It's all about the fashion.

Shhh…I have a secret.  I’m supposed to be doing homework right now.  But I have something burning a hole somewhere deep within the creative juices of my brain that I gotta get out and share with y’all.  (By the way, if a “y’all” pops out here and there, get used to it; I’m moving to good ol’ Oklahoma soon.  And my vocabulary probably won’t have too hard of time finding its way around Tulsa.)

Okay, so…I love fashion, right?  But being a fashionista typically requires a wide variety of clothes and accessories and shoes and jewelry so that you can always have a fresh, creative outfit for every day and occasion.  And although it’s nice to think of a closet filled with all manner of lovely things, a well-stocked wardrobe costs…well, money.

I don’t know about you, but I still haven’t discovered where the money trees grow, and having gobs of pretty things aren’t really on my top list of necessities.  I mean, as long as I’m wearing something, I’m good.  Thank you very much.

How to be both a penny pincher and fashionista?

Read on, baby!
     (Disclaimer: Have I ever been to fashion school?  Umm hmmm… Not for a day.  But here are my thoughts anyway.)

One: Please. Clean out your closet.

Sound stressful?  No, no Silly, it’ll be fun!  Take a couple of hours (or a half hour on several different days if it's really bad), pull out all your clothes from the closet and drawers, and sort them out.  You know those tops that have been hanging there for a year and never make it past your front door?  This is your chance: throw that thing in the Goodwill pile, man.  And embrace the funny feeling of freedom that hits you right after it disappears into the bag.

Make a few piles: Keep, Thrift, Maybe, and No Hope.  The latter being the waste basket, of course.

Keep: “Duhh. I wear this, like, twice a week.”

Thrift: “How many times did I wear this?  Once?  They should’ve told me it turns into a different shirt after washing.”

Maybe: “If I hemmed these…and added some sequins to the butt…”

No Hope: “If I wasn’t a nice person, I’d burn that right now.”

Get the point?

After you purge your wardrobe of offensives, fold everything nicely and hang according to color and item type.  Ahhhh!  Suddenly it will be a treat to open your underwear drawer each morning.

Two: Before you head to the mall, that Maybe pile is gonna get a work-over.

I’m telling you, people, this is where it gets fun.  If you never wear it anymore, you won’t mind taking a pair of scissors to it.  Really, you won’t.

Love the print, hate the cut?  Stitch a strip of complementarily-colored fabric to cover that awkward spot.  Bored silly of solid colors all the time?  Take that plain ol’ tee shirt and that obnoxious, too-old scarf and put ‘em together in some way that is you.  Never liked those heels anyway?  They didn’t make fabric paint for no reason, honey.

But let’s be honest.  Even our best intentions at being fashion designer for a day don’t always succeed.  So if at first you don’t succeed…throw it away.  (Or give it to Goodwill, if you think your design will look good on someone else, just not you.)

Three: Now you get to go to the mall.

So your closet is clean and organized and entirely rid of all the clothes that made you sick to look at.  Now it’s time to treat your closet to a makeover!

I do enjoy a good thrift store.  And I mean that sentence in the most literal sense.  Spending two-point-five hours in a packed second-time store with nothing to show for it but a couple awkward cardigans is really not worth the headache.  So look for a thrift store that typically carries promising merchandise and frequent it to your liking.  Just make sure the store isn’t overpricing their clothes, because then it won’t really be your time, money, and sacrifice to wear used clothing (even though there is nothing wrong with that).

When you have gotten your fill of trying to turn coal into diamonds, grab a girlfriend, a Starbucks, a budget, an idea of what you want to get and happily waltz your way to your favorite stores.  Whether it’s the mall, a boutique, or a resale store like Ross, always head straight to the clearance section, deciding which current styles suit your fancy on the way there.

If you can’t find any steals on the sale rack, indulge and try on everything that catches your eye.  When you put it on, notice how it feels, how it looks.  Don’t love it?  Don’t buy it.  You’ve probably heard it before, but you’ll like it the best in the store, so if you don’t love it there, it won’t look any better hanging in your closet.

When you do find something you absolutely love, consider your investment.  Thirty-five dollars for a tee shirt?  Mmmm…depends on how much you’ll wear it.  If it’ll last for a long time and you know it will end up on your body more than the floor of your closet, then maybe you should get it.  Five dollars for a pair of basic earrings you don’t love but will wear out of necessity?  Definitely.  Especially if you don’t already have something like it.

Just stay within your budget and remember that if something is cute and cheap, it doesn’t have to last for ten years.  Only splurge on the things you enjoy the most and will wear most often.

Four: A few more shoppy things to remember.

Take risks:  Try on things that you think are cute but aren’t really your style.  You may be one sweater away from redefining your style.

Jewelry:  This stuff will spruce up an outfit like none other, so it’s good to have a lot of it on hand to throw on when nothing else works.  Look for bold and basic pieces alike, and the cheaper the better.  If it breaks, at least you only spent 3 bucks on it.

Shoes:  Shoes ain’t the cheapest outfit items, so this is a hard one.  The best penny pinching tips for shoes: find and use coupons, shop at resale and discount stores, gravitate toward pairs that can be worn pretty universally.  But every girl needs one or two pairs that don’t go with much but are super adorable, right?

Other accessories:  Scarves, hats, purses, headbands, clips, pins, hose, belts, jackets, sweaters, glasses, shades…the list is endless!  A great place to find bunches of fun accessories is thrift stores.  You aren’t going to wear that cobalt-blue-and-magenta-striped scarf everyday, so it’s worth a little hole in the corner if you bought it for a dollar.  Also, you can go to craft stores, buy some pretty fabric and lace and buttons, and make your own accessories.  It's easy and quite foolproof.

Well!  Homework awaits me.

Happy shopping dearies!  Hope my thoughts sparked some ideas of your own.

P.S. If you have some little fashion tricks, do tell… I love reading your comments!