" Back to School: Part II (2/2) "
4. Ties/Accessories- When trying to look clean while broke, certain accents will help make a "sub-par" fit like better. Also, with accessories; you don't have to buy tons of clothes for you to look different. Take for instance, you have a plain white button up: On Monday you can wear the button up plain with khaki shorts and on Friday you can wear the same white shirt with a simple stripped tie ($2 dollars at a thrift store) and jeans. You see the tie/accessory makes the outfit brand new. (Exclude the Jacket).
5. Thrift Stores/ Clearance Sections- When in school, a great way to save money and still look clean is going to stores that have gently used clothing. Stores like Plato's Closet, Salvation Army, and etc. are stocked with clothing. Now, not all their stuff is good or cheap. However, on certain days or on certain ticket colors (everyday for ticket colors); you get 50 to 75% off of the already reduced price.
So, say the highest shirt in the store is $9.99 and you get 50% off. You pay five dollars for a shirt (which is cheap in today's clothing market). Even if you don't like the shirts, go checkout ties/belts. You will save some money by doing this, because most of their accessories are no higher than $3.00.
Clearance racks at stores are great as well. I have gone to countless stores and have bought stuff solely from the discount section. You can save as much as 75% on clothes this way. Rue 21 sales rack have shirts as low as $3.00 at times. Also, something (not rare) many of the some clothes at the regular price rack are on the discount rack.
Tips for buying stuff:
6. Don't focus so much on pants: The number one mistake people make when buying clothes is focusing on pants. Pants/Shoes are usually the highest price pieces of clothing. Also, as a guy; we have the luxury of no having to wear bright/soft colors. Therefore, you can buy (2) pairs of khaki pants (modern style), (3) pairs of jeans (modern style) and basically be set in the pants department for a minute.
7. Summer Weather Means Shirts- Now, you still are going to have to look good. Even though, you saved money on the pants; you may have to buy a few shirts (just make sure they are at a cheap price). In the summer in particular you have to focus on shirts (in the winter, you can wear a jacket all day and cover up shirts). So, that you look different. A new shirt, makes the same old jeans look new. If you have five pairs of pants, you need at least 12 shirts. Tip: Pick basic colors like Black, White, Plaid & Striped.
8. You don't have to buy a bundle- What I mean by this is that you don't need to buy everything at one time. Rather your paying or your Mom; it too much money and pressure to go buy boat loads of clothing. Get some essentials and then shop around for more/sales. Like, right now in my closet I have: 3 Jeans & 2 Khaki's that I like (I practice what I preach) as well as about 8 shirts that are bona-fide winners. Now, I could panic and go put stress/debt on myself. However, I going to wear these outfit and mix them up. Then, slowly even doing school semester; I will pick up a shirt or two. Continuing to do this until the school semester ends.
9. Have your own style- One way to waste money in the "looking good game" is not having a style. You must have your won style to win above anyone else at looking good. So, many Brothers waste money on trying to look like someone else or don't know what looks best on them. Having your own style means that you can buy from the pool of options you have. Instead, of going blind into a shoe and being confused or even "up-sold" on items you will never need nor wear.
10. Know the store- A lot of stores now-a-days have outrageous return/exchange policies. Therefore, before you buy; do some research on store's exchange policy. For instance, Forever 21 doesn't do returns. You can only get store credit at Forever 21. This is crazy because I can't get back my hard earned money and that fact seems like a scam.
4. Ties/Accessories- When trying to look clean while broke, certain accents will help make a "sub-par" fit like better. Also, with accessories; you don't have to buy tons of clothes for you to look different. Take for instance, you have a plain white button up: On Monday you can wear the button up plain with khaki shorts and on Friday you can wear the same white shirt with a simple stripped tie ($2 dollars at a thrift store) and jeans. You see the tie/accessory makes the outfit brand new. (Exclude the Jacket).
5. Thrift Stores/ Clearance Sections- When in school, a great way to save money and still look clean is going to stores that have gently used clothing. Stores like Plato's Closet, Salvation Army, and etc. are stocked with clothing. Now, not all their stuff is good or cheap. However, on certain days or on certain ticket colors (everyday for ticket colors); you get 50 to 75% off of the already reduced price.
So, say the highest shirt in the store is $9.99 and you get 50% off. You pay five dollars for a shirt (which is cheap in today's clothing market). Even if you don't like the shirts, go checkout ties/belts. You will save some money by doing this, because most of their accessories are no higher than $3.00.
Clearance racks at stores are great as well. I have gone to countless stores and have bought stuff solely from the discount section. You can save as much as 75% on clothes this way. Rue 21 sales rack have shirts as low as $3.00 at times. Also, something (not rare) many of the some clothes at the regular price rack are on the discount rack.
Tips for buying stuff:
6. Don't focus so much on pants: The number one mistake people make when buying clothes is focusing on pants. Pants/Shoes are usually the highest price pieces of clothing. Also, as a guy; we have the luxury of no having to wear bright/soft colors. Therefore, you can buy (2) pairs of khaki pants (modern style), (3) pairs of jeans (modern style) and basically be set in the pants department for a minute.
7. Summer Weather Means Shirts- Now, you still are going to have to look good. Even though, you saved money on the pants; you may have to buy a few shirts (just make sure they are at a cheap price). In the summer in particular you have to focus on shirts (in the winter, you can wear a jacket all day and cover up shirts). So, that you look different. A new shirt, makes the same old jeans look new. If you have five pairs of pants, you need at least 12 shirts. Tip: Pick basic colors like Black, White, Plaid & Striped.
8. You don't have to buy a bundle- What I mean by this is that you don't need to buy everything at one time. Rather your paying or your Mom; it too much money and pressure to go buy boat loads of clothing. Get some essentials and then shop around for more/sales. Like, right now in my closet I have: 3 Jeans & 2 Khaki's that I like (I practice what I preach) as well as about 8 shirts that are bona-fide winners. Now, I could panic and go put stress/debt on myself. However, I going to wear these outfit and mix them up. Then, slowly even doing school semester; I will pick up a shirt or two. Continuing to do this until the school semester ends.
9. Have your own style- One way to waste money in the "looking good game" is not having a style. You must have your won style to win above anyone else at looking good. So, many Brothers waste money on trying to look like someone else or don't know what looks best on them. Having your own style means that you can buy from the pool of options you have. Instead, of going blind into a shoe and being confused or even "up-sold" on items you will never need nor wear.
10. Know the store- A lot of stores now-a-days have outrageous return/exchange policies. Therefore, before you buy; do some research on store's exchange policy. For instance, Forever 21 doesn't do returns. You can only get store credit at Forever 21. This is crazy because I can't get back my hard earned money and that fact seems like a scam.
Burlington's: I don't know if you have one in your city. But, Burlington's says you have to all tags, receipts, and other no sense. I bought jeans from Burlington's, I wore the jeans once. Therefore, solidifying the size and look was right. However, when I went to put them on the second time (throwing the tags away because I will not wear jeans with tags on). The zipper broke. When, I went to take the jeans back; I couldn't get my money back. With no tags and receipts, I had a pair of basically unworn jeans that I had to throw away.
Therefore, know about you cloths when going to school.
I closing, clothes don't make the man. However, a great impression is worth a million dollars. Especially, as Young Black Males we have to carry ourselves in the best way possible.
Plain White Shirt comparison. With tie difference see the same outfit look new. Only thing changed is the tie and the shirt is tucked in(Exclude the jacket, this was just for example).
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