A Gift From the IRS?

If you made it to today, the dreaded tax day—and you don’t owe any additional taxes—congratulations. And if you happen to be getting a refund in an addition to that, it’s time to go shopping.

You could do what most financial experts suggest you do with that money—use it to pay off debt—but an investment in one or two go-with-everything pieces for your spring ensembles wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world, either. Your financial adviser would shirk from such a suggestion, but your fashion adviser would approve. You might be tempted to buy pasta for a year, or car insurance, or cleaning supplies, but you might as well just use it to buy razor blades. Without indulging in a little bit of escapist fashion once a year, what’s left to enjoy?

The trick with the tax refund-for-fashion is that you use it to buy something you wouldn’t ordinarily feel justified in buying. The more unfeasible, the better. In truth, the most impractical fashion objects tend to get the most use—their whimsy lends them signature-piece status in the closet.

This means that outlandish jewelry, shoes, handbags, and hats should be given particular consideration. Look for ridiculous appliqués, metallic leathers, feathers, too-high platforms, heavy chains and multicolored exotic skins. The goal is to find the wardrobe equivalent of a cabinet of curiosities—to buy something mundane is the ultimate cardinal sin in this game of creative cash reallocation.

Below, view our gallery of inspired buys that are anything but bland.

Click Image Below to View Our Gallery

Plus: Check out Fashion Beast, for more news on the latest runway shows, hot designers, and emerging trends .

Renata Espinosa is the New York editor of Fashion Wire Daily. She is also the co-founder of impressionistic fashion and art blog TheNuNu and a sometimes backup dancer for "The Anna Copa Cabanna Show."

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Renata Espinosa

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.