FASHION - How to save money on clothes & accessories

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Summary - 

Without wanting to toot my own horn, let’s just say, I certainly know a thing or two about how to save money on clothes & accessories. This is a given though after spending so many years shopping both in store & online for women worldwide. Want to know how I do it?

Things I Mention - 

  • Why shopping online is more efficient than shopping in a store, even with the odd return. 

  • Why we need to give our existing clothes & accessories more TLC

  • How to increase the cost per wear of your clothes

  • What I believe every woman should prioritise before they hit the shops

PLUS, I share 3x game-changing apps & sites that will change the way you shop FOREVER.

Links & Helpful Resources - 

Make sure you hit SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss out on any of my practical tips & tricks and if you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a rating and a review? Thanks!

Now this is my arena - and without wanting to toot my own horn, this is the area I excel in because I am so passionate about it.  In fact, I can feel my heart racing with excitement just starting this episode - how to save money on clothes & accessories. 

I love clothes & accessories - I couldn’t have said that any clearer or more open & honestly but you know what, I also love having money in my bank account because I also love having a nice roof over my head, a thriving career and being able to give my kids as many opportunities as I can. So not blowing my entire salary on clothes & accessories is important to me, even though they are my one true love. 

For years, I offered my clients both an in-store and online shopping service which were one of my most popular services - I literally got paid to shop for other women  (by the way - I still offer the online shopping service, just in a less formal way as part of my 1:1 coaching service). Needless to say, I know a thing or two about shopping and how to shop successfully with a strict budget in tow. In this episode, I’m going to spill some of my secrets because the only thing I love more than clothes & accessories is knowing I’ve purchased them strategically and with purpose and I want you to experience how good that feels too.

So my first secret is to - 

Shop Online

I spent the first few years of my styling career shopping in centres and bricks & mortar stores and personally I've found that shopping online is much more efficient for so many reasons, especially in the long term.

It's actually impossible to hunt down the same number of potential options in a shopping centre as you can online, so the chances of having to settle for an outfit that is "less than perfect", is much higher in a physical store and can often end in regret. It also heavily reduces the risk of impulse buying which is 100% guaranteed if a sales assistant has their eyes on you. 

Not to mention, finding the best price and sticking to a budget is ten times easier online because you can filter your search to suit your budget. Lastly, trying to locate exactly what you want/ need (I’m talking specific clothing styles and colours) can be very difficult when shopping centres & stores are flooded with clothes & accessories that are simply considered to be 'on trend'. Trying to locate the exact thing you want is no different to trying to find a needle in a haystack. 

Now I know what you’re thinking because 100% of my clients had the same thought initially - what about the returns? It’s hard to know what size I’ll be when shopping online?

Let me start off by repeating what I said earlier - shopping online is much more efficient, especially in the long term. I said this for a reason because it does take time to master the art of online shopping but it can be done if you are willing to have some returns when you first start out. 

To shop online successfully, I find it works best to have a good handful of brands or stores that offer a good selection of clothes & accessories that you love and be loyal to those brands and stores. 

After placing your first few orders, yes you might need to return a few things but eventually you will start to work out how each brands clothes fit on your body shape and whether or not their clothes are true to size for you or if you are best to go up or down a size. This takes a few orders to work this out - orders that include different clothes too (such as tops, dresses, pants etc.) but like I said, in the long term - you’ll be MUCH better off for it and be able to shop with little to no returns in the future. 

Once you know how to navigate the web and can shop online with confidence, the benefits far outweigh shopping in a centre or store. 

Use Browser Extensions/ Money Saving Sites

There are 3 secret weapons that I use when online shopping for both myself and my clients. 

Honey is 1 of those - Honey is a browser extension or add-on, that can save you money by automatically searching for discounts on most of your favourite shopping sites. It's available for all of the major web browsers (such as chrome, firefox, internet explorer, safari) and it's a lot easier than manually sifting through coupon sites. As you go to checkout and buy your item, a little pop-up appears and asks if you’d like Honey to track down all available discount codes. If it finds a discount code, it will automatically apply that discount to your order. I have saved so much money by using Honey. 

Shoptagr is another good browser extension. It works a little differently to Honey in that you just let it know which item you are looking to purchase and it notifies you the instant there’s a better price available on the product you can’t stop thinking about. I use this one mostly for investment items that I’m happy to sit on until the price drops which let me tell you, it ALWAYS does. 

Another favourite money saver of mine is Shopback. Now I hate mentioning Shopback because it’s been plugged so many times by online influencers but rest assured, this is not sponsored and I’m not getting paid to mention this but I do use it personally mostly for online grocery shopping actually but I do use it when shopping with The Iconic, ASOS, Myer, David Jones - there are literally hundreds of stores available on Shopback. 

Shopback works in the exact same way as the name suggests - you shop online as you would usually and you are given cash back after your order is confirmed. Each brand/ store offers a certain % off your total order. For instance, The Iconic offers 3.5% cash back so just say your order total is $100, you’ll receive $3.50 back. I know this doesn’t sound like a lot but it all adds up. I’ve been using Shopback for about 12 months now and just through Woolworths alone, I’ve received $155 back. 

Some stores offer quite a high percentage back to, so check this one out if there are certain brands/ stores that you shop with on a regular basis. 

Re-purpose Clothes

I honestly wish more women did this but I do understand how easy it is NOT to do this and just go out and buy something cheap and cheerful. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you will know that I often share some of my favourite products for re-purposing my favourite clothes. Because I’m quite a strategic shopper and really plan what I buy, I get quite attached to the items that I do invest in so I put the time & energy into restoring them back to their original condition. 

A few things that I do every 6 - 12 months is to re-dye my black clothes black. I wear a lot of black but regular washing and general wear and tear can make them fade so I just re-dye them and they always come up as black as black can be. Another little tip to prolong them fading is to hang your black clothes inside/ out when drying so the sun doesn’t speed up the fading process. 

I also like to brighten my whites to make sure all of my white clothes are stark white and I don’t hang my whites inside/ out because the sun actually works in your favour to brighten whites. 

Two other things I do more regularly are to remove spot stains with some good old fashioned elbow grease when needed and finally I wash my swimwear by hand using a swimwear wash. I used to be the manager of a swimwear store and we stocked our own brand however I know Seafolly has their own solution and Suit Saver is another great product. This essentially just helps to remove chlorine, extend the life of your swimsuit by keeping the elastic in tact and keeps the colour as is. 

I think re-purposing clothes is often overlooked or simply just forgotten about but spend a few dollars on restoring items back to the way they were when you purchased them and you can easily get an extra few years of wear out of them. 

Wear Your Clothes 

This sounds crazy but did you know that women wear 20% of their clothes, 80% of the time - that’s a very large percentage just hanging in the wardrobe collecting dust. Reduce the cost per wear of your clothes & accessories by wearing them over and over and over again until they are unwearable. Don’t buy clothes & accessories that you don’t absolutely love and wear those clothes & accessories to death - what’s the point in hanging onto them if not?!

Prioritise Wardrobe Staples

Nothing new from me with this one - most of you will already know that I am BIG on Wardrobe Staples. I believe that stocking up on wardrobe staples BEFORE buying anything else should be a priority for everyone. 

Wardrobe staples are the foundation of your wardrobe, the glue, the back-bone if you wish. Without them, your wardrobe will lack versatility, you’ll struggle to piece together outfits and you’ll waste a lot of money. You’ll end up buying new clothes because you are sick of the ones you have but really you just need a few wardrobe staples to be able to wear the clothes that you already own but wear them differently and in a more exciting way. 

Early on in my styling career, I created a list of items that I believe every woman should own to save money and increase the versatility of their wardrobe. This is a sort-after document and something I get asked to share for FREE quite a lot. Because I love my podcast family so much, I’m going to share this one with you. To download your copy visit www.elishacasagrande.com.au/wardrobestaples or browse the show notes and I’ll include a link for you there. Please don’t grab & dash though - this took a really long time to compile and all I ask in return is that you stay in touch, let me know what you think and don’t be a stranger online - reach out, introduce yourself to me and spark up a conversation. It would mean the world to me. 

Elisha CasagrandeWomens Confidence, FEEL BE LOOK, Confidence, Adam Galinsky, Brisbane Personal Stylist, Online Personal Stylist, Styling Tips, Outfit Styling, Clothes Pyschology, Fashion Psychology, Style Rut, Fashion Tips, Styling Advice, Shopping Budget, Fashion Budget, Shoptagr, Honey App, Repurpose Clothes, Seafolly, Shopback, Online Shopping