Recession Fashion

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is doing a Mister Linky post on recession fashion. So, here are my tips for dressing for less in today's tough economy.

1. Shop consignment sales. We have two great children's consignment sales in our area twice a year: Rhea Lana and Duck Duck Goose. I went to both this year and got some great things for the kids. For my 7-year-old: 2 nice button-down Abercrombie shirts for $10 each, several pair of jeans for around $8, nice brown leather shoes for $8, and a lot more! For my 4-month-old: Lots of cute outfits for around $4 and some adorable brown sandals for this summer for $2!
It's also a good idea to clean out your old stuff and put them in the consignment sales. Then, you make back the money you spend, so the stuff is basically free! And you usually get to shop earlier than the public if you consign, so you get the first pick of the cutest stuff!

2. Shop e-bay. I love Gap jeans, but they usually run around $60. I know exactly what size I wear in them, so I go to e-bay and find Gap jeans in my size for around $8 plus shipping. I end up spending less than $20 on $60 jeans! And even if they're used, Gap makes great jeans that last forever. You can also usually find "lots" of cute tops in your size at a good price. And for the kids, my pastor's wife says she buys most of her baby's clothes on ebay and saves a ton of money.

3. Join Yahoo Groups. Yahoo has some great groups out there. One I love is freecycle. You give away stuff you don't use anymore (including clothes) to people in your community and you can also get stuff. I've gotten some great things from there. It's usually a really great place to find maternity clothes. There are also coupon trading groups. Someone might get a 15% coupon to JC Penney in the mail that they aren't going to use, so they offer it in the group and you can get it. This is a great way to save on new clothes.

4. Yard Sales. Especially if you go to the fancy-shmancy neighborhoods. They always have great stuff!

Do you have any recession fashion tips? Post a response here, or post them on your blog and participate in the Mister Linky at Kelly's Korner!