Alexandra Sinderbrand is a budget shopping extraordinaire, thrift guru, retail therapist and author of the fashion blog, Cheap JAP. She currently lives in New York City.

Blog Entries by Alexandra Sinderbrand

Anti-Leather, Anti-Health: Commes des Garcons, The Beatles and PVC

Posted December 22, 2009 | 04:14 PM (EST)


Mmkay, it's been weeks since the launch of Commes des Garcons x The Beatles, so maybe this isn't the most timely of reactions. Whatever. I'm not throwing in my nine cents now to bitch about Commes des PouPou's elitist perversion of the best band ever. That would be...

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Don't Do the Choo

1 Comments | Posted November 17, 2009 | 12:22 PM (EST)


Before discussing the individual offerings of Jimmy Choo for H&M, I'm going to attempt to rationalize the pricing scheme behind the line. To be fair, no trace of blue blood entitlement seems to have resulted from company Founder and President Tamara Mellon's upper crust upbringing: She's a kickass businesswoman...

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Caution: An Exposed Hoo-Ha May Be Harmful to Your Self-Esteem

2 Comments | Posted October 23, 2009 | 02:43 PM (EST)


We saw it first on Carrie Bradshaw, and it was enough to distract us from her runway spill. Beyonce rocked it for her MTV VMA performance; Prada showcased it in a collection;Rihanna had the cojones to don it at Paris Fashion Week; Lady Gaga's its biggest...

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No Shirt, No Pants, No Problem: The Wardrobe of Melrose Place

Posted September 18, 2009 | 04:04 PM (EST)


Okay, so sex sells. I get it. Fashion and prostitution have a successful symbiotic relationship; there's Dov and his slut-loving American Apparel ads; there's Calvin Klein's orgy-implied billboards.

And there's the way in which women of the 18-25 demographic dress on TV. Let's take a looksee.

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Big Box Store, Boutique Price: Target's Designer Collaborations

4 Comments | Posted August 19, 2009 | 10:23 AM (EST)


Designer Collabs: A recession-inspired sartorial phenomenon; reasonably priced access to iconic designers we'd otherwise never be able to afford. In theory, that is.

The price points of Target's in-house stuff might be reasonable, but whenever the chain partners with a fashion bigwig, something funny happens: Its perception of...

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The Top Ten Ways to Get Your Thrift On (Part II)

Posted August 4, 2009 | 05:23 PM (EST)


Last week, we got over our preconceived notions about the world of the gently-worn, and touched on some general secondhand shopping strategies designed to preserve our sanity and our respective checking account balances. If none of this sounds familiar, get cozy with Part I before reading on, because I...

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The Top Ten Ways To Get Your Thrift On (Part I)

11 Comments | Posted July 29, 2009 | 11:55 AM (EST)


I first set foot in a Goodwill for these reasons alone: I wanted a new top, and I was very close to broke. Desperate for a material buzz at the lowest possible cost, I entered the land o' the thrift. That was two years ago, and I haven't left since....

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Fashion's Fight Against Fakes: An Exercise in Hypocrisy

1 Comments | Posted July 20, 2009 | 04:57 PM (EST)


Let's be honest: The equation, Made In China + Prada Logo - Child Labor Laws = Designer Knockoffs, isn't all that shocking for anyone whose reading material extends beyond Vogue. We're vaguely aware of the counterfeit industry's use of sweatshop labor; we'd just rather not think about it. It kinda...

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