This post provides tips on how to find excellent high-end fashion that is affordable even when you are on a low budget. It also presents an outfit idea with second-hand and sales items.
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post.
Why a Low Budget Is No Reason Not to Buy High-End Fashion
Don’t let a small fashion budget discourage you from loving fashion and getting high-end items. Also believe me that it’s a rumor that buying exclusively designer clothes makes you look effortlessly stylish.
Fact: Wearing expensive clothes doesn’t mean being stylish.
On the contrary, wearing only expensive items makes you just look – well expensive. Personal style is the mix of the items you have in your wardrobe. Therefore, consider your wardrobe as a collection and edit it like a curator.
How to Curate Your Wardrobe
Like a museum always looks for excellent pieces, to add to their collection, you should look for high-end fashion to add to your collection of clothes. Of course, we can’t spend $1000 or more on a lust item. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t get it. Thrift and consignment stores as well as eBay are great options to buy high-end brands at a lower price than in the luxury mall stores.
How to Buy High-End Fashion on a Low Fashion Budget
Here are 8 tips to look fabulous on a budget and get the items you lust for. My OOTD is an example of items that I got using the strategy listed below.
- Become a budget master. If you like something and you can’t get it off your mind, save for it. For instance, swearing off your daily latte for a month saves you about $90, not to mention a lot of calories. Ask the sales person how many they have in your size and whether the item sells well. This information gives you an idea of how much time you have. If you have not spent this month’s clothes budget and the next month is close up, combine the money and don’t buy anything the next month.
- Like all things in life, getting great clothes on the cheap means efforts. Learn to shop like a pro in thrift shops and consignment stores. Often these stores have perfect, barely worn clothes, one could not afford first hand. Thrifting or consigning is also good for the environment as you recycle and reduce waste. Who doesn’t like that?
- Speaking of first hand clothes, a thing that cannot be emphasized enough is the importance to learn shopping for fashion. Identify brands that fit you perfectly, stores that offer clothes that fit you best. Find out their sales and clearance schedule and mark your calendar. When the sale/clearance goes up … participate on the first day!
- Learn how to shop and bit on eBay.
- Make high-low cost part of your signature style. You don’t need an outfit in just one designer. Actually, it would look like you bought it that way, in other words, not very creative. The mix of low price and more expensive is so much more individual.
- Never ever buy something that doesn’t fit just because its a designer brand or because it is on sale! One of the secrets to look effortlessly chic is that your clothes fit like a glove – like custom-made for you.
- Know when to splurge or bargain.
- Learn how to save when shopping for fashion.
Further Remarks
Once you have acquired these high-end clothes, remember that not wearing your investment pieces is like tossing them away.
Tip: Mix high-end and low-end pieces for the best style to look expensive.
Don’t let the right outfit be a random thing. Wear the right look in every situation by looking up what to wear when in How to Dress for Success in Midlife. Buy the book now.
You may be also interested in reading tips to score high when consigning.
Photos: G. Kramm
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