Desperate Housewives & Payless Shoes

I love it whenever I stumble on news about frugal celebrities or news of frugality in Tinseltown.

A number of frugal fashion choices help to create the style scene at Desperate Housewives. In addition, to a few eye-popping expensive accessories and gear, the stylists for the hit show also hit the racks at Claire's and other low-cost stores.

That's the word from the pages of the Oct. 26 special issue of People Extra magazine: Secrets of Desperate Housewives

The magazine asked Cate Adair, the show's costume designer, where she shops for Desperate Housewives:

Her answer: "Everywhere and anywhere. Swap meets, secondhand shops, boutiques, little shops, big shops, some designer labels. We'll buy stuff at the Gap."

Clothes for the character Bree (played by Marcia Cross) are collected from Ralph Lauren, Neiman Marcus, Armani and other high-end names. But the magazine also highlighted a few Bree-like items from Payless shoes, including a pair of fake suede, teal-colored shoes for $17 and a Faux, croc purse (also from Payless) in green for $21. (p.77)

The costume team also shops at Claire's, where they reportedly buy dozens of hoop earrings (gold-colored) for $5.50 a pair. Those earrings are for the character Lynette, played by Felicity Huffman.

Meanwhile, Teri Hatcher provided the magazine with a great quote about her thrifty approach to life:

"I'm a very conservative person. I drive my cars for 10 years until they have 100,000 miles on them. To me, feeling comfortable means having way more than I need in the bank."

But here's my favorite part. The actress saves money to enjoy the luxuries that really mean a lot to me.

"I don't spend my money on sports cars or new million-dollar houses," she told People. "But being able to go on the trip of a lifetime is pretty special."

Wow. Hey Teri, that's totally my philosophy.

Save well to live well and spend money on the stuff, the people and trips that really mean the most.


Note: I am a free-lance reporter for People magazine. From time-to-time, I will offer celebrity profiles from a wide variety of magazines. But this blog is independent.