Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

That's what they say anyway! Today I'm talking about some designer finds that you can copy with budget high street versions. When I say 'budget', I'm talking no more than £50. Does anyone else find that you pick up a magazine and they talk on the front page about 'high street' fashion and then you look inside and it's all high end high street like Ted Baker, Whistles, Reiss? I don't have that sort of money to spend on clothes and so when I'm talking budget, I'm meaning budget.

So, I was having a browse through Neiman Marcus for some inspiration and I saw a few designer items where I though, 'I really like that, but I'm sure I've seen something similar on the high street'. So I did some sniffing around the interwebs and I present to you my finds!

Wearing your heart on your sleeve:

I love this Burberry Prorsum dress. I love heart print to start with, and on my sewing blog, you'll find that I made myself my own heart print dress for Valentines Day and a heart print blouse. I also love shirt dresses. So what's not to love about a heart print shirt dress? However, I can't stretch to that price tag and I knew I'd seen the print elsewhere, so voila!

Burberry Prorsum Dress - Neiman Marcus | New Look Dress (1) | New Look Dress (2) | Matalan Skirt

Getting Royal with McQueen:

I love the style of this dress, and that it's the kind of dress that can be worn as a statement dress on a classy night out, or you could pull it off in the day time with a plain cardi and some thick tights. Now, I'm not saying that's how I would wear it, because if I could afford an Alexander McQueen dress it would probably come out on only special occasions, but I'm just saying you could wear it like that if you had the money to throw around. There are loads of jacquard dresses around, but I struggled to find one that was both a similar style and print, so I've included the best I could manage!

Alexander McQueen Dress - Neiman Marcus | New Look Dress | Miss Selfridge Dress

M&S turning over a new leaf for Autumn/Winter:

It hasn't gone unnoticed by me that M&S seem to have rolled their sleeves up when it comes to the style stakes. A little birdy with insider knowledge informs me that they've brought a new stylist in as a last ditch attempt to pull in the customers. And I think it could be working! On a recent shopping trip they had the most on trend collection that I saw. Here's an example of how close they're hitting it, with a dress very similar to one by Rebecca Minkoff. Ok you haven't got the leather accents, but the style and colour scheme is essentially the same, with a huge saving!

Rebecca Minkoff Dress - Neiman Marcus |  M&S Dress