Shopping High Fashion Affordably
How to shop for high fashion affordably
We get it. Whether you’re obsessed with Common Projects, Brunello Cucinelli, Undercover, or any other similarly high-priced clothing brand, you’ve certainly experienced frustration at high prices. This article will break down how to snag nice deals so that you can wear the designers you love while putting your bank account slightly less in the red.
There are few main categories of shopping that I’d like to breakdown in this article:
- Department stores
- Boutiques
- Discount stores
- Online stores
- Brand stores
- Sample sales
- Thrift stores
- Second-hand in-person stores
- Second-hand online stores
Department stores
These are stores like Bloomingdale’s, Saks, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, and Bergdorf Goodman.
The pros:
- In-person offerings (You can try clothes on before buying them. If an item doesn’t fit, you can put it back on the rack or ask for a different size.)
- No return shipping hassle
- High-quality selections
- In-person-only discounts
- Additional merchandise compared to publicly accessible websites
- Good return policies (unless the item is on final sale)
The cons:
- They can’t put brands like Gucci and Prada on sale for the general public. These brands have agreements with department stores to ensure that their products are only sold at full price
- Private sales are rampant. Stuff usually goes on sale first for most loyal customers who get email invitations to shop sales (Tip: you can Google private sale with a department store’s name [e.g. Nordstrom] to access their private sales). For the more exclusive sales, use MadisonAvenueSpy to get links. This site’s audience is female but many of the links work for male buyers with a little trial-and-error)
- They’re also more expensive than their sister discount stores, which offer cheaper prices on similar brands
- If you live in a less wealthy area, these stores won’t carry pricey brands
Availability: at the end of each season
Boutiques
They are similar to department stores, except there is less brand control over pricing, which allows for better sales and insider discounts. They’re often harder to find because they serve a more niche audience and don’t have the brand recognition that a store like Saks or Nordstrom does.
Availability: End of season
Discount stores
These are usually affiliates of large department stores. Saks OFF Fifth, Nordstrom Rack, and Bloomingdale’s Outlet come to mind.
The pros:
- You can often find exclusive brands that don’t go on sale anywhere else. I personally see a lot of Gucci, Bottega Veneta, and other exclusive brands that don’t have discounts at mainline department stores
- Their designer clothing is concentrated on a few racks, making browsing easy
The cons:
- Selection is often limited in quantity and quality
- Sorting through other racks for designer clothes is tiring because there are so many whiffs in between hits (see here for why)
- Little inventory control — the sizes you see are the sizes you get — no backorders or shipping from another store
Availability: year-round
Online stores
Every major player in this day and age has an online presence, whether they are a department store, a dedicated online store (e.g. SSENSE, Farfetch, or Net-A-Porter/Mr Porter), or even a brand front.
The pros:
- Largest quantity of merchandise offerings
- Filters by size, designer, gender, etc
- Good return policies (often free). Tip: buy multiple sizes at once and return the items that don’t fit
The cons:
- Most competitive — because you are competing with the entire world, the highlights have probably already been bought
- No ability to try stuff on immediately — you have to preplan your purchases in advance of your events
Availability: Varies
Brand stores
These are stores like the flagship Burberry, Gucci, Dior, Balenciaga, etc. that you see in Soho, on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles or Maiden Lane in San Francisco, and in few other places besides large international cities. These stores always have the newest of whatever a brand is selling. Their job is to sell clothes at full price, and more importantly, to serve as the brand’s image. They have to appear the most exclusive, which is why many of the clerks that work in those stores will treat you like trash if you don’t exude wealth. However, if you do fit the part, the clerks will be at your beck and call, following you as you shop, offering suggestions and personally fetching clothes for you. These stores usually don’t run sales, and when they do, they don’t announce their sales, in order to preserve their reputation. This article detailing Prada’s decision to end sales demonstrates why.
Availability: Basically never
Sample sales
These are usually the cheapest clothes that you can find that are still connected to the actual brand (e.g. not in a discount, thrift, or secondhand store). The most prestigious brands almost never have sample sales, and many other brands won’t announce that they’re having a sample sale. You’ll only see them at multi-brand events at stores like 260 (in person). You’ll often see mid-level brands like Theory announce their sample sales online but will hold them in person. Only lower quality or unknown stores will hold their sample sales online (except Off-White apparently).
Availability: Varies (check the 260 website)
Thrift stores
The pros:
- Cheap, cheap, cheap
The cons:
- Clothing is often in poor condition
- Maintenance is often required
- Hidden defects — don’t be the person who doesn’t find the defect until you’ve brought it home because these clothes are final sale
- Finding good thrift stores is hard — you never know if if a thrift store will stock designer brands, if they stock the designer brands that you like, if their prices are reasonable, or if what’s in stock fits you
- Clothes are often locked up— thrift stores usually secure their clothes if they’re worth anything, which means to get to get merchandise you usually have to get an overworked employee to stop what they’re doing to give you access
Availability: always
Second-hand in-person stores
These are a hybrid between high-end boutiques and thrift stores. These stores hire people to shop at thrift stores and buy clothes from normal people looking to offload clothes. Examples include 2nd Street, Crossroads, and some smaller boutiques.
Availability: always
Second-hand online stores
These are stores like Grailed and Poshmark, which are basically eBay but specifically for clothes. They are like their in-person counterparts, where someone has already done the searching for you.
The pros:
- You can search by brand and by size
- Lots of selection
The cons:
- Returns are often difficult or impossible — you have to know which size actually fits you in the first place before you can even buy
- Beware inactive sellers who don’t ship after purchase
Availability: always
Addendum: Grey market stores
I have no experience with this type of store but figured this article is worth mentioning.
