Finding your Style on a Budget

It's the age old conversation of not being able to fully express yourself because these days clothes are just way too expensive.

"If I had the money, I'd dress so much better"

There is some truth to this statement however for the most part it’s used by people who don't care that much about fashion anyway.

It creates an illusion that fashion is this unattainable world purely for people with money while in reality this is not the case. I'd be foolish to say the community is not thriving with big spenders and trust fund kids but you'll find entry comes at less of a cost.

If you're someone who genuinely has an interest in fashion yet still find yourself falling victim to these false notions, let's take some time to tackle what society has taught you.

Money. Does. Not. Buy. Style.

Your Dior shoulder bag and Prada printed shirt does not mean anything other than "look what I went to the store and bought with the money in my bank account".

Wearing designer clothing pieces does not automatically enter you into the book of fashion innovators.

Creativity and individuality is what drives a fashion moment and what separates fashion followers from fashion leaders.

The ability to take pieces from your uncle's hand-me-down wardrobe and some washed up denim from the thrift store and turning it into something truly unique displays a distinct belonging to the fashion world which cannot be purchased. As materialistic as the industry may appear, expression of true individualism and straying away from the crowd will gain you not only more recognition but more appreciation as well.

Anyway, you're not here in search of validation or life motivation from someone on the internet so lets get down to business.

Firstly you need to have an understanding of what it is you want to wear. What do you want the people looking at you to know before having to speak and more importantly, what is it that you want to express? Narrowing down your options thus preventing you from spending money on clothes that look pretty in store but end up sitting in your closet for months.

The sooner you find your niche the better, trust me.

Secondly it's good to follow people who share similar interests and with whom you can relate. I'm not talking about advertisement heavy instagram individuals but someone genuine in their approach to social media. This will serve as a source of guidance and constant inspiration when you're feeling a bit lost or overwhelmed.

Now that you have an idea of your fashion direction it's essential to familiarize yourself with the best places and times to purchase clothing.

Starting off this part of your fashion journey you'd probably head down the same road as many others before you and that's the one of fast fashion retailers. I don't necessarily condone the support of these unethical and environmentally harmful corporations but at the same time, for many people these chain stores are the most accessible and most affordable.

Otherwise as your knowledge of the industry grows you may start shopping at higher end stores carrying slightly more selected designer brands such as Nordstrom or Saks. Eventually leading you down the road less traveled but I'll get into that a bit later.

The fashion industry works according to specific seasons primarily being Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer. At the end of each season stores will try to get rid of their older stock with markdowns up to 75% off the original price. Depending on where you sit within our big blue continent one fashion season would end towards the later part of June with the other finding its end during the last week of December. Sales for almost all retail stores begins on Boxing Day, 26th December or shortly after.

Regarding high street, Zara follows the rules of having only two major sales throughout the year. Topshop and H&M however have mid-season sales as well which as you may have guessed, fall directly between their seasonal sales. These being around March/April and September/October respectively. It's never really an exact science with dates differing slightly from year to year but my financially deprived self has been following this method for some time and it has not failed me yet.

(Tip: markdowns go through cycles whereby stock would drop an extra 10 or 20% every two or three weeks so don’t hurry to buy that bag reduced by a few dollars unless store quantity is extremely limited)

(Another Tip: shop assistants for large fashion retailers are often made to tell customers that all sale stock are on the floor when in reality it’s not the case so if they don't have your size today, come back at a later stage after they’ve further unpacked and you might find yourself in luck).

High fashion works in a similar style although primarily following the pattern of two major sales each year. If you're more of an indoor kind of person with the outside world scaring you as much as me I've got some good news as online stores tend to have longer and more consistent sale periods.

As I'm writing this post sites such as Ssense, Barneys New York and Farfetch have already began placing their designer pieces on sale.

You may be wondering "I don't have money to spend on high end designer websites, why should this concern me?"

It concerns you because while you're spending 30$ on a shirt from Zara, you're missing out on the opportunity to spend 20$ on a shirt marked down from 200$. If you think such a steal sounds ridiculous you are absolutely right but it happens far more often than people realize and that's speaking from experience.

Yes online stores have great sales but unknown to some, when sales appear to be over you can find those coveted pieces marked down even further if you know where to look.

The reality is that sale periods can only last so long until stores need to be cleared out and refreshed in anticipation of new season collections. Instead of product disposal through *cough* creative methods, they instead get placed onto sites dedicated to clothing from older seasons granting them the opportunity of being purchased at bargain prices and enjoyed by people like myself. These include sites such as Barneys Warehouse and The Outnet, sister sites of Barneys New York and Net-a-porter.

That's high end quality clothing at high street prices.

You would also be helping the environment by taking your foot out of the fast fashion pond so it's kind of a win for everybody.

Need a trick up your sleeve? Shoptagr.com helps keep an eye on pieces from multiple different online stores and alerts you when one of your items go on sale. It's a great tool to have and has acted as a lifesaver on many occasions. Not sponsored, unfortunately.

This is all probably a lot to take in but try to stay with me.

If there's one thing I wish you would take with you it's to use the money allocated to be spent on a brand new closet and purchase a few essential, higher quality pieces instead.

If you're in the position to do so of course.

Investing in your wardrobe will pay off in the long run when you have clothing capable of standing the test of time and find yourself needing to buy new clothes less frequently.

After building up a decent wardrobe, rotate items more often and get rid of pieces you no longer wear. Either donate or sell them and replace those pieces with something new. This provides you with more room for experimentation while preventing a build up of clutter and of course keeping your closet new.

Helmut Lang Fall/Winter 1989

The final point I promise.

Investing in quality clothing pays off once more when you're able to get most of your money spent back through sales on designated sites such as Grailed and Heroine.

Doing the slightest bit of research into which brands or clothing pieces maintain their value over time could be the difference between a deprecating wardrobe and a sustainable one having the ability to refresh itself with very little cost to you.

That's it.

That's the post.

Now run along and be the best environmentally conscious yet innovative and stylish version of yourself.