One of the easiest ways to show people your personality without speaking is to make sure your dress reflects your style. If you don’t like your current appearance and you want others to see you differently, you need to change your wardrobe. Styling yourself doesn’t require any fashion training, but it can be expensive to revamp your style. Buying new clothes, shoes, and accessories would cost you hundreds and even thousands of dollars. So, how can you do it when you have limited funds, or you are living within a budget?
Changing Your Dressing Style On A Budget
Before you start shopping for new fashion items, it is essential that you have a clear picture of what you intend to buy. One of the best ways to do this is by taking a personal style quiz. You can find these quizzes online and use the results as a guide to changing your wardrobe even when you don’t have a lot of money. After that, follow the tips below:
Start With Your Existing Wardrobe
First things first, you need to take a thorough look at your current wardrobe before you even start making changes. Look at every piece of fashion item there and get rid of everything you no longer use. Since you have budgeted funds, you can consider selling old things you don’t want to others. Selling used items is easy when you live in the suburbs since you can just do a yard sale. When a yard sale is not an option for you, consider posting on online local forums where you can find people interested in your old stuff. Of course, not everything would be worth a lot, so sort them into different categories and make sure you give one set out for free.
Define Your Style
While going through your things and choosing what to sell, you will have a chance to define your current taste in clothes. With the result from the style quiz, it would be easy for you to identify which category you fall into when it comes to fashion. It gives you insight into what you would like to remove or add to your current dress sense. Following this step also allows you to salvage what you can from your collection. Since you are working with limited funds, you must try your best not to start buying everything from scratch, as this may be too expensive.
Look For Inspiration
Wanting your new style to be unique, doesn’t mean you can’t work with existing styles. Draw fashion inspiration from social media, magazines, fashion events, or even your personal idols. You should always lean toward a specific pattern or type of clothing collection. Some people have their wardrobes divided into different kinds of outfits from all the fashion eras. It’s an excellent way to enjoy variety. When you are working with little cash, however, you can’t afford to have too many categories at once. So, pick one or two style inspirations and stick to those.
It’s Not All Useless
Changing your style does not always have to mean buying new clothes. It can also mean upcycling what you already have. There are multiple articles and videos that show you how to make basic clothes look different or even extra by making a few changes. Some of these adjustments require sewing, but others do not. For example, you can turn a big shirt into a dress and wear it with pantyhose instead of jeans. Or you can use it as a dress and add a big belt to make it look more stylish and shapely.
Mind How You Shop
When you have a style inspiration, you may be tempted to visit the nearest boutique and start shopping but this would be a mistake. There are numerous options available in these stores and salespeople can easily convince you to choose something different from your vision. For this reason, you must make a resolution about what you want, write a list, and decide where to shop based on your decision. The list should contain basic attire for informal and formal outfits. Focus more on neutral trousers and skirts that can blend with multiple bright-colored shirts. Also, mind where you shop as a single item at a high-end store can take up your entire budget.
Don’t Forget Your Accessorize
When it comes to redefining your style, you need more than clothes and shoes. Accessories contribute significantly to your overall look and they can take your outfit from ordinary to extraordinary. Things like belts, jewelry, hats, scarves, headbands, and wristwatches can make you look completely different. The price range for these accessories vary so you can combine a few expensive ones with several more affordable ones. Just make sure you don’t spend all your money on accessories when you haven’t gotten actual clothes.
Consider Thrifting and Secondhand Clothes
You don’t have to buy only new things to look good. There are many thrift stores that offer secondhand clothing at reasonable prices. These clothes are just as good as new ones when you have an eye for spotting high-quality things. Apart from local thrift stores, you can also look for second-hand clothing in online stores. Opting for thrift may require more time but there are many valuable and beautiful clothes, shoes, and accessories in the right stores.
Style Beyond Clothes
To redefine your style, you need to look beyond clothes and accessories. You should change your hair and make-up, and work on improving your posture. Expensive and beautiful outfits can look basic if your hair and posture are basic. Always stand tall with your back straightened and always wear your hair neatly. Most importantly, you must look and act confidently at all times. So, do what you can to improve your self-confidence.
Final Tip
As you’ve seen in this article, changing your style is doable even with little money. As you apply these tips, don’t forget to embrace your creativity. After all, it is called personal style for a reason. Feel free to explore different options until you find the perfect fit. Also, keep an open mind during the entire process, and don’t be afraid to try new things.