Melt down your candles, spice up your gin and iron your laces
There are plenty of ways to enjoy the finer things in life while also being prudent. In fact, there’s even a new term for it: ‘bougie frugal’. So what can the most stylish sybarites teach us about keeping things thrifty yet fancy?
It started with a jolly WhatsApp exchange with a glamorous friend in Dubai. Said jet-setter, no stranger to the finer things in life, had taken stock of his collection of almost-done luxury candles. Surmising that there must have been hundreds of pounds worth of Diptyque and Jo Malone wax about to go in the bin, he got creative: he bought some wicks, melted down the dregs of wax in each and amalgamated them to form fragrant new candles. A rather upmarket take on frugality and make do and mend – or “bougie frugal” as he termed it.
Reports this week indicate that the “squeezed” middle class are set to be £4,000 a year worse off. Hence the rise of people who are used to a certain standard and fond of their luxury creature comforts, getting creative. As with all matters of taste, I turn to my friend Nicky Haslam, interior design guru, author and high society’s most beloved waspish uncle, famous for his “What’s Common” tea towels.
“People need to open their eyes and look at what’s around them on their doorstep. They need to get creative instead of buying for convenience,” he says from his jewel-box of a lodge house brimming with artefacts gleaned from his bucolic Cotswolds surroundings, where hurricane lamps bristle with tree branches and cake tins are reimagined as light fittings.
Once you start investigating fancy frugality, you see it everywhere: my Dubai friend decanting all of his shower gels from ritzy hotels and businessclass toiletry bags into one atomiser; another friend who uses the ribbons that come with her Chanel make-up as hair accessories; another who uses her grandmother’s costume jewellery to secure napkins at dinner parties.
My in-laws have a particularly genius luxe-meets-low-cost trick. They collect Amalfi lemons – the scent and taste quite unlike the little supermarket bullets you get in Britain – from the gardens of a villa we go to near Positano each year. They then chop them up, freeze them and use them to zhuzh up a plain old G&T back in Suffolk.
My own efforts by way of bougie frugal has been to wage war on food bills. My partner’s a passionate oenophile and no stranger to London’s finer dining establishments, but recently we’ve started making our own pasta. No, it’s not cheaper than a 48p bag from Tesco, but it turns an evening in into an event. We also add a luxury touch to cheap dinners – omelettes for example – by adding a sparing shave of black truffles.
Oily ends of good parmesan from the Italian deli are frozen to go into next-to-nothing soups, and my modest veg patch is going great guns. In the bathroom, I stock up on soaps from Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy in Florence, and use the exquisitely painted boxes around the house to store things.
So how do the most stylish sybarites across the world of design, fashion and entertaining, keep things thrifty yet fancy?
PENURIOUS PARTY THROWING
Nicky Haslam, interior designer and author
“I swear by supermarket vodka: Co-op makes an excellent version that’s smooth and delicious. The trick is to decant it into an elegant decanter or even a fancy old vodka bottle, and serve on a nice drinks tray with some lemons and accoutrement; I drink mine with a Lipton Peach iced tea. Delicious.
“It’s also worth looking at what’s around you; if you live in the countryside you’ve got a wealth of wonderful things to decorate with. I mix foliage I’ve picked myself with plastic cherry blossom – it looks just like the real thing – and use it as a centrepiece. I’ve also painted it and used it in my hanging light fittings in the hallway to add a sense of drama.
“I also have a pair of marble plinths in my hallway. Except they aren’t marble, they are cardboard and from the window display of Peter Dominic Wines – but they look just like the real thing.”
Henry Conway, writer and party promoter
“Partying on a budget is something of a forte of mine. One tip for welcome drinks is not to bother with champagne – I serve a good Crémant de Loire from LangloisChâteau, owned by the Bollinger family but costing £14. And don’t underestimate how easy it is to really luxe up a simple gin; I get cheap spices from local Asian supermarkets and put the cardamom pods and Thai lime leaves in it with Angostura bitters. Suddenly you’ve got a London hotel-level gin for peanuts. Clothes-wise, I take my grandfather’s old coats and have them trimmed in leather to give them a new lease of life.”
Sophia Money-Coutts, writer
“I knew a posh woman who used to pour the dregs of wine bottles left over at the end of a dinner party into one bottle for later. Freeze for sangria and you’ve got good quality ice cubes that won’t water the drink. Nanny-sharing is also on the up, as is letting out spare bedrooms; I’ve noticed an uptick in this on that mad members’ site, Radio H-P (dubbed “Gumtree for posh people”), for lots of spare bedrooms in Fulham and Chelsea.”
FRUGAL FOODIES Tamasin Day-Lewis, chef
“I have always worked on the principle that one expensive and glamorous ingredient is all you need, then you are free to offer cucina povera to your guests, be it cheap cuts of slow-cooked meat or a vegetarian fiesta of, say, malfatti (“badly made” in Italian), little balls of spinach, ricotta and parmesan baked in a tomato sauce.
“So I do the big spend, which has involved bringing foie gras back from the market in Budapest at a fraction of the French price, wrapped in my underwear and stashed in my suitcase, or a single white truffle from Piedmont wrapped in loo paper and sealed tightly in a jar, or, eschewing the flobby, greasy sides of farmed or organic smoked salmon that are ubiquitous now salmon has become an I-have-to-have-it-allthe-year-round ingredient. I order a far more expensive, unsliced small side of wild Irish salmon from my favourite Irish smokery, slice it finely and serve it with homemade wholemeal or spelt bread and Irish farmhouse butter, Cuinneog. It’ll feed 12 people and needs nothing else bar a simple green salad. An extravagance all the better for being special and infrequent, which is, after all, what a treat should be.”
Xanthe Clay, food writer
“Smoked olive oil is very trendy right now – but it costs a bomb. Put a bowl half full of ordinary EVOO in a pan with a lid, and tuck a tiny bit of hay round the edge. Put a lit match to the hay so it smoulders then clamp on the pan lid and leave it for half an hour for the smoke to infuse. Pour into a bottle and use for dressings and finishing dishes.
“Another of my favourites is to buy the cheapest frozen peas – they are a mix of sizes, including the odd mealy one, so they’re much more like real fresh peas, in fact. I also buy posh organic chicken wings and chicken livers – a bargain and makes my chicken liver salad or BBQ wings proper bougie. Very ordinary butter and cheese feels grand if you wrap it in greaseproof paper and tie it with string. Or save the embossed waxed paper when you splash out at a posh cheese shop, give it a wipe with a damp cloth and use it again. Same goes for lovely oil and vinegar bottles – wash and refill from an economy-size can. Beautiful printed tins – from Italian tinned tomatoes or olive oil – are great design and worth displaying: punch holes in the bottom and use as utensil pots or fill with soil to grow cuttings.”
‘One of my overcoats that gets mistaken for Prada is an oversized number bought in Zara’
Margot Henderson, chef
“We always welcome guests to parties with a little Bicicletta cocktail. Lift a very ordinary bottle of white wine and turn it blush-pink with a splash of Campari. The other thing is: eat offal! It’s so undervalued and people don’t serve it at home enough.
“Don’t forget there is beauty in a whole chicken – it’s perfect for a roast to feed many, while leftovers make a delicious chicken salad, and then finally boil the bones for a great stock to make risotto. To dress the table use elegant brown parcel paper or roles of fabric from Ikea as runners for long table dinners – much more affordable than fine linen and they look wonderful.”
THRIFTY BUT FABULOUS HOME AND GARDENS
Daisy Garnett, writer and avid gardener “People spend a fortune on plants and bulbs when there are much cheaper ways to do it. Around this time of year I get really cheap pots of Narcissus ‘Tete-a-tete’ – mini daffodils – for £3 and pull apart the bulbs. Most gardeners don’t want small pots which means they’re cheap, so I buy those and put the bulbs in there in abundance; you’ve got three weeks of fresh flowers for a table for not much money. Tins and glass bottles can also look charming as bud vases. I also bring secateurs with me on walks to take a few spruces from hedgerows. And April’s the time to look for wild garlic: turn it into pesto and freeze it. Look out for boxes outside framer shops; they often have odds and ends in there at almost nothing and you can press flowers between two books to make the kind of picture you’d pay £95 for from Habitat.
“My other tip is art and design magazines – the kind you find in the Tate or V&A shop. They often run prints full page which can be cut out and framed. Don’t worry about things being perfect and manicured, there’s personality and charm in doing it yourself.”
“I’m a great lover of cigars, but they can be extremely expensive. However if you opt for a lower price point, I recommend storing in a zip lock bag – if you don’t have a humidor – and leave in a cool, dark place so that they will mellow and mature. Within a few months they’re just as satisfying as the more expensive varieties. Put them on a nice tray and you’re good to go. My other tip is to always iron your shoelaces. It’ll stop them curling and looking shabby, and keeps love-worn shoes looking smart for longer.”
STYLISH-YET-PENNY-SAVING Sarah Bailey, writer and vintage fashion queen
“The easiest hack to elevate a high-street coat is to change the buttons (I’ve rescued fabulous bone buttons and brass gobstoppers from past-it vintage finds). One of my overcoats that consistently gets mistaken for Prada is (whisper it) an oversized plaid number bought in the sale from the men’s department of Zara. I always wear it with a cluster of vintage pin brooches on the lapel for a bit of fancy frugal zhuzh.
“To give a blouse, or a dress with a ‘meh’ neckline, a bit of Karl Lagerfeld drama, make a statement bow with raw-edged grosgrain ribbon (fold, don’t tie, so it lies relatively flat) and pin in place with a vintage brooch.
“Back in the 1990s, we’d get the Calvin Klein minimalist slip dress look we all loved (but couldn’t afford) by wearing an M&S black slip from the lingerie department over a band T-shirt. The principle still holds today for the 1990s redux mood – eke out your slip dresses with a Uniqlo Heattech polo neck worn underneath or a simple white tee.
“I love upcycling the glass beakers from super-chic scented candles as pencil holders, or reusing them with tiny votive candles (bought from IKEA).”
Alex Gore-Browne, knitwear designer
“Although it’s an initial expense, I’ve found the Dyson Airwrap is SO good that I no longer need to book a blowdry. Also very useful when you live in the countryside.
“I tend to paint my nails myself now that I’ve discovered Essie speed setter. Nails now last up to 10 days instead of chipping after two.
“For my home I recycle any candle glasses and use these for pen pots, and I hoard any nice packaging boxes and use these for storage. I’m currently hunting for pretty old frames on eBay and love scouring big antiques fairs such as Ardingly and Newark.
“I’m always on the lookout for antique fabrics and do patchwork upholstery if I don’t have enough to cover a whole chair. I also love sourcing kitchenware, especially bowls and ceramics which are far cheaper than buying new.” alexgorebrowne.com
Alexandra Tolstoy, broadcaster and equine adventurer
“I always make sure that everything I buy works together harmoniously. Without consciously doing it, I realise I only buy textiles and clothes of the same earthy palette and it has helped enormously in creating an identity in both my home and wardrobe. I love to collect things – somehow groups of objects are so pleasing. They don’t have to be expensive. For example I’ve made a collection of copies of Soviet travel posters from eBay and then framed them in simple, colourful frames – they are much more interesting as a group than individually. Country antique shops are much, much cheaper than anything you’ll find in a city so it’s always worth being on the hunt when you travel.
“Instagram is another great source – I buy and sell (never be scared to trade in things you regret or could improve on!) through my cousin Natalia Violet Antiques.”
Willow Crossley, florist
“I was given some lovely squishy office chairs for my kitchen so I decided to re-cover them in old cotton suzanis – the silk ones are so expensive, but the cotton ones are really affordable. I use the sheepskin blankets which my children used to have in their cots to lay on windowsills; they do a great job of keeping out the draught and creating a cosy alpine feel. I buy kantha quilts on Etsy which is so much cheaper than getting them in the shops. Then I get a staple gun and some tacks from B&Q and use them to cover headboards.”
Inacio Ribeiro, knitwear designer “I love to use the pink pages from the Financial Times as wrapping paper. It somehow works to add an air of chic to your gift wrapping and is very frugal indeed – and also the irony is not lost…”