A Word With Your Wardrobe: Spending less to look, feel better

By Deanne Nguyen     10/8/09 7:00pm

Being a self-proclaimed fashion enthusiast comes with a number of responsibilities. First, there's the matter of staying current with the industry trends, or risking quickly losing both knowledge and credibility. Second, there's the obligation to always look presentable; otherwise I lack contextual evidence for caring so much. Third, there is the matter of dealing with frequent questions as to my wardrobe's origins. This last point, I would argue, is the most difficult, because it seems as if fashion-conscious people achieve their looks with overpriced garments and thus makes me feel as if I should indulge listeners in tales of glorious escapades in expensive-clothing lands that they dare not trespass.

This is most definitely not the case. I am not currently in possession of a trust fund back East or the skills of an alchemist, and while I admit to stepping into the likes of Neiman Marcus or Saks, these opportunities only arise to ogle at things I can't afford. I am first and foremost a college student - I shop where everyone else shops, and I tend to buy what everyone else buys.

Which brings up my fourth point: the issue of remaining fiscally responsible. But how is it that I can possibly adhere to Stipulation No. 2 - to always look presentable - if Stipulation No. 4 holds true? It's very simple: I adhere to a few basic principles that my mom, my friends and trusty teen magazines have taught me.

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Let's start with my mom, who never buys anything full price. Never. For her, it's either 70-percent off with an additional 50 percent, or forget about it. I kid you not. However, she and I both agree on brand loyalty: Some brands just keep making things we like and are worth repeat buys, higher-end ones included. Luckily, most of those brands are the kind that grant consumers heavily-discounted sales throughout the year.

While I can't say I'm as strict in my shopping regime as is my mother, I do follow her example of constantly looking for a bargain and setting a limit for myself. For instance, nothing costs over $20 at Urban Outfitters, Zara gets capped at $30, jeans must be under $50 at Armani Exchange and anything BCBG has to be on the 70-percent clearance rack. And let's not forget about department stores. Macy's and Dillard's always have really great shoes and sales in general - no one likes a brand snob.

Even when the sale season is dry, there are still plenty of ways to get cheap duds. Here I turn to my middle school thrift-store roots. Contrary to collegiate opinion, Value Village is not just the place to buy '80s party wear. Some of my favorite pieces are from that $1 bin. Buffalo Exchange and any of the various trade-in secondhand stores are also fashionably profitable because they're meticulously run by hipsters, though their clothing does cost a bit more. Ebay.com and online stores are another favorite, but a little dangerous since they are so readily accessible. I often spend hours scouring Google for coupons or discount codes, since every little bit helps.

Another alternative is to just hit up places where fast and cheap fashion is their business, like Wet Seal or Forever 21 - which has a men's section for the gentlemen in the audience. The quality varies, but that's part of the fun of weeding out the goods, the bads and the uglies. If only we could convince H&M to open a store in Houston, the city would be complete.

The bottom line, what the magazines and what your mom have always been saying, is that you only need to spend a little to look like a million bucks. This is fine and dandy, but in some cases, you don't even have to spend anything. I'm sure you've all heard about clothes-swapping parties: Get a bunch of your friends and their unwanted clothes together and find them all new homes. This is often successful, but be wary of repeating it too often with the same people. When me and my friend became too accustomed to the repeat offerings, we realized we needed a larger pool of clothes, a wider variety of styles to select from in order to recreate that very same feeling of discovery that we felt on a store floor.

Wouldn't it be nice to have something like that on campus? Well, yes, it would - and it'll happen next Sunday. Rice will be having a clothes swap event in the Kelley Lounge Oct. 18, hosted by the Women's Resource Center and the Environmental Club benefitting The Women's Home thrift shop. Go crazy next weekend, swap till you drop and save like you've never saved before for the sake of fashion, guilt free.

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