How To Achieve Great Style On a Budget
The Prelude
Between remodeling my home, paying bills, building wealth, and running my business….money can meet its end pretty quickly in this household. In fact, this year I’ve scaled back on clothes shopping in an effort to put my household in the best position possible and help us stay on track with our goals. And although inflation has played a large role in this, I’ve experienced a lot of big changes this year as well — a new puppy, expensive home repairs, business upgrades, and so on. Even with all of the recent changes, as a wardrobe stylist and entrepreneur I know how valuable it is to look stylish and put together (even if that means getting creative and thinking outside of the box).
I say all of that to say… you may be an intern that just landed the career of your dreams, an established career professional that’s weathering a financial storm, or a businessman whose business hasn’t started turning a profit yet. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, it’s important to look stylish and put together despite your circumstances (your wardrobe and image is directly tied to your financial growth and earning potential after all. Read more about that here.). So in this article I’m going to share a few tips that will help you achieve both regardless of how big or small your budget is.
How To Achieve Great Style On a Budget
Utilize and purchase versatile clothing. A versatile piece doesn’t always mean that the article of clothing has to be in a neutral color (even though neutrals are a plus!). Instead, it means that the clothing can accommodate a wide variety of accessories, layering pieces, and events. A great example of this would be a crisp, solid white tee. This white tee can be worn with both light and dark wash jeans to create a casual and effortless look or underneath a blazer for a contemporary business casual look. That’s three outfits for the price of $25 (which is a pretty good CPW!).
Know your measurements. If you’re on a budget chances are you don’t have much time to spare because you’re engaging in side hustles and/or taking on extra shifts in addition to your main source of income. Having said that, you probably do the majority of your clothes shopping online. In this case, it’s good to know your measurements and keep them updated regularly. Knowing your measurements will help you avoid wasting money and ensure that your clothing looks and feels amazing on you (which is a key component to having great style!). If you need assistance with taking your measurements, Styled by Breyana offers a Body Shape Analysis that teaches you how to take your measurements and properly dress for your shape so you can create outfits that highlight your best features.
Shop quality. Although it may be tempting to sacrifice quality at this stage in your style journey…I’m pleading with you not to do so. Sacrificing quality will end up costing you more in the long run than if you were to make an investment for quality clothing upfront. Not to mention that investing in quality clothing will help you maneuver through financial hardships more easily because the garments will last longer, look better, and help you feel better mentally and physically. Additionally, the resale value will be higher should you need to sell your clothing for extra money (although I don’t recommend selling them unless you have no other choice).
Assess your closet regularly. Doing regular closet assessments makes you aware of what you have and what you don’t have. Staying up to date with this information also helps you understand how often you wear certain pieces in your wardrobe, what you aren’t wearing enough of, what you have too much of, and what you have the least of. Along the way you’ll also learn what brands, styles of clothing, and fabrics are giving you the most value for your money.
Invest most of your budget into garment care products. When you think about looking stylish on a budget I’m sure your mind automatically thinks about purchasing all the fashion forward clothing you can afford. But what if I told you that garment care products is where a sizable portion of your budget should be going (at least in the beginning)? Here’s why… one part of looking stylish is about the clothing you wear and how you put it together. The other part is about how well you take care of the clothing you own and how presentable you make it appear (through the use of garment care products). When you spend a sizable portion of your shopping budget on garment care products while gradually building your wardrobe, you’re able to make what you currently own look more presentable (and in some cases more quality) plus you can think more clearly when shopping (because you’ll be making the most of your current wardrobe which limits the feeling of having nothing to wear and in turn slows down the rate in which you shop).
Which Tip Will You Be Using To Achieve Great Style?
If I’m being completely honest…I love and use all five of these tips. Although they can be a bit tedious, each one has helped me build a valuable wardrobe and pull together stylish outfits regardless of my financial situation (which in turn has helped me change my financial situation for the better!). Nevertheless, I encourage you to pick one tip and try it out. Once you’ve put your chosen tip into practice for awhile, come back to this post and share your experience (I’d love to hear it!). Happy testing!
