How Does Everyone Afford All These Designer Items?

[twilight fairy]

I'm a 20 year old student, so I have to admit I can't afford designer clothes..but luckily for me, my mum's quite fashion savvy so I sometimes get her hand-me-downs (we have the same clothing/shoe size, which is very convenient)..so I'm quite lucky.. but I tend to take her older bags/shoes rather than clothes because our tastes differ somewhat. So far I've had the privilege of getting two pairs of Louboutins, two Balenciaga bags and a few Alexander McQueen skull scarves.

 

[No1Here]

I have an okay job and sometimes my father supports my love of fashion..

 

[xdieselx]

Membership cards that offer discounts and sale items.

Getting stuff online is a bit risky because of the customs. Ugh. I hate our customs in our country.

 

[blossbloss]

Save. Sell 4 to 5 older items on ebay and buy one new piece...

 

[Aquamarina]

I do not buy a lot of cheap clothes. I understand that sometimes we all really like smth in H&M or other street brands/ But I have a rule.I try clothes, spend 10 minutes in changing room thinking about this piece. I stopped buyin' chep clothes and noewI prefer buyin' one designer dress than 10 cheap.
Rule about shoes-I have never ever bought copy of designer shoes from Aldo and etc. because if you will not buy this 5 pairs you can buy 1 pair from YSL!
Sorry for my bad english!

 

[William_St_Girl]

^ I so agree... high st is becoming such poor quality that I simply tend to need to buy designer to get the quality I yearn for in clothing... then I'm like you i'd rather pay more and get clothes that last rather than but more clothes but they dont last or feel rough or just look poor! So I guess im forced in a way to afford designer... but then I buy less than I used to as a way of affording the quality I like and think I deserve!

WSG x

 

[Frostelized]

I'm just getting into the whole expensive designer thing.

I'm saving up to buy expensive shoes & handbags (I don't care about expensive clothes). I also have stopped buying cheaper shoes & handbags which I bought often.

So, instead of buying 5 pairs of shoes for $75 for $375, I'll buy one expensive pair for $375.

 

[stellina]

So, instead of buying 5 pairs of shoes for $75 for $375, I'll buy one expensive pair for $375.

yep, that is what i do also.

i am not rich, every designer piece i own was purchased after months of saving.

 

[isa.b.elle.]

^same for me..saving, saving, saving..

 

[kissaway]

sales. online shopping with a fervor, abusing coupon codes. but mostly stalking the sale racks, something my mother drilled into my head since i was a child. so now i can very rarely bring myself to spend money on something that's full price unless i really, really love it.

then again, it's also lended itself to an unfortunate habit of seizing every discounted designer item i can find, but i'm starting to fight against that inclination. i'm trying to be more practical - even though this piece that i sort of like might be by my favorite designer or only cost a little bit of money, it'll be worth more in the end if i decide not to get it and save towards something i really love and will cherish.

 

[Leeroi]

sales sales sales! i especially love yohji coats, but the retail price is insane! i usually wait when the season is over when the stores have upwards of 40-60% off from the retail price.

also, save save save and i try to buy clothes that will last long.

instead of buying a lot of coats/jackets and then a few minimal items, i try to buy more minimal designer items (shirts, pants, accessories) and then buy one or two coats.

also, ebay doesn't hurt, especially for vintage pieces.

 

[indepwe]

I can't, so the next best thing is Topshop. I try and shop around but Topshop is the nearest nice store to me and I don't buy clothes without trying them on first. My dad bought me a Louis Vuitton handbag though and I try and get things in the sale when I visit him. I got a really nice Raplh Lauren jumper in the sales

 

[splashofcolour]

I don't have many designer items, but I'm lucky enough to live in a place where people are so cheap that whatever designer stuff is sold here has to be marked down a lot (usually more than 50% off) for it to be sold.
My other option is that I wait for when Urban Outfitters are having a sale because they mark stuff in their boutique section down a significant amount.

 

[bonita_applebum]

Life is full of trade-offs. I like clothes, so I make sacrifices elsewhere. I don't do take out, opting instead to cook my own dinners & pack lunch everyday. I don't own a car, and my rent is cheap (though that's a matter of circumstance, not necessarily a choice.)

In general I'm a very strategic shopper. Almost all of my designer items come from a combination of the barney's warehouse sale and the intermix warehouse sale (although they didn't have one this fall) in nyc. I can literally spend hours rifling through stuff, but am always happy with the stuff I come out with.

Also I love how the internet has made shopping so much better, not just in terms of online shopping, but information shopping. I regularly check out sites like racked.com to get information sales, and figure out what's worth checking out. I've gotten major deals on Balenciaga and Rick Owens thanks to tips I got on racked.

 

[Psylocke]

I don't own any actual designer clothes. I own a few "expensive" pieces from contemporary designers or diffusion lines (T by Alexander Wang, D&G, étoile by Isabel marant, etc.).

Fashion is important to me, that's why I also make sacrifices in order to purchase lovely clothes that aren't exactly in my budget range. I'm a full time univerity student, come from a poor family, live on my own and and work as a tutor which is luckily a quite well paid job here (I make 45$ an hour) on weekends. Most of my money goes straight to rent, insurance and treatment expenses. I usually have around 500$ left to spend every month and instead of buying food I'll spend the money on clothes. I literally spend no money at all on food. I eat four slices of toast bread with some cold meat for lunch every day which costs me about 3$ a week I never buy anything to drink, I only drink tap water and I only buy stuff like rice, cereals and chocolate when it's marked down at the cheapest super market. Plus, I don't really have any leisure activities that cost anything and don't go out on weekends, don't have a car, etc. It's ridiculous I know, but that's how I decided to live until I have a full time job and make more money.

In the mean time I keep making wish lists of all the beautiful things I want to buy and do and keep looking at the list as a motivation to get me through this time, because I know some day I will make enough money to be able to afford all of it

 

[tinytineschris]

I think lots of us own a few key pieces that we feverishly saved for. I don't think anyone's whole wardrobe is designer stuff.

 

[FASHIONLOVA]

I don't own any actual designer clothes. I own a few "expensive" pieces from contemporary designers or diffusion lines (T by Alexander Wang, D&G, étoile by Isabel marant, etc.).

Fashion is important to me, that's why I also make sacrifices in order to purchase lovely clothes that aren't exactly in my budget range. I'm a full time univerity student, come from a poor family, live on my own and and work as a tutor which is luckily a quite well paid job here (I make 45$ an hour) on weekends. Most of my money goes straight to rent, insurance and treatment expenses. I usually have around 500$ left to spend every month and instead of buying food I'll spend the money on clothes. I literally spend no money at all on food. I eat four slices of toast bread with some cold meat for lunch every day which costs me about 3$ a week I never buy anything to drink, I only drink tap water and I only buy stuff like rice, cereals and chocolate when it's marked down at the cheapest super market. Plus, I don't really have any leisure activities that cost anything and don't go out on weekends, don't have a car, etc. It's ridiculous I know, but that's how I decided to live until I have a full time job and make more money.

In the mean time I keep making wish lists of all the beautiful things I want to buy and do and keep looking at the list as a motivation to get me through this time, because I know some day I will make enough money to be able to afford all of it

karma to u, u re an inspiration

 

[wekilledcouture]

I live at home, work as much as i possibly can while balancing my senior year of school (20+ hours a week normally) and dont waste money on alcohol (rare for a 17 year old) i dont go to the movies, i dont drive or have a car. Parents pay for food as i dont eat junk food or take out.. the only thing that takes some money away from my shopping is cigarettes and thats realistically upwards of $50 a week.. But by not wasting little amounts of money on stupid things i save so much and it allows me to buy what i want, usually after only a matter of weeks (i never spend so much that i have less than a certain amount of $$$ in my account)
Another thing that helps is i love and buy a fair bit of vintage designer and couture.. so this helps cut costs (sometimes)

 

[wekilledcouture]

ill also add that i do not buy IT items but rather Items that will last me and i will forget about when the next season rolls around and the IT items are dated and old already.

 

[*Bianca*]

I don't own any actual designer clothes. I own a few "expensive" pieces from contemporary designers or diffusion lines (T by Alexander Wang, D&G, étoile by Isabel marant, etc.).

I'm the same. I only own a few diffusion line items, some items from local Australian designers (camilla and marc, Sass & Bide, Bettina Liano, etc), and everything else is either from local inexpensive labels or chainstores.

I actually bought my first real high-end designer dress today from the Outnet birthday sale (£805 down to £1) but even though I got it for such a ridiculously cheap price, I won't be keeping it - I have no idea if it will fit, plus I don't like the cut of it . So I'll try sell it, and with whatever money I can get will hopefully be able to put it towards a designer item that I love.

I hope one day I'll be able to have a wardrobe that I'm proud of, but right now I'm in a bad habbit of buying quantity over quality. I'm so desperate for more clothes - just so I'm not wearing the same things all the time - but it's really hard to justify, when I don't have any money, buying 1 item for the price of 10. I know that's what everyone advises on doing, but for some reason I can't seem to do it.. Plus, the money I do have left over usually goes towards necessary (to me) maintance things such as hairdresser appointments