How to Be A Fashionista on A Budget

Tips on how to look stylish for less.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking to some amazing ladies on how to look good for less. I wanted to share the love and document some of the tips on here too. Here are some tips on how you can be a fashionista on a budget aka how to look really stylish for less.

Invest in Quality Staple Items: For clothes that you wear often, don’t be scared to spend a little more money to get quality pieces. If you wear a black t-shirt or blouse a lot, get a quality one so you don’t have to run to the store every 15 business days because it started fading or the threads are coming out.

Shop the end of season sale: The best time to buy things discounted for the summer is during the winter months and the best time to get things for cheap for the winter months is during the summer. If you don’t care about wearing items that are in season, shop the end of season sale. Also, a lot of the popular styles typically come back in the next season.

Buy Plain Coloured Items: Plain coloured clothes are a lot easier to style than clothes with prints, patterns or designs. To get the most of your clothes, I recommend also getting your staple clothes in plain colours. E.g a black turtleneck for winter months, black t-shirt, white blouse etc.

Take Good Care of Your Clothes: This seems like common sense but I’ve lost some really nice clothes because I didn’t read the label to know how to care of the pieces. Not every item is supposed to go into the washer or dryer. Read the label before you toss it into the washing machine and dryer. If you are not sure – air dry it. Not every clothe needs to be ironed on high heat. Invest in a steamer, read the labels, dry clean if you need to and take good care of your clothes so they can last longer.

Go Thrift Shopping: You can find a lot of really nice, quality and fashionable items for cheap at the thrift store.

Accessorize, Accessorize, Accessorize!: Don’t underestimate how powerful accessories can be to your outfit. A pair of sunshades could transform your outfit from basic to WOWW. Same as a bag, scarf, jewellery or your shoes. Don’t be scared to throw on accessories, when done right, they definitely elevate your look.

Buy Clothes That Actually Fit You: I know that feeling of buying something and hoping you’ll fit in it one day or squeezing yourself into a dress because that was the only size available on sale. Don’t do it! Chances are you’ll only wear it a few times and wouldn’t be as comfortable as you would be if you got it in your size. Buying clothes that fit you means you get to wear it more and you could have it in your closet for years.

Don’t spend too much money shopping the trends: While I tend to check what is in season and follow fashion trends, I try not to let that fully determine what I’ll buy. For me, I’m all about longevity and having unique quality pieces that can stand the test of time. I’ve had most of my clothes for years and I tend to just keep building on it.

Buy Pieces that are versatile: Other than my staples, I tend to think of multiple ways to style a piece and the different occasions I can wear the piece to before I purchase it – especially if the outfit is costly. Buying pieces that are versatile gives me the opportunity to wear them in different ways and get multiple looks out of one piece – a win win!

Have A Wardrobe Sinking Fund: Have an account for your wardrobe and budget for it so you don’t need to dip into your savings or other funds to buy items you like & need. PS: You don’t have to spend all the money allocated for your wardrobe monthly. Having a sinking fund is super helpful if you plan shop end of season sales.

Sprinkle Some Confidence: That’s right! And this one is free too. You need a whole lot of confidence to be a fashionista because you could have the perfect outfit planned and either end up not wearing it because it might bring too much attention or not wearing the outfit well and comfortably. In my opinion, a good percentage of how fire your outfit is can be attributed to how confident you are in it- don’t quote me but, yes!

That’s it for this post. I hope you enjoyed this post. Please share with me some of the ways you think you can look really good on a budget.

Talk soon,

Outfit Details

Everything is old but you can find similar items here – Sweater – Zara, Jeans – TopShop, Shoes – Aldo