Get the Trend without the Spend. This is the motto of Excess Baggage, the trendy off-price retailer that sells designer brands on their website, and offline during exclusive ExBag Events.

“It all started when two best friends graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and put their entrepreneurial heads together. At ShopExcessBaggage.com customers can get the “must have” brands that grace the pages of the hottest fashion magazines, but for a much better price.”

Excess Baggage has kindly offered to give away a $50 gift certificate for their online store. To be eligible for the competition, pick your favourite item from the site and tell us how you would pair it with some of the new colours and silhouettes for spring season. Enter the giveaway by filling out the entry form below with your answer.

The competition will close 5 minutes before midnight (Pacific Standard Time) on Sunday 29 January. We’re pleased to say that this giveaway is not restricted to the USA and Canada only. Anyone can enter! Shipping costs will need to be paid separately though.

As always, YLF members will get an additional ticket with their entry. For another chance to win, get a bonus ticket by following @youlookfab on Twitter and tweeting this blog post using the tweet button on the entry page.

For more information and updates from Excess Baggage you can also follow them on Twitter and visit their page on Facebook.

Fashion designer Coco Chanel, artist Georgia O’Keeffe and actress Katherine Hepburn are the leading ladies in author Karen Karbo’s “kick-ass women” trilogy. Three very different women in different fields, each with a very individual sense of style, but with one thing in common: they were independent spirits who chose to live life on their own terms.

Today Globe Pequot Press and skirt! Books are kindly giving away five Karen Karbo bundles, each containing the two final instalments in the trilogy:

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World’s Most Elegant Woman is described as “a captivating, offbeat look at style, celebrity and self-invention—all held together with droll Chanel-style commentary and culled from an examination of Chanel’s difficult childhood and triumphant adulthood, passionate love affairs and eccentricities.”

How Georgia Became O’Keeffe

How Georgia Became O’Keeffe: Lessons on the Art of Living “delves into the long, extraordinary life of the renowned American painter, exploring a range of universal themes. Each chapter is built around an aspect of living that concerns women today of all ages: how to find your own path; work with passion and conviction; express yourself; be in a relationship without sacrificing your sense of self; and do it all with an effortless, unique style.”

How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great, the first book in the series, features strong-willed and talented actress Katherine Hepburn, who created controversy by often sporting menswear inspired outfits at a time this was still considered quite radical.

To enter the giveaway tell us if there is a particular grande dame you have always had a soft spot for. The giveaway will close 5 minutes before midnight (Pacific Standard Time) on Tuesday 19 January. It is open to all entrants living in the US and Canada.

As always, YLF members will get an additional ticket with their entry. For another chance to win, get a bonus ticket by following @youlookfab on Twitter and tweeting this blog post using the tweet button on the entry page.

You can also like Globe Pequot Press on Facebook to get exclusive content & giveaways, and find more skirt! books here.