Megan McIntyre, senior beauty editor
"My first style splurge was a pair of wide leg Lucky brand jeans I bought when I was an intern in NYC. It was my first time in the city and my fellow interns and I were on 5th Avenue shopping. I had watched them gamely as they all dropped money at Intermix, but kept my wallet in my purse — I was an intern getting by on a pittance of a stipend (luckier, I'll admit, than most interns, forced to go the unpaid route) and still in school with student loans to pay. We walked into Lucky and I was talked into trying on this chic pair of tailored, trouser jeans with a dark rinse and wide (but not over-the-top) legs. You know that hallelujah moment you have when you slide into a pair of jeans that fit just right and make your butt look amazing? I had that moment right there in the dressing room. The jeans cost something like $120 and were way pricier than my usual $40 Express buys, but as a girl with a hard-to-fit body type, finding the perfect pair of jeans that actually fit me in all the right places was a rarity — my fashion unicorn, if you will. I bought them then and there, then spent the next 3 weeks freaking out over the money I had spent. Fast forward to today, and I still have those jeans in my closet. I even wore them to my interview for this job here at R29. I'd say that's money well-spent, wouldn't you?"