‘If you’re reading this it’s too late’ to say you’re not a broke fashion girl. You must know when I start by quoting Drake, I’m in the same emotional boat as you. When you’re obsessed with fashion and also have a bad case of OCSD. (Obsessive Compulsive Shopping Disorder, duh), there’s no way it ends well for your wallet. You love getting ‘new pinch’es and cutting off the price tag. Not kidding, I have a designated pair of scissors in my bedside drawer JUST to snip off price tags off my new clothes.
Whether you’re going to admit it or not, you do know this habit is doing you no good. It’s not healthy to get bored and look for newness all the time – not for your, not for your bank account. The only solution – either throw out some clothes or…
All those clothes that haven’t even been worn more than once… such a shame! It’s time to let the creative juices flow and stop hoarding on clothes. I chalked up a plan to get out of the compulsive shopping rut and lucky for your wallet it involves ZERO spending on new clothing. Check it out now, thank me later…
1. Do A Monthly Shuffle
If you have as many clothes as I do, the stacks in your closet look more like mountains. So, rather than conquering them, the lazy girl in you just chooses from what you can see and reach… which is probably about 15% of the clothes you own. One trick to finding that newness without spending any money is to rearrange your closet every month. If that’s too much for all that you have in there, do your tops one month and your bottom the next. You’ll be surprised by how many things you forgot you had!
2. Swap And Borrow
Hey, here’s an idea! Make your friends and family a part of this. Not just your besties, sister and mom. Your boyfriend, brother and dad are invited too! If there’s anyone close to you whose clothes you can fit into, you should let them in on this. Your boyfriend’s oversized tee, your sister’s new pleated skirt, your mom’s vintage eye frames. Borrowing is better than being broke, no? And you get a brand new set of clothes to experiment with!
3. Actually LOOK At Your Closet
I don’t mean this in the way you do every day. Look, like seriously, stand in front of your closet and look at the clothes you usually wear. You’ll see a pattern forming. Love wearing whites with blues? And crop tops with midi skirts? Start wearing different colour combinations and silhouettes. Yellow with navy blue, for example. And longer shirts with jeans… you know what’s trending, try everything in the book to find your new style! Do this as often as you can and you’re golden.
4. Go Big On Accessories
Whether it’s eyeglasses you have stored somewhere or earrings that still haven’t seen the light of day yet… pump life back into your wardrobe by making your outfits all about those accessories. Feel like your white t-shirt and jeans combination is more drab than fab? Throw a colourful scarf around your neck or pair bright coloured shoes with your look to turn it around. Broke no more!
5. Rent It Out
With the rentable fashion business booming in India right now, why spend loads on just one dress for an annual work conference. Whether it’s formal tops or cocktail gowns, try renting them out for much cheaper online from brands like Stage 3, Rent A Closet and Flyrobe. Can you feel your wallet letting out a sigh of relief?
6. Do It Yourself (D.I.Y.)
Why punish your bank account for your fashion crimes? Just because you have clothes in your closet that you’ve been over for months, why keep spending like no one’s business? Get off that but and tear some stuff up, literally. Use those scissors you use to cut off tags off new clothes to alter your older clothes you can’t part ways with. Cut off the sleeves off a cold-shouldered top, glue denim patches onto an old dress. You’d be surprised, trust me.
7. Layer
Think of all the ways you can wear your clothes apart from the most obvious ones. For instance, all the ways you can make an old button-up shirt feel new again –
A. Wear it over an outfit like a jacket/kimono
B. Wear it under a cami or strapless dress
C. Wear it around your waist with a tee-jeans look (airport look ftw)
D. Wear it as one of the layers as part of a winter outfit
Genius, right?
New pinch!
