Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

In these difficult times, it's so tricky to know how to manage one's budget, especially when it comes to buying a fall wardrobe. (It's even trickier when even the homeless in the city are carrying Gucci shopping bags.) Luckily, we have the wisdom of socialites to guide us—lead by example, as is their birthright!—through the kind of scary decisions that now loom. For instance, dare you imperil your reputation by succumbing to the Barneys rack at Filene's Basement? What a relief: Kate Schelter says you're allowed. Celerie Kemble, for her part, counsels "going back to vintage," while Fabiola Beracasa gives permission to wear the same thing (we can hardly type it!) more than once—advice seconded by Harper's Bazaar's Mary Alice Stephenson, who claimed to have worn the same Dior gown three times! We didn't know clothes could withstand such heavy usage. [NYO]