SAVING MONEY ON CLOTHING

by Nikki Willhite

Manage your wardrobe -Don't let it manage you.

Fashion may come and go, but the basic rules for saving money on clothing remain the same.

People waste ENORMOUS amounts of money buying clothing that they either never wear, or wear once and then discard for a variety of reasons.

A few well chosen items of clothing are far more useful than a stuffed closet of unworn garments. Most people wear a very small percentage of their clothing 80% of the time.

If you have fewer items, you will take better care of them. Your grooming will improve, as it will be easier to take care of loose buttons and keep your items pressed and clean.

Clothing is discarded because of many reasons, including comfort, color, fit and style,

What a waste. If you want to take control of your wardrobe, here are the rules.

-FIRST OF ALL - do not try to keep up with fashion. Trendy items go out of style, and you will soon tire of them. FIND YOUR OWN CLASSIC STYLE, and stick with it.

Once you know your style, it is easy to occasionally check out used clothing sources to see if they have something that meets your needs.

-KNOW THE COLORS THAT LOOK GOOD ON YOU. Now matter how comfortable a garment, or how well it fits, if a color looks bad on you, you will never wear it. The only exception to this rule is a pair of pants or a skirt, which is away from your face.

If you are having a hard time determining your colors, leave your money at home, take a friend, and go to the mall and try on clothing in a variety of colors.

Do you look better in primary colors, such as pure reds and blues, or muted tones, such as olive green? Do you need light colors near your face? Do you look better in colors with a yellow base, such as peach as opposed to pink, or do you look better in slate blue as opposed to aqua?

-RECOGNIZE QUALITY. Visit a high end clothing store to study the construction of quality garments. Look inside at the seams, and at the construction details. Then check out the clothing at a discount store and compare. Know what you are buying.

-WEAR SEPARATES. You can get by with a very limited wardrobe if you make use of blouses, skirts, vests, sweaters, pants and blazers, which can all be mixed and matched.

-AVOID SEASONAL CLOTHING. Wool and seersucker can only be worn in a limited time frame. Get more use out of your wardrobe by buying clothing that can be worn year round, such as garments constructed from a medium weight cotton,

-BUY YOUR BASICS IN CLASSIC COLORS. Choose a color for your basic pieces, such as skirts, jackets and pants. Pick 2 colors, one for winter, and one for the warmer weather.

Basics are colors like black, burgundy, tan, grey and white. These are colors that blend with many other colors.

All of your sweaters, blouses and vests should mix with your basics. If you keep your basics neutral, you can be more colorful with the rest of the items in your wardrobe.

-SPEND MONEY TO BUY QUALITY BASICS. The foundation of your wardrobe, your basic pieces, should have classic lines so they will last a long time. Then, if you want to be more trendy, you can do it with a blouse or sweater that will not cost as much money, or last as long.

-NEVER BUY ANYTHING THAT IS UNCOMFORTABLE. No matter how nice a garment looks on you, if it is uncomfortable, you will not wear it for long. In addition to tight clothing, wool can be scratchy, turtlenecks can choke you, and buttons that come undone are an embarrassing nuisance.

-DO NOT BUY ITEMS THAT NEED DRY CLEANING - you will be paying for the item over and over.

-SPEND THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF YOUR CLOTHING BUDET ON THE CLOTHES YOU WEAR THE MOST. The more times you wear an item, the more economical it becomes. Do not fill your closet up with clothes you only wear occasionally. Let the balance of your wardrobe be the clothes you wear every day.

You may be attracted to beautiful silk blouses, but if you spend your days running errands, or working at home, you are wasting your money buying unnecessary clothing.

-RESIST IMPULSE SPENDING. Curb future impulse shopping on clothing by weeding your closet of the clothing you do not wear. Go through your closet, and remove everything that you haven't worn in the last 8 months. Put it in a heap in the middle of your room.

Do a mental calculation of how much money it cost to buy all the items you are not using. Next time you are tempted to buy an item, just to have something new, or for some other emotional need, remember the heap of clothing on the floor and picture this item there also.

Donate your unused items to charity, and promise yourself that you will avoid waste in the future.

Having less is having more when it comes to a good wardrobe. Manage your wardrobe, don't let it manage you. More clothing means more laundry, more maintenance, more accessories, and more items that you decide you don't like .

When you have a lot of clothes, you will not wear them all. Why should you? You are not going to like them all equally. You will still reach for your favorite outfits most of the time, and the others will stay on their hangers until you get rid of them.

Scale down, and save!

Nikki Willhite, mother of three, and an Interior Design Graduate, is the editor of The Pennypincher E-zine and Tightwad Tidbits Daily. Visit her at All Things Frugal for more articles on saving money on clothing and other items.

This article comes from Zongoo!.com

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