Clothes Shopping On A Budget

By Esme

Shopping.

Some of us enjoy it, and some of us don’t. However, having a tight budget can bring the enjoyment to a screeching halt due to anxiety and stress, plus you can easily end up buying something you don’t want just because you felt pressured and could afford it.

However, after going on many budgeted shopping trips I’ve identified 8 hints and tricks to leaving with clothes you really want, and avoiding wasting money.

Before you leave the house: google the area you’re going to beforehand and identify some shops which are within your price range and sell clothes you like. This way when you arrive you won’t be daunted in the face of the large, expensive stores and now how to get to the ones you can afford to buy from.

Another thing you should do before leaving the house is checking the clothes you already have. Spot what you wear most often, as that tells you what you like and what works with you. For instance, if you wear a lot of pastel colours you know to look at lighter colours, and your neutral colour would normally be a white or cream. However, if you normally go for navy, bottle green or dark red coloured clothes your base colours would be darker. Also, this way you can figure out what you need, for instance you might have lots of tops but you need bottoms, or vice versa. Then you don’t end up buying your 15th t-shirt while you only have one pair of jeans.

If your friends want to go into expensive shops, go with them. Look around and see what clothes are there, look at the fabric and prints and styles and identify what you want. Think of this as ‘recon’ for later. This way you can get a clear idea of what you want, and you know what fabrics high-end shops have identified as ‘durable’ or ‘luxury’ so you’re aware of these when going into more affordable shops.

If your shopping-buddy throws something at you accompanied by the line “this would look good on you” notice the cut, colour pallet and style of the article, because they probably spend more time looking at you than you do, and will have noticed something like what colours flatter you and compliment you (although you need to do your own damage control over whether you like their taste or not).

Once you’ve got an idea of the cut, colour palate, fabric and style which you like, NOW your shopping can begin. Lead your friend to the shops you identified earlier, and start looking for what you want. I normally look for colours first as they’re one of the first things I see, and then I look at the style, cut and fabric.

If you find something within your budget that you like, always make sure to try it on. The worst thing is if you buy something without trying it on and finding that it’s scratchy, or too low cut, or just slightly too small. Different colours can play tricks, and same with different patterns, making you look taller or wider, once again emphasising the need to try things on.

If you find something that has a good cut, style and fabric but the colour you want isn’t there, think about colour families, and what else in that family could compliment your colourings. If you were looking for it to match another item, then I usually just get it in white, cream, brown, blue or green as they match a lot of the clothes I own.

Once you’ve found something you like, can afford, and tried it on, think through what you’d wear with it that you already own. If you can only imagine one outfit then you know the article isn’t versatile enough, and isn’t worth the money. If you can imagine over three outfit combinations involving the article with clothes you already have, then you know it’s good to go and worth the money.

However, if you can’t find something you like within your price range, don’t worry. Don’t panic and feel as though you need to buy something, because now you know exactly what you’re looking for, and you can use the previously mentioned marvel… the internet. Look at affordable online retailers, or even use apps such as Depop to find the clothes you want, and this way you know what patterns and colours work for you so keep an eye out for those.

This may seem like unnecessary hassle, however it can really help in the long run. Having durable fabrics with colours which compliment you means that they’ll last a long time and even limit your need for future shopping trips. Also, having versatile clothing which you can mix-and-match into different outfits is really helpful, as one article can be used in six different outfits, acting as six different pieces.

Affordable online shops:

• Asos

• (female) Bella Ella Boutique

• (female) GoJane

• H&M

• Forever 21

• New Look

• Boohoo

• Topman/Topshop

• (female) Pretty Little Thing

• Marks and Spencer

• M&M Direct

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