Hello! As a fashion merchandising student and blogger, I place a large emphasis on maintaining a fresh, stylish wardrobe. However, it's not always easy to do so on a college budget. Today, I want to share my top seven tips for how I stay stylish on a dime.
1. Shop thrift shops like Goodwill and Salvation army for incredible deals. I've thrifted items of clothing for less than $1 that I've worn countless times. In the outfit above, I thrifted the vintage lace top, vintage flowy skirt and green suede clutch for less than $5 total. You may have to do some digging and you may not find something on every thrift shop visit but thrift shops can be gold mines for updating your wardrobe on a dime.
2. Consignment and resale shops are your best friend. Sell your old clothes at consignment shops and use that money to update your wardrobe. Often, consignment and resale shops such as Buffalo Exchange will give you more money back in store credit than cash and you should take advantage of that! I love the idea of consignment shops as vehicles to "trade" clothing you no longer wear anymore for something that you'll want to wear every week.
3. And Poshmark is your best friend too. Recently, I've joined Poshmark and I must say that I'm only disappointed that I hadn't joined before! Poshmark is an app on your phone and operates in a manner that is a cross between eBay and a consignment shop. You can sell items from your closet and Poshmark takes a small fee. You can also shop other user's "closets." It's an entirely unique buying/selling concept and I'm completely, totally in love with it. You can read a little more in depth about the app here. I've only been using the app for about a month but I've made about $70 from selling clothing that I don't wear anymore and was able to use that money to buy two pairs of Jeffrey Campbells (normally $150+ shoes). Poshmark works to keep your wardrobe fresh and on point. If you sign up with code JXTJA, you can earn a $10 credit to use towards your first purchase (free clothing/accessories? heck yes!)
4. Incorporate trends into your wardrobe through accessories. With the rise of fast fashion, trends move incredibly quickly. What's the point of wasting money on a dress or jacket that you'll only wear once before it's outdated? Accessories typically cost much less than apparel and you can also get much more use out of them before the trend fades away. Stay trendy yet not utterly broke by incorporating trends into your wardrobe through accessories.
5. Try to DIY that item you're lusting after instead of spending big bucks on it. Need some DIY ideas? Browse Pinterest or the countless DIY fashion blogs out there like a pair & a spare.
6. However, invest in items that you KNOW will become wardrobe essentials. One time, I read something about calculating the cost per wear when purchasing something: you should estimate how many times you'll use/wear it and divide the cost of the item by the number of estimated wears for the cost/wear. That idea has really stuck with me and I think it's great to follow that idea. That $20 shirt at Forever 21 that you eh-kinda like? If you're only going to wear it once, it basically costs you $20/wear. Those $200 Jeffrey Campbells that you're drooling over? If you wear them 10 times, the cost/wear is already equal to that blah Forever 21 top. Investing in items that you know will become wardrobe staples really is worth it.
7. Browse Instagram, Pinterest and fashion blogs for outfit ideas. Discover new, creative ways to style pieces that you already own!
Do you all have any money saving style tips of your own to share? Comment below!
