Affordable Style, Part I: Buying New

Perhaps you've seen some style tips or ideas on this blog or somewhere else and would like to put them into practice. Perhaps you make a decent living, but don't exactly have a huge clothing budget. What's the best way to improve one's style without breaking the bank? We'll cover that in a two-part series, and today we'll cover the first part: buying new.

There are three cardinal rules we have for buying new. We've found that sticking to these rules gets us a lot more clothing for the money. What are they?

1. Stick to the classics. If you base your wardrobe on the classics, instead of following the latest trends, you'll save money because you won't be dropping the cash to follow the trends each season. The classics stay in style year-in and year-out, so instead of permanently storing last year's acquisition, you can bring it back out when the appropriate season rolls around again. Adopting this strategy also makes it possible to follow the second strategy, which is:

2. Think a full season ahead. What happens when a store starts getting its shipments of clothes for the upcoming season? It has to clear space by putting the outgoing season's clothing on sale. And that's when you want to be thinking about making purchases for next year. Since you're buying the classics, you won't have to worry about the trend going out of style if you buy the item and save it for 6 months. Instead, you'll save 50%-75% (and sometimes more) off the regular price of the item. So when a store puts out its fall/winter selections and puts the spring/summer items on clearance, you'll want to be thinking ahead to what you might need, or want, for next summer.

3.  Never pay full price. With only a couple of limited exceptions, you should never be paying full retail price for clothing. Even if you're not shopping clearance at the end of a season, e-mail and the internet are awash in sale codes these days, so if you're buying something without getting at least 20-30% off, you're paying too much. It's not difficult to find a code through Google or through forum threads dedicated to the topic.

With those rules in mind, let's take a look at some specific retailer categories and retailers that we've found useful.

Internet. Practically every major brand or retailer has an online shopping presence these days. The advantage of using their websites to shop is that it is usually more convenient, prices are often lower or special coupon codes are available, and inventory is usually better than at a brick-and-mortar store. One of our favorite places to find deals is LandsEnd.com. They offer quality, classic clothing and run frequent clearance sales and coupon codes. It's easy to get free shipping at Lands End, and if you have a retail store close to you, it's easy to return items bought over the internet at the store.

Outlet/Factory Stores. Outlet stores used to be a place to find regular merchandise at better prices. Then companies began branding their outlet-mall stores as "factory stores," which may still carry some regular merchandise but usually sell mostly merchandise specially made for the factory store. This merchandise tends to be lower quality than what you'd find in the regular store, but it may still be acceptable quality. Just make sure you don't buy anything that's not on sale, unless you have a coupon. Most of the time you can stack coupons onto sale prices for even greater discounts. Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic, Gap, and J. Crew all have factory store locations, and some of them have factory items available on their websites.

Discount Stores. These are stores that sell regular merchandise from a variety of labels at a lower price, serving as sort of a centralized, multi-brand clearance sale. They include Marshalls, TJ Maxx (owned by the same parent company), and Nordstrom Rack. Shopping can be kind of hit-or-miss at these places, but they tend to always be a solid place to at least find affordable dress socks and ties.

Flash Sale Websites. These are the "deal-a-day" type websites like Gilt, Rue La La, and MyHabit. The only one of these three that we've found to regularly have well-priced, useful offerings (for our style pursuits) is MyHabit (run by Amazon).

Department / Regular Stores. No problem if you want to shop at your local Dillards or J. Crew, but we like to focus on the clearance racks at these stores. We've found that Macy's, in particular, tends to have a useful clearance selection of dress shirts.

One final point to remember: you're looking for good value, not just what's cheapest. You may find a $5 shirt, but if it's uncomfortable or wears out after a few days, your money will not have been well-spent. That's why we like to find brands that make quality products and then shop them on sale or clearance. We may still spend a little more than we could on a similar item from a different maker, but in the long run, we'll spend less because the higher-quality product will last longer.

That's our summary of how to save money when buying new. In our second article in this series, we'll take a look at ways to save money by buying used.

Socks

Happy Socks

When it comes to socks, there are several "right" answers with regard to the rules, with only a couple of pitfalls to avoid. Sockwear is easily matched to the personality of the man and is one of the easiest ways (along with ties) to show a little personal flair.

First, the things to avoid. Never wear white socks with your non-athletic shoes. It is also a good idea to avoid wearing socks that are the same color as your shoes, as this combination can make it look like you're wearing booties.(Black socks with black shoes and black slacks would be an exception to this guideline.)

There is a continuum of allowable sockwear. At the most basic level, there are a couple of muted colors (charcoal gray and navy blue) that you can wear with most combinations of slacks and shoes. If you want to get a little more advanced, match the color of your socks to the color of your slacks. This will help emphasize your height a bit by visually extending your leg. These are the more conservative options and thus usually the better choices for a formal business environment or interview.

The next option is to use your socks to echo an element in your shirt or tie, such as a color or pattern. However, be careful that you don't match these too exactly: you don't want it to look like you purchased a matching tie/sock set. Argyles and polka dot patterns can be a good way to carry out this option.

The "most advanced" option is to go with brightly-colored or patterned socks that don't match any other color or pattern you are wearing but that nevertheless harmonize with your outfit. This means you have to use your style eye to evaluate whether the pair of socks contributes to or detracts from the overall look you want to achieve. Here's an example we recently ran across:

Admittedly, we can't see the shirt in this photo. However, a blue OCBD or gingham shirt, among other options, would be a good look with what we can see. (Also, note how the marled look of the socks helps mute the bold style choice of pink.)

If going with a bolder sock choice, you'll probably want to avoid a bold tie or other element. Such style accents are generally best limited to one per outfit.

Remember also that the break in your trouser leg will determine how much of your sock will actually show. In a similar vein, the other sock rule you'll want to always keep in mind is that you never want to show bare leg above your socks. So be sure to wear long enough socks (usually over-the-calf length) to keep your leg covered even when it's crossed and is thereby shortening the length of your trousers.