If you follow me on Instagram (or if you don’t, you should get on that @quotingkaylyn) you would know I am a savvy shopper – to say the least. I am always on the hunt for deals. After all, it’s tough to be in love with fashion when you’re balling on a budget, am I right? Luckily, after working in retail for three years, I now consider myself a certified shopping expert.
This back to school season the main things I had my eyes on were all designer brand items near/over $100, of course. The ever so lovely designer items tugging at my heart most recently were the Steve Madden suede lace up heels ($90) and the Julie Vos coin necklace ($165)
Mission #1 : find dupes for the designer items
My go to store for designer inspired shoes is always Target – cute, good quality, and affordable. I found the suede lace up shoes that look EXACTLY like the Steve Madden ones. Only – wait for it – they were $27.99 at Target!! (Plus I got them during tax free which is like an extra little bonus)
shoes pictured below
The Julie Vos necklace was a little bit trickier to find. I ended up finding a look-a-like at a local boutique for $20 (yes, I did cry a little). Finding that necklace was a direct reflection of Jesus’ love for me, im sure of it. So basically if you’re ever looking for designer jewelry always check out your local boutiques, they’re sure to have the fake versions or at the least something in the same style. Side note: if anyone ever finds a dupe for the Julie Vos coin ring hmu seriously.
necklace, shoes, and $3 shorts pictured below
Mission #2: buy full priced items
If you learn anything from this please let it be to NEVER (literally never) BUY FULL PRICED ITEMS!
Here’s a secret –EVERYTHING goes on sale. Have you ever bought something then gone back to the same store and it’s been put on super sale? *eye roll* Stores constantly get new merchandise in. Typically they get new merchandise in quicker than the can push out the last shipment. So in order to compensate for the space needed they put things on sale.
The main stores this rule applies to are:
I will NEVER buy anything full priced at these stores. They have their newest clothes out and full priced for about 2-4 weeks until the put it on sale. But if you ‘must’ have it right away then sign up for their emails. I swear y’all Gap and Old Navy send me an email everyday saying “40% off your purchase today only.”
I just bought a pair of pink shorts (pictured above) from Gap that I was eyeing all summer. They were on the sale rack for $3 – that’s not a typo, I meant t h r e e dollars!
Mission #3: learn how to work the web
This step has helped me out tremendously recently. Shopping at local boutiques I can easily pick out items that would add up to a thousand dollar total.
1. Go home and google the item to see if it’s cheaper anywhere else.
I just got a purse that was $20 at Nordstrom yet $43 at the store I discovered it at.
2. Check out Shein.com for boutique clothing (disclaimer: allow two weeks for shipping – thank China y’all)
3. Follow bloggers who have your same style to see where they are getting their reasonably priced items – it’s legit what they do for a living.
$20 purse pictured below
