Boutiques.com

True life: I am a poor, broke college student.

I buy knockoff brand groceries. I stick to the dollar menu at fast-food restaurants. I never stray from the clearance racks at Target and I scrounge for laundry quarters like nobody's business because God forbid I have to exchange some of my precious dollar bills just to wash my clothes.

So when it comes to frequent frivolous purchases such as cute dresses, adorable jewelry, and to-die-for handbags... well, there is no such thing. But a girl can dream, right?

That's where Boutiques.com comes in. I stumbled upon this website (literally- thanks, StumbleUpon) in December and after creating my own account, I found myself browsing through page after page of tops, shoes, and dresses (and more) for literally two hours straight.

{ It's addicting, I tell ya! }

Boutiques.com, which is ran by Google, is part social network, part fashion experience. You can create your own account, update your personal information, follow other users, and gain followers for yourself. But the main goal of this website is to keep users up-to-date with the latest trends in fashion and style.  Upon creating your account, you take a quiz which helps determine your unique sense of style. You can then choose which colors, cuts, and prints you love AND hate- so when you start browsing through looks, you're shown only pieces that you would wear. How cool is that?

When you start browsing through the various boutiques (or "closets") on the website, you'll notice that each piece is accompanied by a few crucial pieces of information. Along with a detailed photo of each item, you'll find the name of the designer and the current price. There are also options to save, share, love, or hate each piece. When you click save, that item is stored in your own personal closet on your profile so you can come back and browse your own personal faves later on.

When you decide to love or hate something, you're even given the option to choose what exactly you like or dislike about that item. This makes it even easier for the website to determine which pieces are best suited to your personal style.

Another thing that I LOVE about this website? The celebrity boutiques! Celebrities such as Erika Christensen, Jenna Fischer, and Taylor Momsen have their own profiles showcasing pieces suited to their personal fashion sense. I don't know if these profiles are actually ran by the celebrities themselves (more likely, they're just based off of what we see the celebs wear), but either way, I think it's a pretty fun aspect.

{ FYI- Some of my favorite celeb boutiques include Emma Roberts, Emmy Rossum, Jamie Lynn Sigler, and Claire Danes. Such classy, elegant ladies! }

One last thing to note- if you happen to NOT be a broke college student like myself, Boutiques.com also serves as the ultimate online shopping experience. Just click on the picture of any item and you're automatically taken to whichever website offers the best deal. You can even sort the items to show which ones offer free shipping!

Let me know if you decide to give Boutiques.com a try! I haven't been doing too well on the social networking aspect of the site, so I'd love to make some more friends on there. It would be so cool to see what you all decide to put in your own virtual closet. Check out mine here!

I'll leave you with some of my favorite pieces from Boutiques.com. Of course, it'll be a quite some time before I allow myself to indulge in purchasing any of these items, but like I said... a girl can dream, right?

I came so close to buying this dress at Charlotte Russe a few months ago! I tried it on and fell in love...

...but I refrained from making the purchase. Be proud of me? :)