health!!!) juice but I'm still counting out quarters to see when I can do a load of laundry. I've seen some casual, meet up for a cup of coffee to go over work, snack bills that reached into the triple digits.

The reality of working in fashion is this: you're not going to make a lot of money until you've earned your (hopefully well-coordinated and seasonally appropriate) stripes. In the meantime, you put in hard work, meet as many people as you can, learn to accept favors gracefully... and never pass up a discount. 

When I was intro'd to Amuze.com, I clicked around the site with progressively wider and wider anime eyes. The discount is strong with this one, you guys. It's a member's-only, flash sale website, a familiar concept at this point, but the difference is they have serious designer pieces -- not names that you haven't heard of but the price point makes you wonder if you should -- but names that you definitely know (and if not we can't be friends. sry.) Gucci. Valentino. Jimmy Choo. Saint Laurent. Amuze.com means serious business. 

Exhibit A: the perfect summer shoe, Leather & Polka Dot Wedge Sandal by Red Valentino, originally $425, now $90, on Amuze. 

Go check it out & don't forget to tell me what you score!