Cardigan Empire

Salt Lake City Fashion Stylist

Back to School Outfits for Under $10

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Watch the video clip on Sonoran Living

If they don’t grow out of it in six months, they’ve worn through it in three.  It’s difficult to get a respectable cost per wear on your minor’s wardrobe.  But there is a solution you may not have considered. One of the best ways to save money on kid’s clothes is shopping gently used or thrifted pieces.  Feeling a little intimidated?  Here are my expert tips for walking out with a covetable haul instead of a colossal headache.

  1.  Go in with your filter on.  Are you shopping for a certain child, a category of clothing, or a particular season?  If you’ve identified what you’re looking for, the thrifting process is a lot less exhausting.  It saves you from having to make decision after decision on each individual piece of clothing.  This first step should eliminate at least 80% of clothing from your consideration set.
  2. Use both hands and eyes.  Thrift store shopping is not for browsers.  Each piece is unique, so you can’t stand back and scan.  Step up and start sorting.  Quickly inventory each piece, be quick but thorough.
  3. Compare and conquer.  Since most thrift stores only offer exchanges of items, and it can be difficult to thrift shop with impatient children.  Bring a pair of pants, a shirt, a dress, in other words a small wardrobe that fits.  Then compare these pieces to what you’re considering.  You can’t always trust the size printed on the tag.  Different brands fit differently and perhaps the garment has shrunk, stretched, or wasn’t true to size to begin with.
  4. Don’t be afraid to cross departments.  look in the boys department when you’re shopping for a girl or in the women’s department for hidden teenager treasures.  Sometimes items get mis-sorted, misplaced, or are gender/generation neutral to begin with.  Some of your best finds might be hidden in the wrong spot.
  5. Shop often.  Rather than expecting to get a year or even a season’s worth of clothing in a single visit, aim for an outfit or two.  The Deseret Industries in Avondale puts out 2,000 items a day on average.  Which means it’s a different store every time you enter it.  Be willing to stop back in regularly to see what new items have arrived. I prefer the DI because their prices are always low.  I don’t have to wait for sales, instead I can stop in whatever day is most convenient for my schedule.

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Hopefully this helps you find a few more outfits for a few less dollars as you send the kids back to school.  For my segment on Sonoran Living, I found all the kids’ clothes from accessories to shoes at Deseret Industries and each outfit was under $10.

 

When to Save, When to Splurge

Most Americans only wear one third of their closet. So remove three crisp dollar bills from your pocketbook, and fling two of them into the nearest mall fountain.  Or cease wishing and minimize your closet to an exclusive collection of 9’s and 10’s.  Rather than settling for a plethora of underworn 5’s and 6’s, aim for less clothing and more wear.  Make your closet contents work harder so getting dressed is easy.

Your closet resuscitation starts by evaluating each item using this formula: 

Cost Per Wear = Cost of the item/# of times you will wear it

You can justify spending more on an individual item if you’ll be able to spread the cost across a large number of wears.  Conversely even a bargain bin salvage can be a waste of money if it is only worn once, twice, or not at all.

This single philosophy guides the acquisition of the following items, delineating the line between pinching pennies or investing dollars:

You can also identify whether an item is worth the cost, by reviewing it from the following angles:

Cloth:  Synthetic fibers (polyester, rayon, viscose, nylon, etc) cost less but the fabric tends to go flabby rapidly. Higher quality, natural fabrics like cotton, silk, wool and linen hold their shape longer, fit better, and cost more.  Check the tag and don’t pay premium prices for sloppy fabrics which won’t serve as loyally as their natural counterparts.  The same principle applies in accessories.  Opt for real leather in your shoes, belts, and handbags.  Faux pleather and its counterfeit cousins will leave you sweaty, stinky, and shabby.

Color: Save on white.  Even with fastidious care, it’s going to expire before you can extract an extensive number of wears.  Black is also a safe haven for saving.  Dark hues not only hide flaws in the figure, but flaws in fabric and construction.

Composition: It’s easier to buy a bargain solid that transcends it’s price tag, than a print.  Not only because the overall motif can lack sophistication, but also because no one took the time to match up the scene across seams.  Some argue that you should invest exclusively in neutrals and basics.  Others (myself included) counter than basics are easy to find and replace as needed, while truly special pieces are difficult to duplicate on a cheap level.  In reality it depends on your signature style.  If you’re a traditional loyalist, invest in your basics.  If you’re romantic or dramatic, you may want to save your budget for speciality.  Either way, invest in what you will wear and love the most.

Cut: Circle skirts and pullover tunic tops can be constructed in sewing 101, so you don’t stand a high risk of fashion malfunction by acquiring them cheaply.  But start adding buttons, zippers, and seams and an item can quickly spiral into shoddy.   This is especially true when dressing your most dramatic body area.  If you are a lower figure or hourglass, you need to be willing to invest in pants which drape rather than cling and offer enough substance to cloak cellulite and saddlebags.  If you’re an upper or middle figure, allocate dollars in favor of a quality jacket.  It will bring your top half into balance and streamline your bust, center, and love handles simultaneously.

Once you’ve identified your a “ten” scoring item, employ these additional saving strategies to get at the lowest price possible: Price Adjust, wait for Markdowns, shop end of season

Where do you save and where do you spend?
Please share in the comments.
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