How to save when shopping for clothes but still dress fashionable
Written on January 5, 2012 – 8:00 pm | by squeezer
Wearing clothing is a fact of life. You would be looked upon as strange (or worse) if you showed up to work or a social event without any clothes on. But that does not mean that you have to spend thousands on your wardrobe to look your best. I will provide you with tips you can use when shopping for clothes that will save you large sums of money. There are several types of stores that you can purchase clothes at that I will address and give tips on ways to save. The stores include department stores, discount retailers, discount clothing stores, and thrift stores.
One of the most important factors when attempting to save money on clothes is to know that clothing is seasonal. There are four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Spring includes short sleeve shirts and shorts, usually mixed with light or pastel colors. Summer includes most spring attire in addition to swimsuits, beach clothing, and flip flop shoes. Fall brings us long pants and long sleeve items. Winter clothing will include fall attire but bring us thick coats and thicker fabrics such as flannel. You may ask how can you use this knowledge to your advantage? Furthermore, I will present you tips and information you can use to find clothes at their lowest prices.
The next season’s clothing is brought out two months before the seasons starts, and at the same time the current season’s items are placed on clearance. For example, spring does not start until March, but stores are now bringing out their spring attire and placing winter items such as coats on clearance. However, it is still cold outside, and will be for another two months, so now is the perfect opportunity to buy a coat on clearance. Now that spring attire is coming out, it will be at its highest prices, so it is best to wait on purchasing spring attire. Another example is swim suits. Usually these are put on racks in April, but if you can wait to early July they are discounted heavily, and in most areas pool and beach season lasts into September.
Always shop the clearance racks. Not all stores have clearance racks, namely discount retailers, but department stores almost always have a clearance isle or section. When you walk into a department store, always head for the clearance rack. You will find items marked down 60-90% on clearance racks. Usually this rack is tucked in a back corner somewhere because stores place the most marked up and newest items towards the front entrances of the store.
Sign up for department store email lists. Where I live there are a handful of department stores, namely: Belks, JC Penny, Dillards, Kohls, and Burlington Coat Factory. If you visiting the website of each retailer you will see on their home page they have a sign up for their email list or updates. Be sure to join each! You will receive 1 or 2 emails a week from each retailer that may contain percent-off coupons. Some times the coupons do not exclude clearance items which means you can get an additional 10-20% off of clearance items that are all ready marked down 60-90%. Not all email coupons apply to clearance items, so be sure to check the fine print. Belk coupons usually exclude red dot and clearance items, but not always. Kohls recently changed their coupons so that getting the discount requires the use of a Kohls store card, except their latest coupon a week before Christmas gave 15% off even to non-Kohls card holders, so reading the fine print on who can use the coupon and what it includes is crucial. JC Penny, Dillards, and Burlington Coat Factory email percent-off coupons almost always include clearance items.
Sign up for store cards. This carries some risk. It requires that you have good credit and can manage your money well. Store cards are credit cards that can only be used at that store chain, and the cards carry interest rates if you do not pay the balance in full monthly like on a traditional credit card. However, most stores offer 10% off and additional coupons by postal or email available only to card holders. Or, as in the Kohls example above, you may only be able to use coupons if you are a store card holder.
Check your local newspaper. Department stores may have sales flyers/inserts in your local newspaper with coupons. Many newspapers are putting their sales flyers/inserts online, so you can check them online and print out coupons contained in sales flyers as needed.
Shop at discount clothing stores. These include retailers such as TJ Maxx and Ross. They carry the same name brand clothes that you would find at a department store, only their prices are less. This is because they buy manufacturer over runs, left over department store inventory, or have lines that are made exclusively for them. Like department stores, they have sales newsletters that you can sign up for, and have clearance racks.
Shop at bargain bin clothing stores. In my area there are two retailers, 1/2 of a 1/2 and Hudsons, which sell clothes. 1/2 of a 1/2 buys manufacturer errors and overruns, department stores that have went out of business, and close outs. As name of this store implies, most items here cost only 25% of what they would at a department store. I check this store often because they are on a $3/6/9/12/15 pricing scale based upon the color of the tag on the shirt. At this store I have to look at clothes carefully before purchasing because they may have rips from when they were caught in machinery, have ink blotches or grease stains from problems in the manufacturing process, or other similar problems. After examing clothes closely, great deals can be had at 1/2 of a 1/2. Hudsons buys the entire inventory of stores that have flooded, caught fire, mudslides, and other similar disasters. Usually I do not have problems with the clothes here because they came from department store racks, but I have seen mudslide covered clothing here as well. Usually you can obviously tell if there is a problem with the clothing or if it is in perfect order.
Shop at general discount retailers. Walmart, Freds, Roses, and Dollar General all carry new clothing. Walmart quality is slightly less than department stores, but has their own private-label and national brands. Walmart has Wrangler which is well known and sold in other stores and as good quality, as well as their in-house Puritan and George lines. Puritan is the less expensive line and George is the more expensive line. I notice that fabrics on Walmarts clothes are thinner than at department stores, but the stitching is usually similar to department store clothing. Feds, Roses, and Dollar General carry clothes as well, and usually, but not always, the quality is sub-standard when compared to department stores. Usually the fabric is more fuzzy or the colors not as bright. But, this is not always the case, and the prices are usually $10 or less for items, so spending your time is worth looking at what these stores carry. You may find a gem mixed in with everything else they carry.
Shop at thrift stores and garage sales. Thrift stores include the Salvation Army, Goodwill, and local thrift stores. Garage sales can be found on your local craigslist or in your local newspaper. Items can be hit or miss here. The lady, man, or children in the family may not be your size at all and clothing can be anywhere from like new to well used. Also these stores and garage sales are often cash-only, so there is not the ability to use debit or credit cards while shopping. Since items are used at these sources, be sure to wash your clothes before you wear them. You may find some really nice, name brand, or expensive clothes at rock bottom prices using these options.
I hope reading this has taught you something new, and that you can use what you have learned to make smarter decisions when purchasing clothes. Using these tactics you should be able to routinely purchase quality shirts, pants, and other attire for substantially less than the non-discounted price at a department store.
Tags: clothing
4 Responses to “How to save when shopping for clothes but still dress fashionable”
By todays date on Jan 24, 2012 | Reply
I wish I could’ve been in the room when the History Channel decided to focus less on history and more on Nostradamus and pawn shops.