The Look for Less
By: Darby Radcliff
As a college student, budgets are put in place by parents, so shopping on a budget can be tough at times, but here are some solutions to be able to look collegiate chic for less.
Solution One: Do a Clothing Swap with Friends
Save money, while having fun by hosting a clothing swap party with your friends.
Clothing swaps can be a great way to declutter your closet, as well as at the same time refill your closet and your friend’s closet with new clothing for absolutely no cost.
Solution Two: Rent Clothing and Accessories
If you have a formal or big social event coming up, have no fear, you don’t have to break the bank to be looking fabulous. Instead, there is a website with stylish, designer clothing and accessories that you can rent items from for a fraction of the retail price.
To rent runway looks, check out the website called Rent the Runway (http://www.renttherunway.com) which is a New York City-based Web company that purchases designer clothes for wholesale price, then rents them out and only charges between $50 and $200 for two days.
These rental charges may seem a bit pricey, but in retrospect, this is actually an amazing deal because the dresses up for rental are from the current season and are still sold in stores, so in retail, these dresses contain the price points between $400 and $2,000.
Solution Three: Shop Designers at a Reduced Price
Another way to save money as a college student, while still looking chic, is to shop for designer clothing at a reduced price on shopping sites such as:
1. www.bluefly.com
2. www.gilt.com
3. www.theoutnet.com
These shopping sites have daily sales where you can get designer clothing, accessories, jewelry, shoes, etc. at a more reasonable price.
You can also shop for your favorite designers at a reduced price in stores as well.
The department stores, Target and H&M, both have collaborations with designers, in which a designer designs a collection for the store, so that people can be able to purchase their designs at a more accessible price.
Target’s latest designer collaboration is the Jason Wu for Target collection, and also, H&M just recently launched its collection with the luxurious line, Marni.