Retailers such as Target and Crate & Barrel taught us a few things over the past few years. One is that the price of good design – “style” for home – is not necessarily tied to price. But perhaps just as important, it pays to educate oneself and to invest time in shopping.

Such branding and a business model can become the metrosexual’s guide in the current recession as well.  We spoke with several arbiters of style, taste and thrift to identify some great ways to weather it out without sacrifice.  Here are the best tips they offered.

Grooming
Shave like Grandfather: Don Draper on “Mad Men” does it and now you can too.  RetroRazor (www.RetroRazor.com) promises closer shaves, healthier skin and dollar savings (90 percent) with old-fashioned safety razors where you keep the handle and replace the blades.

DIY facials: Exfoliate with oatmeal (mixed with almond oil and sea salt), cleanse with milk and olive oil, and steam with fragrant herbs such as chamomile, eucalyptus and lavender.  A mask can be concocted of clay, egg yolks, egg whites, honey and yogurt. Google around for specifics, then find what works best for you.

Hair: Either style it longer to reduce the need for cuts, shave it off entirely (if you have the requisite head shape, scalp and cheekbones), or cut a deal with your stylist to prepay for a discount.  And, enroll your stylist in the less-is-more idea; he or she would rather keep you as a customer than see you ruin their work at the Snip-N-Save.

Product: Again, your stylist is your teammate.  Ask to buy product through the salon in bulk containers, which usually cost less per ounce than in boutiques.

Wheels & Things
If you live where you can cut out owning a car you might save $10,000 or more per year.  In an increasingly urban and environmental society, this may not be as far fetched as it sounds.  Car membership clubs (igocars.org, carsharing.net, zipcar.com) allow inexpensive rentals at low annual fees, while peer-to-peer renting through sites such as zilok.com allow you to rent vehicles and other merchandise – or, rent out that car you can’t part with yourself.

Grab Blag … Bag
Author Mike Essex, “Blagman: Don’t Buy It, Blag It” shares his secrets for getting things for free – including $3000 worth of hair gel and the entire DKNY perfume line.  His book espouses making oneself available for promotion and getting freebies from marketers to do it.  Not a bad idea if the swag is your bag.

Dress
Visit www.istorez.com, which aggregates sales and specials on a broad range of consumer products, including health and beauty and men’s designer wear. 

Second Hand Russ
I had the distinct pleasure of sitting at the same table as then-Senator Barack Obama and his wife Michelle at a black tie event in Chicago in 2005 simply because I own a tuxedo.  That may seem unlikely given that I’m a freelance writer and fitness trainer, but I shop at consignment shops for such things and consequent pay around 10 percent of retail. Yes, it’s true: my clothes have provenance.

A politically-connected friend knew that about me as he was filling in odd seats at important tables for that fundraiser. So I ate a $350 meal for free in my $100 tux, and met the future president – to the envy of others in attendance who paid full price for everything.

The lesson: always be prepared for unexpected fabulousness.  Just don’t break the bank doing it.

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Russ Klettke is the author of “A Guy’s Gotta Eat, the regular guy’s guide to eating smart” (Marlowe & Co./Da Capo Press, 2004, with Deanna Conte, MS RD LD), available where books are sold and more than 100 public library systems in the U.S., Canada and Europe.