Ok ladies. It’s a sad truth, but at the moment we simply can’t afford to be splashing out on glamorous and extortionate creations of loveliness from luxurious fashion houses. Problem is; these nasty designers keep on making things we crave. So how are we going to afford them? Another sad truth here: we’re not. But what we can do; is cash in on what is seen as one of the most polemic aspects of the modern fashion industry: high street copies.

But here comes the twist. Rather than just accept high street copies as how they are; generally a watered down version of the real deal with nowhere near as much sparkle or attention to detail, it is time to embrace your inner ‘make do and mend’ spirit and customise them up to couture level. Enter, ‘couturising’.

I decided to test this theory myself. I took a cut-away swimsuit from New Look’s Limited Edition range to use as my rather glittery guinea pig. The collection prides itself on uniqueness to as a starting point, as only 400 of the swimsuits are for sale across the country. This makes it a particularly great starting point, as the key is to choose pieces that are obviously catwalk inspired, and work from there. This particular swimming costume was a clear reference to Dior’s latest bejewelled swimwear line, however given that New Look doesn’t exactly have an ancestry spattered with Parisian couturiers, I am afraid to say that compared to the Dior piece it was rather lack-lustre. In rather literal terms, given that the Dior swimsuit is dripping with Swarovski crystals in myriad blue and turquoise tones, whereas the New Look costume merely boasts a few silver sequins and a handful of bugle beads.

Now girls I’m not saying that this isn’t going to take time. I spent a good few hours hand stitching clear blue, iridescent and pearl beads onto the New Look costume in order to get it looking like it could have come off a run-way (the more time you put in, the more genuine it will look.) But the fact is; if you keep a well-stocked box of beads, buttons, threads and generally shiny things, recycling old bits of jewellery and worn out accessories, you can begin to create couture at a fraction of the price. You just need to be able to spot which high street copies are a going to give you your head start.

This season we are quite lucky that many trends are tribal inspired, which generally involves an amalgamation of trinkets and tid bits anyway; offering the ideal opportunity for embellishment and elaboration. For example, take Louis Vuitton’s latest collection, which has inspired high street retailers to produce rather convincing copies in their thousands. From these, I have chosen a few key pieces that are an ideal platform for ‘couturising’:

Create a waist

Topshop wrap around belt £30. Thread oriental looking beads onto the ends of the ribbon, and sew scrap ends of fake animal skin fabrics in geometric shapes onto the main band.

The Beadshop is a great place to find both budget-friendly and unusual beads.

Smarten up shoes

Topshop’s Primal Voodoo High Sandal, priced at £120. The Louis Vuitton ‘Spicy’ shoe  (below) can cost up to over £2000, so it is definitely worthwhile purchasing the high street version and spicing it up yourself. Beads can be threaded along the laces, tassles are cheap from any haberdshery, and feathers would complete the tribal effect.

However, fear not. If instead of opting for the amazonian look this season you have embraced all things floral and femenine, why not try recreating one of Luella’s Spring/Summer 09 eye catching headpieces?

Hyped-up headbands

All that Topshop’s fabric Bow and Net Headband needs to take it up to Luella’s level is a few miniature pom poms sewn onto the netting in fluorescent brights. Once again, head down to your local haberdashery and raid the cupboards. The band itself costs £10, and pom poms are usually priced in ‘pence per pom’, so for once you will be smiling at the price tag as well as the product.