Darned Socks and Tie Dyed Shirts

It's a recession, but it doesn't mean we have to wear shitty, sweat-stained old business shirts, or stockings with our big toe poking through for economy's sake.

Aside from the classic bastion of online shopping - eBay - there are plenty of other fantastic online sites that offer bargains aplenty for those of us who plan on looking good and capitalising on all of the glorious year-round sales we have right now.

Some favourites include:
1. Miss Money Penny - An Aussie online retailer who specialises in reselling your designer hand-me-downs. She does most of the work for you, and charges a flat commission of 20% (so figure that into your selling price, naturally). Go to stylist's picks to really save time. She is also full of wonderful tips such as "Fashions fade, style is eternal". Bless.

2. The Wardrobe Store - more designer clothes without the hassle of online bidding. You see the price, you say - "heck yes, I can afford that!" and you snap it up. No obsessive checking your email to see if you've been outbid, and then bidding more than you wanted in the heat of a fashionista online smackdown.

3. The OutNet - God. This is the best one. This is still way too expensive unless you earn lots and lots of pounds, or have a neglectful husband who doesn't give a shit what you do with his credit card on your days off. The OutNet is the cheap younger sister of net-a-porter.com. She's the website who raids her older sister's (web-based) wardrobe and steals all the great stuff she knows Netty won't want anymore because she's such a slave to fashion and wouldn't dream of wearing an item out of season. I've always said I wanted a younger sister, but when I put it like this, I'm not sure I could handle the constant wardrobe stalking.

4. Freez - Freez is your one-stop shop for cheaper, one-season wonder items from Mink Pink, Ladakh, Anise, Sunny Girl etc. It's not a bad website, and it's got all those t-shirts you saw at Garnsis the other day, but they'd run out of your size. Similar on-line stores include About A Girl ; Alibi Online and I Love A Bargain.

5. Did I say I was going to cover all of them? I'm tired. Other good ones for Australian fashion include My Clothes Horse, Fifi Luxe, Ciao Meow (great name, cute site), and Cate.

6. Also breaking new ground in the affordable designer item space is Dressed Up, a site that enables you to hire pieces for as long as you like (in weekly or monthly increments). Great idea, particularly when it comes to weddings or black tie events. Generally speaking, you only want to wear a dress once or twice to these events, so it makes sense to pay a fraction of the price and wear it as long as you would probably wear it had you bought it. They also sell-off their items towards the end of the piece's life, so - double bargain! And it will always be clean.

Happy online shopping!