Perhaps the best thing you can do to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to fashion is buy clothes out of season.
I consider buying out of season to be an art – it’s really not as simple as you would think.
There’s an appropriate time for it, and, lucky for us, that time is now.
The first thing you want to consider when buying out of season is timing. You don’t want to start checking on sales too late in the game, or they might be out of your size.
The best thing to do is watch for sales.
If you’re interested in shopping locally, I recommend going to Libby Story.
If you’ve ever shopped there before, you know the store has really great clothes and its sales room has really great deals.
I recently had a friend rack up in the sales room at Libby Story.
She got a lot of pieces she’s been wearing now with a cardigan – a great way to make the most of your wardrobe. The rest of her findings that can’t be worn now have been stored away for spring.
In my opinion, small town boutiques like Libby Story are more hit or miss than national chains, so I recommend frequently checking the sales page on your favorite store’s Web site for good deals.
Traditionally, small town boutiques are less likely to discount seasonal clothing than national chains, so an easy thing for you to do is check the sales page on your favorite store’s Web site.
Some of the sales I check regularly are J.Crew, Gap, Old Navy and Anthropologie.
J.Crew has especially amazing deals when they hold sales. Every so often, it will also offer additional discounts on sale items (a percentage off your total purchase), so don’t forget to check for that.
Also, when you buy in stores, J.Crew offers a college student discount – all you have to do is present your college ID.
What better way to really save on sale items?
Stores differ on when they start discounting seasonal clothing, but a good time to look for sales on summer items is anywhere from September to now – the earlier, the better of course. For discounted fall or winter clothes, I start looking about late January, early February.
Another thing you might want to do is get on the mailing lists of your favorite stores. They’ll send you e-mails when they are having super sales, so you won’t miss any of the action.
The second important piece of advice I can give you when shopping out-of-season is to be patient.
When many people go shopping, they want to buy something they can wear immediately, so they will sometimes overlook out of season clothing because it will be months before they can wear it.
Don’t make this mistake!
Be open-minded when you shop. Seasonal sales are where the real steals are.
You may also want to know what kinds of clothes to look for when you are shopping for clothes that are out of season. My favorite things to buy out of season are swimsuits, shorts, dresses, sweaters and coats.
For instance, I just bought a J.Crew yellow seersucker swimsuit for $9.99 apiece (originally $44.00 apiece).
Now that’s what I call impressive savings.
Many stores are good about giving great discounts on swim suits, but one problem you might run into is finding two matching pieces in your size.
That’s why I recommend looking early, before they start running out of key sizes.
Really, the best time to look for sales on swimsuits is early fall, but there are still a lot of good deals out there now.
Right now, a good thing to look for is summer dresses. A lot of my favorite sites have a variety of summer dresses incredibly discounted right now.
What classifies as a summer dress? Normally, it is color.
A lot of times, especially at stores like J.Crew, you’ll see items like dresses on sale only in certain colors. For instance, pinks, yellows and greens may be discounted, but blacks and browns are not.
You may also want to note dresses in black, especially, are rarely discounted as much as seasonal colors, because people are more likely to buy a black dress any time of year.
Keep in mind not all items of clothing fall into the seasonal sales category. Denim is one of these exceptions.
Most times of the year, you will be able to find select styles of denim on sale at certain stores, but since you can wear denim year round, it’s hard to predict when a great denim sale is going to happen. A lot of times, these will be heavily advertised.
Also, if stores are really popular for an item of clothing, it can sometimes be hard to find it on sale seasonally.
For example, J.Crew is a popular place to buy quality cardigans. Because of this, you’ll rarely find them marked down significantly, and if you do, it’s normally a less popular style.
Whether or not it’s what you’re expecting, you’re sure to find a deal when you shop seasonal sales. Now that you are equipped with the basics – shop early, look often, be patient and know what to look for – go find some deals.