Buying a designer handbag for $325 doesn’t seem sensible when you’re racking up student loans and struggling to make rent. With the economy in the gutter, fashionistas have been forced to reform their ways, because spending a fortune on clothes is out, and discount is in. Make way for the recessionistas—the new name for style mavens on a budget.

Mary Hall, marketing manager at I.B.M. in Redondo Beach, Calif., noticed the term in Us Weekly magazine. The article in Us gave a list of clothes under $70 for the recessionista. But Hall thought the clothes in the article scored low on the classiness scale, so she created her own “Fall Bailout Package” on her blog, therecessionista.blogspot.com. The site features Hall’s picks for low-budget spenders looking for a professional look.

“I thought the Vera Wang collection at Kohl’s was a better choice for a recessionista who wants to be taken seriously,” Hall says. “I wanted to share my ideas with other people looking for the same look.”

For college students looking for cheap but chic clothing, Hall suggests Target’s GO collection for dresses, TJ Maxx for cheap designer duds and H&M for classic pieces with great designs.

Alex Ziskind, Chicago senior, found her Michael Kors down jacket for $66 at TJ Maxx, 3106 Iowa St.

“I look at high-fashion magazines for ideas and then shop at cheap stores that sell similar styles for less,” Ziskind says.

Many recessionistas trade their unwanted clothes for store credit or cash at places like Wild Man Vintage, 939 Massachusetts St. Owner Phil Chiles says he looks for clothing that is well made and timeless when buying vintage goods.

Chiles says he started shopping at thrift shops because he collects obscure T-shirts that couldn’t be found in mainstream department stores.

The key to shopping at a thrift store is having an idea about what you want before you go, and the recessionista has a knack for sifting through all the junk to eventually find a fashion gem.

Michaela Bowman, Duluth, Minn., senior, says she makes a list of things she wants before she goes into a thrift store.

“Thrift store shopping does take a lot of patience,” Bowman says. “If you go in knowing what you want, you can focus and find some really quality things.”

Bowman also trades clothing with her mother to save money. She says it’s a cheaper alternative to buying vintage clothes while still pulling off the vintage look.

Another thrift store for recessionistas to peruse is Arizona Trading Co., 734 Massachusetts St., which buys and sells a variety of vintage apparel.

When Tim Flattery, Onanga junior, needed a shirt for his 21st birthday, he went to Arizona Trading Co. to look for an inexpensive T-shirt to match his big purchase: a pair of Levi’s from Urban Outfitters.

“I wanted to find a great shirt to balance out the expensive jeans, but I was running low on money,” Flattery says. “I stopped by ATC and found a T-shirt with a V-neck in my favorite color: orange.”

Recessionistas are also selling and buying clothing on eBay to stay within a reasonable budget. Brian Sears, Lawrence senior, says eBay is his means of staying fashion-forward in the current world market, because there is more to choose from there than there is in Kansas City or Lawrence stores.

“I once found a pair of vintage Harley Davidson shoes that were modeled after Nike Dunks from the 1980s,” Sears says. “They were pretty out there, but I sold them on eBay for $50.”

Tons of vintage kicks and designer threads can be found on eBay for recessionistas dedicated to saving money. It’s yet another way for fashion-driven shoppers to maintain their trendy styles.

These shoppers are smart and savvy in our down economy. Some scour the pages of Vogue, Elle and GQ and keep up on trends while looking for cheaper alternatives that can be found at vintage shops and stores that offer designer looks at a discount. You, too, can look like a million bucks without spending a million just by changing the way you shop.