discovered: shopping on a budget

okay so I know that I’m plunging into new territory here and that outfit posts are a dime a dozen. but shopping is also one of my favorite past-times (unfortunately) and I’ve never tried to make an outfit layout like this before and thought it would be a lot of fun. turns out I was right! there’s nothing very special about these summer outfits but I enjoyed putting them together and that’s what blogging is all about. they’re also both under $75.

this first outfit is from h&m. nearly all of my clothes shopping is done online right now, and I find it much easier to sort out what items are the best value and exactly what I’m looking for. shopping in person is so distracting and it’s nearly impossible to see every item in the store, and usually the selection isn’t as good as online… plus other people have tried the clothes on and rumpled them up and put them back in the wrong place and gotten deodorant on them etc. blegh. anyways I know h&m isn’t always considered the best quality, but in my experience if I don’t wash items in unnecessarily harsh conditions and generally treat them nicely like things I plan on having for awhile, and not like disposable clothes, they last a long time considering how cheap they are. (people say things like that about ikea, that they make “disposable furniture”… I find that ridiculous. yes their furniture isn’t going to be a huge investment for most people and some of their cheaper stuff isn’t the highest quality, but if you don’t treat it like it’s disposable then it’ll last you. and a $500 couch isn’t disposable! for the most part their stuff seems to be crafted with care and good quality for how lightweight it is and the fact that it is built to be a bargain.) okay back to clothes… the main thing I don’t like about h&m is the shipping charge. $5.95 really adds up after you’ve ordered, returned, requested an exchange, etc. but for the most part I can weasel enough discount codes and sale items into my cart that it evens out. I also like that h&m is pretty trendy with their new stuff so if I want to try out something iffy, it isn’t a huge risk.

outfit one: tank $10, shorts $13, shopper $25, necklace $8, sandals $15

for this outfit I drew from gap and asos’s sale sections and h&m’s regular section. this is obviously a little less casual than shorts and a tank top and could be adapted for a more professional situation.

in the past, I’ve seen outfits posts that were less than $100 or less than $75 and I thought, geez, that’s still not very affordable… but in reality it’s hard to build an outfit that isn’t total crap for less than $75, including one or two accessories. plus things you already own can be combined with new pieces for a variety of looks without spending more. I guess when I shop I usually focus on several different styles of individual items that can fit with what I already own, rather than building looks… also I feel like it spreads out the “new” if I get a couple pairs of shorts and a few shirts, for example, to wear interchangeably with each other and old clothes than a whole outfit that wears the new all at once. that’s pretty silly now that I think about it 🙂

maybe I should also disclose that actually, my closet is mostly grays and blacks, so these looks are unusually colorful for me! it’s good to step out of the monochrome box every once and awhile.

outfit two: dress $35, espadrilles $20, belt $10, aviators $8