School Wardrobes on a Budget!

Where to shop for an inexpensive back to school wardrobe for college or any type of school follows the same type of budget conscious shopping for any wardrobe. One of your first trips should be to your local thrift stores. Goodwill or any community thrift stores will generally offer a large variety of clothing at very reasonable prices. At many of these stores you can even find college logo items, especially if you browse a store located near the campus itself.

Another great type of store to browse is a re-sale or "trade your clothes" store. These stores allow customers to bring in items and receive cash for the items that the store buys from them, before or after the actual sale. You might even consider taking in some of your own items that no longer fit you or your style to help finance your new wardrobe. The benefit you have with this type of store is that they usually will only sell more current styles and are choosey about the quality. Some types of these stores cater to youth styles only and again, if you find one near the campus, you should be able to find more current items or school logo items.

Do not forget to check garage sales in your area. If you have the time to spend really searching local sales you might be very surprised at what you can find. Also check with the college itself to see if there are college groups that might be hosting their own fund raising sales.

Besides the lower cost, a nice feature of second hand shopping is that you can get more than just one season type of outfits. Always remember to check your chosen items for flaws but realize that some small flaws can be repaired and still leave you with a great selection of items for your wardrobe. Do not be overly worried about having the latest styles as most colleges do tend to have a diverse population with a great variety of dressing styles.

Finally, spend time browsing at almost any regular retailer. End of season clothing is usually marked down between 50 to 75%. Just because an item is considered out of season does not mean that it does not have use for the current season. Light summer shirts can be layered. Light summer skirts can be worn over tights. Use your imagination or tuck a few really great bargains away for the next year.