TikTok is full of 'It Girl' this and 'That Girl' that, which is aspirational though mostly incredibly unattainable.
For those who live in Vancouver and want to be part of this movement while still making our rent, we need to find affordable alternatives and swaps to the luxury products social media makes us feel we need. We don't need them, by the way, but there's a balance to be found between treating yourself and emulating the airbrushed glowy girlies.
As summer rapidly approaches, TikTok and Instagram are losing their minds over these eight fashion and beauty products so we scoured the internet searching high and low to find the best affordable dupes so we too can be "It Girls" but on a budget.
The Celine Sunglasses
The Celine Triomphe 01 sunglasses are the most expensive example of a larger trend that is oval eyewear. They are sleek, sophisticated, and wearing them makes you feel like Audrey Hepburn in Rome or New York or anywhere, really.
A great alternative to the $570 spectacles are these Le Specs Work It sunglasses that will run you about $90 instead. The Otta Love sunglasses are also a pretty close dupe and a tad cheaper, but they're a bit slimmer than the original Celine design.
That Skims matching set
Every 'It Girl' has at least one matching set and the cream cozy knit shorts and tank from Skims is the ultimate "who me? No I woke up like this" effortlessly put-together outfit. Unfortunately, the two items add up to almost $200.
Pretty Little Things had a near-perfect dupe for a fraction of the price but (obviously) it's sold out so in case they don't restock I've found the next best thing.
Storets has a three-piece short, tank, and cardigan set in lilac that is also a colour-of-the-moment and the whole set is $118. I like it better than the Skims set because it won't shed fluff everywhere when you wash it and it's a lot more breathable for the summer weather.
The Dior Lip Oil
The Dior lip oil went viral on TikTok for enhancing lips' natural colour and giving "10 out of 10 shine." Not only are most of the shades sold out at Sephora but the 6-milliliter vessel is $45 making it an unnecessary gloss for many people.
The Revolution Pro Eternal Rose lip oil is almost exactly the same as the Dior with the caveat that the doe-foot applicator is a little smaller and less puffy, and for $12 it's a much more affordable dupe.
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk
Charlotte Tilbury's iconic matte revolution lipstick in the shade 'Pillow Talk' has its own dedicated following and has spurred entire collections by the Britain-based makeup artist.
I must admit this is my everyday lipstick, but for those who aren't able to justify the $40 price tag for a single tube of lipstick there are a few great dupes on the market.
MAC Velvet Teddy is a wonderful alternative and is a much more reasonable $25. There are also drugstore dupes like Maybelline Color Sensational in the shade Almond Rose or the Maybelline SuperStay Ink Crayon in Lead the Way.
The Dyson Airwrap
Ask any 'It Girl' how she achieves gorgeous beachy waves or the fresh blow-out look and the answer will always be the Dyson Airwrap followed by your own deflated sigh. The $700+ hair system is good but can it really be so life-changing as to justify the price?
Amazon has a great dupe that also made it on a Forbes list. The INGLAM 4-in-1 Blowout Brush looks and has almost all the same components as the Dyson with some pretty great reviews. People do say that the elements can get extremely hot so it's important to apply a heat protectant treatment to your hair before using but it's $183 for a hairdryer, a diffuser, a paddle, a wand, and two styling brushes.
The Loewe basket tote
The Loewe basket tote gives major coastal grandmother vibes and is the perfect beach accessory for the summer. They come in a variety of sizes and styles with different shades of raffia, palm leaf, and calfskin. The classic design is the most versatile; sadly the smallest size is $750.
Luckily, Mango has created two sizes that look identical to the classic Loewe baskets bags and the smallest is $100. They also have a collection of wicker and raffia bags that take their cues from Loewe but expand upon them for different types of people with more modern and geometric influences.
The colourful Prada and Versace heels
Both Prada and Versace have collections of brightly coloured chunk heels that would be perfect for summer. For obvious reasons, they are priced outside of most people's markets. Which is a shame because they look like the shoes my Bratz dolls used to wear (in a good way).
All Ego shoes are statement-making and could easily be mistaken for a designer label but in particular these chunky Versace dupes (they could also be Valentino platform dupes) are what 'It Girl' dreams are made of. I highly recommend looking through all of their shoes since they have dupes for almost all of the Prada summer shoes and then some.
Tom Ford Soleil Blanc
The Tom Ford fragrance Soleil Blanc has been named one of the scents of this summer by 'It Girls' alongside Maison Margiela's Walk on the Beach. They both share notes of coconut, with Tom Ford also containing floral amber and Maison Margiela containing pink pepper, bergamot, and Ylang-Ylang. The perfumes also come with an $87-$344 price tag.
The Dossier perfumes explicitly state what luxury fragrances inspire them and then create similar scents at a more accessible price point, their Powdery Coconut fragrance is a dupe for Tom Ford and the Aquatic Coconut is an alternative to Maison Margiela. They cost $39 a bottle.
Bonus: Meet me in Paris
One crucial piece of the 'It Girl' lifestyle is jet-setting. It looks like these women are always travelling to fashionable cities and taking perfectly posed pictures. But we have you covered for that too. Last week our travel journalist announced that flights to Paris from Vancouver were $646 round trip, making that part attainable too.
Make sure you follow along with our travel section for more opportunities to live out your It Girl dreams.
