“Buy less. Choose well. Make it last. – Vivienne Westwood
Shopping for a new wardrobe can be a fun and rewarding experience, but it can be a little stressful if you don’t know where to start. Thankfully there are many ways to make your shopping experience stress-free and affordable. Before you even begin shopping, create a strategy! To create a strategy start by creating a budget for how much you want to spend in total, and how much your willing to spend on individual pieces. Creating a budget will keep you grounded, and help you shop responsibly. The next step is to decide what you need to shop for, this can be anything from athletic wear to formal wear or accessories to casual clothing. Once you decide what kind of clothing you are looking for, you’re going to decide which stores you are going to visit. To choose what stores you are going to visit, you can browse online stores to see if you like what products they have to offer. When the day comes to go shopping make sure you are wearing appropriate undergarments, this means wearing the undergarments you would wear for what you are going to purchase, this will help you see how flattering the clothing actually is. Always inspect the garment!!! What you are going to look for when inspecting the garment if the item is well-made and the fabric is high-quality. Look carefully to be sure there are no stains, tears, or missing items (buttons, decals, etc.) on the clothes. Check out the seams, zippers, etc. to be sure they are of good quality. Inspect the fit of the garment as well, avoid buying items with puckering seams, uneven hems, unsightly gaps, or other issues. Make sure you sit, stand, and stretch while using the mirrors provided in the fitting rooms to check every angle of the garment. If the item is too tight or gaps open while sitting, it’s not the right item for you. Don’t get it if you won’t be comfortable while wearing it. Never buy trendy clothing, the best clothing to invest in are timeless garments that will withstand all the trends. What happens when you invest in trends is your money is going to be wasted on clothing that is going to be outdated within a few months. The best type of store to shop at is consignment shops, almost every consignment shop I have been to always has a sale going on. Contrary to what most people think about consignment shops, there are quite a few pieces that are brand new with tags on them. I have purchased dresses that were never worn with an original price of $300.00 for only $35.00 at a consignment shop. It is the smartest way to shop because many of the consignment shops have big brands such as; Christian Louboutin, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Valentino, Gucci for a fraction of the original price. Lastly, don’t purchase anything you are not absolutely in love with. You will never wear it, if you don’t love it in the dressing room you won’t love it anywhere else.
Zoe Alexander 