Buying the Best Brands on a Budget
There are a vast number of unique and high-quality clothing brands available in the fashion market today. Whether you love haute couture, luxury brands, or small business-owned clothing brands, it can be a costly affair to get your hands on your favourite brands at the height of the season. If you’re on the hunt for this year’s must-have Ted Baker boots, that gorgeous gown you saw on the runway during fashion week, or those sunglasses you’ve been ogling for weeks, you need to be sensible with your hard-earned cash!
Shopping for your favourite brands on a budget can be challenging, but if you have the know-how, it can definitely be done. If you apply a few simple tips and tricks, your wardrobe will be full of good quality items at a fraction of their original price; just wait and see. Lucky for you, we have a list of these tips and tricks, and we’ve decided to share our wisdom with you! Read on for the inside track on shopping for the best brands on a budget.
Avoid Trends
While this isn’t a shopping tip as such, it is definitely a tip that will save you a lot of money in the long run. Figure out what your personal style is and buy according to that rather than buying according to the latest trends. If a current trend happens to coincide with your personal style or an item that you’ve been looking for for a while, that’s great! You’ll have lots of options to choose from because many brands will likely be showcasing similar on-trend items. In general, however, we recommend that you purchase only items that you know you will love for a long time to come, as this will reduce the item’s cost per wear. Trends come and go, but style can be forever. Investigation in style and function rather than what’s hot at the present moment is responsible not only in terms of your finances but also in terms of the amount of fashion waste that we each put out into the world.
Shop Off Season
Shopping from end-of-season sales or from those pre-season releases that aren’t at full price are the two best ways to shop for big brands on a budget. We know it might be painful wanting an item all season and watching it fly off the shelves, but waiting till mid or end-of-season sales can save you more than 50% of the full price in some instances. This also gives you time to consider whether or not the item is really something you want to spend your hard-earned money on and lets the heat of any trends cool off so that you don’t make any rash decisions. If you shop according to your style rather than current trends, as we discussed in our previous point, waiting till sales come along won’t break your heart quite as much.
Always Look for Discount Codes
Never be too fancy for a discount! Any little bit of money you can save is a good saving, and it’s certainly better than nothing. There are some sights where you might find a discount code completely free of charge if you look hard enough, but there are also a number of reliable subscription services that offer monthly discount codes for your most loved brands all the time. The subscription fees usually aren’t terribly expensive, so in the long run, it often saves more money to pay for a subscription and find cheaper garments to add to your wardrobe.
Outlet Stores
Shopping in the hottest, trendiest districts at flagship stores might make for a great shopping experience, but it can take a huge toll on your wallet. A few minutes of careful Googling can lead you to hundreds of outlet stores that carry the biggest luxury brands in the world, often for a fraction of the price. You’ll need to wait at least a few months for the newest styles to make it from brand stores to outlet stores, but it is so worth it if you’re looking to invest in some good quality pieces. Just don’t go too crazy (see the “stick to your budget” section, coming next), and remember that you need to keep an eye on your personal sustainability journey by only buying garments that are a must for your wardrobe.
Stay Within Your Budget
We’ll wrap up with another tip that is not strictly a shopping tip but is, nonetheless, an essential step in your garment shopping checklist. You MUST stay within the budget that you have set for yourself. It’s very easy to find justifications like the item being on sale or finding an item you’ve been searching for for a long time, but avoid these at all costs. If there’s an item you’re looking for that you know will exceed one month’s clothing budget, steel yourself and save for a few months in a row rather than dipping into another part of your budget to get the item.
Wrap Up
With these budget shopping tips in your arsenal, you will be well prepared to take on the world and get the garments that you want for much less.