Cheap vs. Expensive

I've always been a frugal shopper. It started way back in elementary school, my dad owned a women's clothing manufacturing business downtown and we would do the majority of my clothes shopping downtown. I was sample size, so we would get a lot of my clothes at the California mart. My dad would always coach me before we entered the showroom "remember, don't act like you like anything, just let me know what you like and I'll do the rest". My dad was a master haggler and I learned from him. Also this kind of shopping meant that you could not go with a specific need in mind, you just bought what was a good deal. One time I ended up with 10 sweaters, I didn't need 10, but the guy gave my dad a good deal for the bunch. Only shoes and underwear were bought at department stores. I learned how to look through piles of clothes for that one great deal. I didn't know what it was like to walk through a regular store where everything is laid out so nicely with mannequins showing you how to wear clothes.

Not until I was in high school did I start buying in regular stores, and the prices really shocked me. I was used to wholesale prices, and here were jeans for $80 and I knew I could get 4 pair for that price downtown!  Needless to say shopping at Marshalls, Ross, T.J. Maxx, Nordstrom Rack is easy for me.

BUT I caution you, you must know what you are doing.

Having worked in Nordstrom for the past 5 months I have been exposed to some of the best clothing. I have tried on clothing which I normally would never try on because I couldn't afford it.  

There really is a big difference between cheap and expensive clothing.  Case in point - t-shirts: I used to shop at Target for t-shirts. I thought why pay more, it's just a t-shirt. Well after 2 washings the shirt fell apart and was so thin it looked see through. So now I buy all my t-shirts at J Crew. They are 2 x the price, but the quality is magnificent. 

Trendy: There are a lot of trendy looks out there right now = the peasant blouse for one. I had my eye on a Diane von Furstenburg blouse, it was over $300 and was a bright melon color, I wanted it so bad! I even saw it on Donna on 90210 (I am now recognizing designers clothing on tv- this is new). I did not have that kind of money to spend on one blouse and the color was so bright, I could only wear it a few times. So I went to Forever 21 with this exact blouse in mind. You can't go to these less expensive stores without a plan, you have to know what you are looking for. Well I found a similar replica and bought it. It looks fabulous and it cost $21.

Expensive: I was recently at the outlets in Cabazon. Here's another retail scam you have to look out for. Did you know that some of the clothes there are made ONLY for the outlets, which means they are made cheaper? Also, they advertise something that's on sale - but not really. Example: I was in the Michael Kors store, being we have MK at Nordstrom I know what's new, old and all the prices. They had trouser jeans advertised as being on sale from $119 now were $99. Well those exact jeans are on our sale rounders for $59 and I got an additional 40% off. So the outlet is not always the lowest price. However, I did go a visit Diane von Furstenburg, again because she's in our store, I knew what to look out for. I found the blouse I had been eyeing, but it was in a black & white pattern, much more subtle and could be worn on numerous occasions, plus it was $130. So I bought it, my first designer shirt.

I've just recently been going through my closet, cleaning out what does not fit or what I don't wear and I realize now that I can't afford to buy cheap anymore (something my Mom told me her Mom used to tell her) . Do you know how many shoes I am tossing? Mostly because I didn't want to spend the money on more expensive ones. Looking back, I wish I could trade in my 3 semi-cheap shoes for one good pair.  So from now on I will only buy cheap clothes if they are super trendy and I know I won't wear that look by next year. Everything else I will buy in quality not quantity.