1. Know what is more valuable
Dress vs. Shoes. Hmm...First of all, the straight out answer here is to splurge on the shoes and not the dress. How many functions are you going to wear this satin gown to? Maybe if you're a business woman who is in dresses everyday, you can splurge on one. But you can get a bunch of them for that one price of the dress. You need to shell out the big ones for the shoes-not only because you have to wear them everyday, but also because a good pair of shoes is good to the feet. Remember that. Find a pair or two that you can mix and match with your outfits to fit perfectly-maybe on pair of heels (not glossy) and flats. Same thing goes for shoes vs. bags. I know a place on the Ave. where you can find all purses, wallets and clutches for $30-$50, give or take. They look amazing and you won't tell the difference from the real thing if it's a name brand. If you haven't the slightest idea where the ave is, head on over to bagborroworsteal.com where you can rent legit namebrand purses, jewelry and more.
This $34.99 dress from pinkice.com will look just as good with these $325 shoes from Piperlime.com as a vintage Versace mini dress would.
2. Mix your outfits with Namebrand and $10 store. Now that you know which item you should spend more on than the other (although if you can find both at your price range, go for it!) it's time to put them together. More than likely, you won't be able to tell the difference between the two! All you need is one item. And the SMARTER lady will buy an expensive piece that is versatile. Not only does her $10 pieces look as good, but she can take this $300 piece and wear it with numerous items. Most cheap pieces are versatile, so you'll have no problem making 5 outfits with them and that pricey piece. Of course, everyone isn't the SMARTER shopper, they're just smart, but still know a buy when they see it. A dumb shopper might take all of their income tax return to buy a lime green pasiley tank top and scratch the lint of her jeans to buy a $9.99 belt to match it. Ha!
Jeans? $262 True Religions, nordstrom.com Plaid shirt: $39.50 from Delias.com. Shirt comes in six colors and is what you can get six of for the fraction of these jeans. The jeans, however, will go with all six shirts and any other items you have at home, already.
3.Don't let trends fool you. Some trends have been out for years! And because some celelb comes along and decides they want to start wearing it, well, that trend comes back, and stores think it's alright to hike up the price on it. If you see a sweater dress in one of your favorite thrifty stores for $52, chances are you're about to be "bought". Dumb shoppers will think since it's the most expensive thing in here, it must be namebrand or high quality! Something like that. Pay attention to the price tag, also. If it says "was $100" or something like that, and you know this store doesn't even have anything that high, chances are it was "100"-at a different store. Head on down to Price Mart or even Wal-Mart where you know you can find great fashions at low prices.
The first dress is from Nordstrom and is $128.90. The second is an amiclubwear.com favorite and is $22.99. But wait, that isn't fair! The cheap one has too much style. That's because most thrifty items are nicer, real down-to-earth people wear them day to day so they have to be fashionable! Okay, let me show you a cheap, plain sweater dress that has become a favorite trend over time.
4. Don't worry about perfect matching. If you found some rare colored shirt for $30 or $9.99, don't worry about finding shoes to match it exactly! Find something in that color range. Besides, contrast gives an exciting look and perfect matching can be, well, boring and pricey. If it's not pricey, wit will be in the long run. The smart will think- if it's rare (I haven't seen it anywhere) and it took me this long to find something that even kind of matches it, when I try to find something to go with it next time, it'll be a hassle. I'll spend a lot of money on a whole bunch of items to match this perfectly and still have nothing to wear it with! Shopping will become a hassle and when you do find something perfectly matched, you won't matter what the price is because no one else has it, right? Wrong. If it's a pair of pants, you might think you have a problem. Dark magenta jeans and a light pink blouse will look just as enticing. Perfect matching will make you lose money- you'll have a weird colored shirt at home and nothing to wear it with-you have a huge problem with wearing something in the same family and not exact! So that poor T-Shirt is home and you've spent your money on it. Don't!
EXTRA TIP FOR SMARTER SHOPPERS: We don't let colors get us down. Smarter shoppers will snatch that pretty colored shirt up and find patterned shoes that have a hint of it in them. Or if it's a blouse, find a basic cami to layer under it that is a shade darker or lighter. Let it peek out from underneath to create interest, or open up the blouse for a full effect! No matter what piece that's a rare color- find something that will compliment the piece as a whole and not just the color. If the piece is patterned, you're in luck-just find something simple with ONE COLOR that's in the pattern to both take away interest from that rare color and draw your eye to it, at the same time.
Can you tell they're not the same blue? Scoopneck top, $16.50 from Delias.com . Zebra Ballet Flats $34.50 from Delias.com
Where's that tiny green stripe from the shirt? Who knows, who cares? The darker shade of green jeans add interest and excitement! Abstract shapes tee $12.80 from Forever 21. Kelly Green colored jeans $49.50 (buy one, get one half off) delias.com ... She even has on lime green sandals with those dark green skinnies! She's brilliant!
5. Buy versatile items. Purchase things that you could wear with a braided belt on Monday and high, glossy heels on Friday for a night out on town. Or buy a belt that would go with your dark blue jeans and a blouse as it would with a short party dress.
Both belts from PinkIce.com Belt on left $19.99 On right $12.99
You can wear this dress with black, grey, light pink, magenta, purple, lavender or white shoes! $24.80 from Forver 21. The belt can dress up a pair of jeans or add fashion to a plain, black suit dress. $3.50 from Forever 21.
Try pairing this Ribbed V-cut shirt $9.99 from PinkIce (many different colors) with these two skirts! Both are stunning looks.
Grey denim mini skirt form Forever 21 $16.90
Floral Flow Skirt from Forever 21 $17.80
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