shopping
look better for less
WSA adsense code -->Ok, so this is inspired in part by Patrick at cashmoneylife’s post last week on dressing professionally.
I think that one of the best ways of looking better on a smaller budget is establishing which colours look best on you. For me, it’s blues, pinks, lilacs and greys. For one of my friends, it’s mustards, olives and browns. In any case now that I know which colours look best on me, I make every effort to only buy clothes, jewellery, accessories and make up in those colours.
How does this save me money?
Well, firstly if I go to the shops and there is nothing in colours that look good on me then I don’t buy anything. That saves money in itself.
By sticking strictly to my colours, I ensure that more of my wardrobe goes together. All my work tops, go with my work trousers and suits. All my casual clothes go together. All my smart clothes go with my smart shoes, and so on. This means that the number of possible outfits I have that look good together is much larger and so I need to buy fewer things.
If all the colours I have in my wardrobe suit me, then the chances are that for most occasions I can find something in my wardrobe that looks good on me. This means that I am less likely to need to buy new clothes for a special purpose.
To take advantage of this, all you need to do is work out which colours suit you and stick to them.
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Discussion
8 comments for “look better for less”
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I like that.
I’ve tried to do some of the same thing, but I’m still building my wardrobe.
Great tips, Plonkee. I find that mixing and matching items is a great way to extend your wardrobe and be creative. It will save you a lot of money if you do it from a core color grouping, and it’s even better when those colors compliment you!
Thanks for the mention.
I’ve found it pretty easy to stay dressed up for not much money at all. I’ve got 3 pairs of black dress pants, black socks, decent dress shoes, and then 5 or 6 dress-shirts of varying colors. It looks fine, I probably paid $100 for all of it. I think a lot of people make dressing up seem al ot more expensive than it actually is…
Whether dressing up is expensive depends a lot on how important it is to you, I think. Even if it is important though, you can still do it for less money.
This is good advice, and I try to do this when I go shopping. It’s important to specify the shade when picking your colors.
“Blue” can get me in a lot of trouble because I will see many items I like in varying shades of blue, tempting me to buy them all! So narrowing it down to “light baby blue only” helps the budget and allows me to concentrate on getting the proper fit and quality construction.
Great idea! I stay with the basics and mix and match. By adding a few extra ties it seems like I have more clothing. I also do not buy at expensive department stores. I buy reasonable quality.
I’ve found that the greatest key to looking nice is finding clothing that fits well. Expense isn’t important. My favorite slacks cost fifty cents at a yard sale, but they are among the most flattering items I own.
I’ve never quite figured out which colours look best on me, but I do know which colours I *like* best. (Bright red for example! Also burgundy.) It is really more simple to stick to a few colours. I also think it’s helpful to pick one or two neutral colours (for pants, shoes, etc.) like black or grey (rather than black and grey and brown and beige).