I need to get some good fashion on a budget. I live in a area without many stores. I may go travel to get some new stuff, what stores should I go to?
Unfortunately, I’ve lived in places like you have described, so allow me to help out where I can.
If you have the opportunity, try to build up your “core clothing” at stores like The Gap, H&M, J.Crew, and the like. These stores, while generally bland, provide basic clothing (t-shirts, button-downs, the like) that you can build off of. These stores also swap out inventory incredibly fast around this season, so you can find certain styles from last season for incredibly cheap. The nice thing about the aforementioned stores (more The Gap and J.Crew than H&M) is that their clothes are made to hold up for quite some time if you keep care of them- making them worth more than the average crap you find at various other stores.
When it comes to getting more expensive things (suits, coats, shoes), I recommend shopping around if at all possible, even online. For shoes, Zappos.com, an online shoe outlet, is virtually perfect for finding a good pair of shoes- and with a nice return policy, you can use (read: abuse) them until you find a pair you like. For coats and suits, it is generally best to try them on first- but if you know your sizes extremely well, check outlet websites like Overstock.com, which occasionally carry nice and well-made brands. When you are out shopping and if you can afford doing so, try coats/shoes on but do not buy them- go online and comparison shop. 9 times out of 10, you will find better prices.
When you do go shopping, no matter how much you spend, be paranoid about the quality of the clothes you buy. Stores like Old Navy may be cheap, but the quality (and the fit) of the clothes, frankly, suck. The same applies to Aeropostale. As well, to make the most of your money, avoid too-trendy clothing like Hollister or Abercrombie and Fitch- those styles tend to last only 6 months at most before becoming tired (or falling apart, as the aforementioned companies suck just as bad as Old Navy at making good quality clothing).
If you are smart, you will wait until one or two weeks after Christmas. Watch how fast prices drop.
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