How to dress well, affordably

Unfortunately, dressing well in today’s economy can be worryingly expensive. Social media would have us believe that fits should cost hundreds of dollars in total. The good news is that it’s just not true — great clothing can be accessible and affordable if you just know what you’re looking for, and a great way to narrow down your vision is to build a capsule wardrobe!

Identify an Aesthetic

Central to any good wardrobe is a clear vision. Whether you’re going for a casual, streetwear look or a more dressed-up, business casual style, answering the question “How do I want to dress?” will always be instrumental in creating a cohesive wardrobe. For maximum compatibility between pieces, you might even want to land on a particular color palette with one or two accent hues.

A helpful exercise would be to go on Pinterest or the fashion side of any social media platform and try to expose yourself to as many different styles of dress you can. Fall down the rabbit holes and notice what stands out to you. What do you really like? What do you not like? What kind of fit do you like in your clothes? If you’re feeling really creative, you may even be able to mix and match styles, developing your own personal fashion language!

Make sure to keep in mind your own body type and personal preferences. What looks good on six-feet tall Korean models may not (read: will not) look the same on you.

Pick out essentials

While exposing yourself to inspiration online, keep track of pieces that you’ve seen many times. Every style has its staples, and it's your job to find out what the common denominators are. You’re  looking for genres of clothes, not specific pieces. In your search, you might occasionally come across pieces that speak to you so much that you go out and buy them retail, but for the most part, you’re looking for patterns and archetypes.

Take, for unfortunate example, the performative male aesthetic. Past the simple neutral-toned shirts and pants, the style also often calls for more “vintage” tops to layer on. Jorts, patterned button-ups, collared polos, and the occasional tie are all key to the look. In the same way, for your own personal aesthetic, look for the most important pillars of your outfits. These will be the pieces that define your looks. Make sure to also not neglect accessories. Keep an eye out for types of watches, jewelry and bags that call to you. 

You may choose to keep a list of ideas in your phone’s notes app or written down somewhere, but it's more important that you know what you’re looking for when you eventually go shopping.

Go out and shop! (thrift)

Now it’s time to actually acquire the pieces. If you’re comfortable with thrifting and not going for a very formal look, then going to bins is by far the best (and cheapest) way to build your wardrobe. Go with friends and keep an eye out for all of the pieces that you’ve already decided you need. You might find more success buying essentials from retailers like Uniqlo or H&M, but you’d be surprised to see just how many cool pieces you can find from hitting up a local Goodwill. If you’re lucky, you might even find pay-by-the-pound shops like Houston’s Vntg Sply that filter out their sources to concentrate and sort great finds, unfortunately leaving the random Nerf guns out of the bins.

Keep growing 

You are pretty much guaranteed not to find everything your first go around. After living with your wardrobe for a while, you might find yourself wanting a certain piece or looking for new statement pieces to incorporate into the rotation. Keep going back to the thrift, but don’t force yourself to buy anything you wouldn’t wear and make sure to prioritize compatibility!

If you build a truly cohesive wardrobe, you should be able to get away with putting on any sensible combination of clothes and still look great, and that’s the beauty of building wardrobes with a vision in mind.

Steve Wang is a first-year majoring in Biomedical Engineering from Sugar Land, Texas. He is an Arts & Entertainment Editor for The News-Letter.