Watching Fashion Trends Is Frugal
Integral to my frugal wardrobe strategy is awareness of the ebb and flow of fashion cycles. Not the little here-today, gone-tomorrow fads (like ponchos), although I have no objection to wearing one when it suits the wearer.
What am I looking for? I’m looking for classic pieces that are becoming popular, such as pretty flats. And I’m looking for major silhouette movement, like the return of narrow jeans. And, last but not least, I am looking for the pieces that work within MY idiom.
How I use this information to save money:
- Emerging looks: When a look is very fresh, it will often show up in final clearance at major stores. Buy it now, wear it for a really long time! Some items, such as a white dress shirt, are worth actually paying for at this point. (That’s hard for me, but there’s always my birthday.)
- Established looks: Once a look becomes popular, it becomes more difficult to find inexpensively. Sometimes I will find it at a thrift store (usually off-season), but more often it’s Old Navy or wait. Typically I choose wait.
- Saturated looks: When it’s everywhere, the handwriting is on the wall. A decision needs to be made: is this something I want in my permanent wardrobe? If not, and it’s still in good condition, I sell it on consignment, usually for more than I paid.
While I don’t always have to have all the latest styles, I do want to dress like myself. Myself really doesn’t like to look OUT of style.
Thoughts?
Great post, Rebecca. Very clever; pertinent, too. Myself doesn’t like to look out of style either!
When I used to shop the goal was to find everything uniquely different than everyone else. Now that I’m not so intent on standing out in a crowd, I still want to be uniquely me, but in a way that complements “the new look.”
So narrow jeans are the wave of the future? They have a selection at Marshall’s (at least they did last week), and I’ve thought about going in there with less than half my crew to try some on…
WOW. RIGHT ON GIRLFRIEND. THAT’S SMART. THOUGH I HATE FLATS, CROCS, ETC..GOTTA LOVE SOME PUMPS!
In the words of the Budget Fashionista blog, “dress for the life you have.” Good points, and a good way to think about it. Clothing is only getting more expensive every year, so I’d add that find the pieces you know you’ll wear for more than 10 years and invest in those - ballet flats, especially.
I’m a very classic dresser, so a lot of the pieces that I am attracted to are fairly timeless. I don’t usually ‘cave’ in to a new look until it’s here to stay, and then as you mentioned, it gets harder to find it inexpensively.
I’m excited about narrow jeans!
I read a fabulous piece today that says better than I can what my objection is to looking “good” when it’s translated to thinner and taller and younger. (sorry I don’t have the link to hand but will post it if I dig it up) I’ve never felt that way, even when I was 95 pounds.
My mother was never thin, far from it, all the years I knew her and she always looked dignified and attractive and did it with no more than 2 dresses. My father did not like pants on women and , though I have plenty of pictures of her in wide legged slacks from her single days, she gave them up.
Why I bring this up is that I’m thrilled when looks are everywhere, saturated, because I can wear the ones I choose without looking outre. So, yes, I like keeping up with the trends with a piece here and there.
How I do it comes from being able to sew. The bulk of my clothing has been from thrifting and so I’ve owned plenty of prestige brands as well as clothes that are supposed to wear like iron.
My opinion is that the same person in China who sews for Fashion Bug is sewing for Nordstroms. But in any case, I don’t want “investment” clothes or staples or basics. My basics tend to be personal to me at a given time, era.
I do a lot of my shopping for new trends at Rainbow. I have the advantage of having one within walking distance, so there’s no transportation cost or time. Much of what I buy there - and I’ve been very happy with it - I get on sale but since their prices aren’t high to begin with and their stock isn’t deep if I see something I really want I buy it before the size is gone. Some things I can’t buy there - I hate low-cut pants and when that’s all they’re showing on trend it’s useless to look through the racks. They’re not much for wool, but they have plenty for other seasons - cottons, corduroys, linen blends.
Also, I like a certain elegance to my clothing and I like to contrast something a little tougher with that and they’re very good for street fashion. The few “classics” I want I can get from thrifts.
I also try not to buy very much at a season’s end clearance unless it’s in a color that I will carry through that looks appropriate for the next season. So some summer clearance items I bought, I bought in fall colors.
“Looking back through some of the books I’ve collected over the years got me to thinking about how we define “flattering.”
Probably 95% of that definition is “that which makes the wearer appear closest to the cultural ideal,” which for the majority of us means that which makes us appear thinner, taller and younger. ”
http://unefemmeduncertainage.blogspot.com/2007/08/flattery-will-get-you-everywherealmost.html
Also Erin of DressADay on tiers:
“And do you know what? If you’re going to leave a comment that all those tiers would make you look OMG FAT!!!!, please don’t bother. There is more to life than the bogus imperative to minimize your apparent body weight at all times. Just for a minute, put down that burden, okay? Think about how that gorgeous fabric would FEEL. Think about how it would SOUND. Think about how you would MOVE in it, where you would GO in it, what you would put in the POCKETS, even, and not on some imagined optical illusion of a few more inches here or there”
http://www.dressaday.com/2007/09/tiers-of-joy.html
I’ve been thinking alot about narrow jeans and I just think they look better. Not on everybody, but on me they do. In The Triumph of Individual Style one of the leg lengthening techniques is to wear tapered pants. In my opinion they create a longer, straighter leg line. Of course, this must vary with different shapes.
“that which makes the wearer appear closest to the cultural ideal” - good link! It seems also that the
experts” are not using universal principles to come up with their advice, but instead are trying to reason why everyone should wear what they deem is in style. Like bootcut jeans and pointy shoes.
That’s an interesting perspective. Obviously classic “investment” pieces usually end up being the more frugal choice, in that you only buy it once and don’t have to constantly replace it. (Although that doesn’t change the fact that however well the math works out, sometimes the money *just isn’t there* to make that expensive but lasting purchase.) But I never really thought about watching trends to see what might *become* classic. Interesting post and some great comments!
Interesting about the tapered pants. We’re all supposed to throw them out
but I don’t think they’re at all so bad as they say. I have a great fitting pair of pants that are Worthington from Penney’s and when I tried to figure out what made them look so good I laid them out flat and took a close look and by golly the legs were tapered.
And real pointy toed shoes look awful on me. Everything else about me is blunted. I definitely would look as though I were wearing someone else’s shoes.
forgot to say: this is wonderfully thought out system. Are you going to submit it to a Fabulous Festival?
Thanks Vildy! I would, but the next fabulous festival has the theme black. I wonder if it would be cheating to submit two?
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