Planning Before You Buy

When thrifting or surfing through the clearance racks, it is so easy to tell yourself, "It's okay, it's only ___ dollars." You know what I'm talking about. This is your justification for buying the thing without giving it any real thought, without looking into the future. I know it sounds dramatic when I'm talking about really inexpensive clothes, but it DOES matter.

Impulse buys can sometimes have a fairytale ending. If not quite that, they can at least make for an interesting tailoring project. But why not prevent the most likely outcome: regret. You know I'm a big advocate of just trying the clothes on, even if you are at the thrift store and, yes, even if you get all creepy-crawly about putting on used clothes. But if you plan to wear it at all, you need to know that it fits or at least has the potential to fit well after some simple alterations.

Also, plan how you will wear the piece. Do you need to make any wardrobe investments to pull it off? What I mean is, will it require you to spend even more money for it to look good? Because if you don't have pants that are the right color to go with it, or a belt to cinch it in just right, or leggings or shoes or WHATEVER, then the couple of dollars you are spending will quickly turn into a lot more as you buy more items to make the first item work. And is that really worth it?

But for more than just your wallet, you should consider purchasing or not based on your closet at home. Will this be just another faceless garment tossed into your closet to be quickly forgotten? Will it just sit by your sewing machine, waiting for you to have the time to alter it correctly? Will you bring it home only to realize you have another almost exactly like it that you haven't even worn yet? All I'm saying is, don't add more clutter to your closet that is unnecessary. Just think for a second before you buy.

Clearance Dress from Target

Sometimes I am surprised to find some really nice things on the clearance rack. Lately, I've been having a lot of luck with Target clearance. I highly recommend their clearance section.

I am always skeptical of anything found on the discount rack, and for good reason. You shouldn't buy clearance clothes without trying them on--that's my policy. A reason the item might be on clearance in the first place is because it might have a strange fit or weird fabric. You definitely won't know for sure until you see it on yourself!

So when I grabbed this dress off the rack, I didn't have high hopes but I couldn't resist--look at the price, for crying out loud!

 The dress actually fit quite well! It was definitely worth the price.

I wore my new dress with leggings, boots, a tie at the waist, and a long-sleeve shirt layered underneath. Very cozy!

Second Chance Halloween: Tina for $20!

Halloween is a WONDERFUL time to give clothes a second chance. It's great to recycle, and also great to save money on a costume. I mean, to get a cheaply made piece of crap costume that's already made, you'll probably shell out close to $50, and even then it might be missing components. This is one reason I love thrifting and looking for deals around Halloween.

Months ago I decided that I wanted to be Tina from Bob's Burgers this year. Over the coming weeks, I collected the various parts for my costume, and I'm happy to say that this costume can be made for $20. Yeah. For real!

Wig: $6, WalMart
Glasses: $5, WalMart, on clearance
Bow: $1, WalMart, on clearance
Shirt: $2, thrifted
Skirt: $4, thrifted
Socks: $2, Target (painted my own stripes)
(Shoes: already had similar ones I could have used, so I'm not counting this as part of what I purchased for the costume, but I did need some new ones so I spent like $15 on them at WalMart.)

Success!

Clearance Finds: Striped Dress

I found this dress on the clearance rack at Target yesterday. Target's a pretty good place for clearance shopping because they usually have a pretty large amount of stuff on the racks, so there's plenty to dig through, and they know what it means for something to be on clearance. Some stores say something's on clearance if it's 20 percent off. No way. That's no clearance.

This dress was was originally like 20-something bucks. I got it for less than 9. That's like a lot of percent off. (Am I good with numbers? No. Obviously not.) That's what I consider a clearance.

And before you think, "Well, come on, it's on clearance for a reason. What's wrong with it," let me assure you that it's actually totally fine. The dress is in great condition, it fits great, and I think it looks great.

I'm wearing it with a teal shirt underneath in this photo.

OBVIOUSLY there are lots of unsalvageable rejects on the clearance racks. That's why you've gotta dig. But when you find those gems like this one, it's so worth it.

Giraffe-esque Top

Oh hello Target clearance rack! What have you got for me this time?

 Yeah, so when I saw this top on clearance, I was shocked because it definitely didn't look like it belonged there. Sometimes you will find something on the clearance rack and love it tons only to realize someone just left it there and it is not on clearance at all. Also, this particular top was the only one left that I saw. It had the red clearance tag, though! I was still suspicious as I tried it on but wonder of wonders! It fit me beautifully!

 Pretty (but neutral) pattern, flowy fabric, and a nice comfortable fit. This will be just right to ease into fall outfits as the weather cools, but it's perfect for warm days, too.

...all this for under $7! I totally would have paid more for this shirt, so I'm very thrilled that I found it.

Shopping Success Tip: Try it on!

In the Shopping Success series, I'm going to offer some tips from my extensive experience surfing thrift and clearance racks. Trust me...I'm kind of a professional. I mean, I've been doing this since I was pretty much a kid so heed my words of great wisdom.

Today's installment: Try it on!

Does this outdated phone make me look fat?

 I understand that trying on clothes at the thrift store can seem kind of, well, gross to some of us. It is kind of gross in some ways if you think about it. BUT. That's what showers and lots and lots of gel hand sanitizer are for.

And just because something you found on the clearance rack is extremely cheap, it doesn't mean that it's not worth the time it takes to try it on.

Even if the item you find is really inexpensive, if you plan to wear it yourself please try it on before you buy it. Thrift store or clearance rack, this is an important rule. If you buy something because it's really cheap and find later on that it doesn't fit you well, you've wasted money that could have gone toward something you really would have liked. And, because a lot of stores have iffy return policies when it comes to thrift or clearance, you are very likely stuck with what you purchase.

Also, keep this in mind: if it's on the clearance rack or in the thrift store, it might be there for a reason. Maybe a pair of pants ended up on the clearance rack because it didn't look flattering on most people and therefore the style didn't sell well. Or perhaps a shirt at the thrift store is there because the sleeves were too tight for the previous owner. Whatever the reason, there's a decent chance the item was rejected because something about it was found to be lacking. Are YOU the one who this clothing item will magically fit? Maybe! But you need to try it on before you commit.

So suck it up, try it on, and then go home and take a shower if you feel like you need to.

DIY: Stamped Shirt

I found this cream tank top at Target last year. It was like $3 on the clearance rack, and I bought it because...you know, $3! And you can always use more basic tank tops, right?

Well, not exactly. Because almost a year later that tank was still in my closet with the tag on it.

So I finally decided that this tank top was destined for some DIY experimentation. I've wanted to try making my own stamps for decorating t-shirts, so I chose this tank to stamp.
  

I picked some fabric paint. I also got some materials for making the stamp: a piece of wood, some foam paper stuff, scissors, and glue.
                                                       

                     

    Draw out your design on the foam and cut it out. Glue your shape to the piece of wood and your stamp is ready once it's dried.
   

 

 Use a brush to paint your stamp, then press carefully but firmly onto your shirt. Do this on a flat surface, and put a piece of paper or cardboard inside the shirt to prevent the paint bleeding to the other side.

 It's done! Looks good. I will definitely be making more stamps.

DIY: Clearance Rack Dress to Skirt Transformation

This is literally one of the easiest DIYs you'll ever do. It's all about finding just the right dress to butcher.

I found this dress on the clearance rack at Kohl's a while back. This dress is a great candidate to turn into a skirt because it has a wide elastic band in the middle (which will become the waist of the skirt) and no pesky zippers or anything complicating things.

I picked a dress that was a size or two bigger than I'd actually wear, were I to actually going to wear it as a dress. Because that elastic band is meant to sit at the waist as a dress, it will be kind of small as a skirt unless you go for a bigger size--you need that elastic to fit comfortably around your hips (unless of course you want a high-waisted skirt. That's up to you!).

A great thing about this is that it doesn't matter what the top of the dress looks like because you only need to be concerned with the skirt. So even if the dress is kind of ugly or ill-fitting, it's okay! And hey, that's probably why it was on the clearance rack to begin with, right?

Start cutting off the top of the dress where the fabric meets the elastic. Take your time to ensure you don't miss-cut anything.

And...once you've hacked off the unwanted part of the dress, you'll have yourself a lovely skirt! This is an inexpensive way to expand your skirt collection. You just have to have a good eye for ideal dress-to-skirt candidates!