Creating a Wardrobe on a Budget

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Something new that is happening around here is that I have a new client. If you didn’t know, I am a virtual assistant by trade and have been doing that for a little over six years. It still blows my mind that I get to call this my regular job and not my side hustle. Anyways, I don’t take on new clients very often because I feel like I have finally found a good sweet spot of work I love to do, people I love to work with, and the amount of time I want to spend working each day/week. But when this opportunity presented itself, I jumped alllll over it (and I suspect you would have too!)

I’ve been working with Erin from Living in Yellow for the past few months to showcase some of her favorite fashion finds on a curvier body and well, if I’m honest, it is pretty much a dream gig. Someone I love and look up to pays me to buy clothes and take selfies in them. I mean – who would NOT love to do that?! However, just as with all of my other clients, I have to be sure that it will fit into my lifestyle seamlessly, and a HUGE part of my lifestyle is the fact that we have slashed our spending and cut our lifestyle way back over the last two years in order to pay off debt.

Even though we are debt free, it is still important to me to have financial goals and keep my life simple, so that I can always find new ways to help YOU do the same thing for yourself. So, in an effort to do just that, it has been imperative to me to find clothes that are cute, comfortable, versatile, and most important, affordable. Over the past few months I have bought, tried on, kept, returned, and culled hundreds of items from my closet. This process has helped me narrow down what I know will always look good on me and make me feel comfortable and these are the most important thing about anyone’s wardrobe. Brand and price point be damned, I will drop $29 on a pair of jeans in a hot second if I know that they make my butt look good. I’ll also drop $100 on a pair too, but not as often 😉

Creating a Wardrobe on a Budget

I originally had the title of this post as “How to Create a Capsule Wardrobe on a Budget” but I changed it because I don’t like the idea of a capsule wardrobe (mostly because I’ve never been good at putting one together but that’s neither here nor there). I changed it to “Creating a Wardrobe on a Budget” for a few reasons:

1. I believe, fully, that when you’re making sacrifices to meet financial goals, you still need to have the ability to reward yourself as you go, and clothes can definitely be one of those rewards!

2. Having a wardrobe that makes you feel confident and poised can do wonders for the rest of your life! It may sound vain, but seriously think about how much better you feel when you get dressed in an outfit you know you’re rocking versus when you stay in your pajamas until its time to… get in pajamas for bed.

3. Building a wardrobe that works for you, with key pieces that you know look good, feel good, and don’t break your bank, is not as far off as I used to think it would be, and it can make other parts of your day so much easier to conquer. The less I have to think about what I’m going to wear, the more time I have to think about what I’m going to blog about.

4. Just because something belongs in a capsule wardrobe, does not mean it belongs in YOUR capsule wardrobe. I am just not going to wear trousers so why should I spend the money on them?

Let’s talk about how you can start building a wardrobe that works for YOU and your budget, shall we?

The Basics

Jeans, tees, and comfy shoes are my go-to every day look. After trying out many different looks and ensembles, I have found that I am most comfortable in skinny jeans with a flowy, longer tee, and comfortable booties or shoes. Having a basic uniform to fall back on makes choosing an outfit every day that much easier! Plus it makes my closet look streamlined and for some reason that really helps me feel less overwhelmed when I open up my closet. Instead of dreading picking something, I get excited when I see my nice, clean, simple, organized closet!

Jeans

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After trying on literally hundreds of pairs of jeans over the years, I have finally found three or four brands and fits that I know will always fit, regardless of the wash (because sometimes this does make a huge difference!) I rarely stray from these brands or fits because I don’t have to think about whether or not they will work. They are also not all that expensive in the long run, considering that my jeans have lasted me years with daily wear and regular washing. The price per wear is basically pennies at this point, if not less!

Side note: Erin wrote an awesome blog post on how to find the right jeans for you, so I won’t try to re-write the bible on that, but you should go read it.

Shop more of my favorite skinnies here:

Tees

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I love me a great v-neck tee. They are flattering on basically everyone and are extremely easy to dress up or down, depending on what my day calls for. I can throw on a simple necklace and some bright earrings or top it with a blazer and a chunky necklace and easily go from day to night in a v-neck and I love that. Versatile = you can get a lot of use out of it for your money!

Shop more v-neck tees here:

Shoes

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Can we just pause for a minute and say thanks for our feet because man, are they the unsung heroes of our world or what? I think we easily take for granted how hard they work for us! So let’s hear it for comfortable shoes that you can wear anywhere, any time, and never worry about pain or blisters. That my sisters is the real key to happiness! These are my go-to shoes that I will grab over any other pair in my closet at any given time.

Shop more of my favorite everyday shoes here:

Accessories

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Having a few great accessories that you can always reach for to take your outfit to the next level is essential. And the great thing about accessories is that they can be pretty inexpensive so, BONUS! Again, in the name of simplification, I keep my accessories in just a few categories: thin scarves,  a simple necklace, or lightweight, colorful earrings. I usually pick one or two accessories to wear on any given day because any more than that and I feel fussy and overdone, when I’m really trying to look casual and put together.

Shop some other great accessories here:

Other Things to Note

Please do not for a second think that I consider myself a fashion blogger – the thought is honestly laughable. I am someone though that really has a much better day and feels SOOO much more confident if I take the time to get dressed and look my best, even if it is just for instastories. Because let’s be honest, nobody would ever see me if I didn’t jump on there every day.

All that being said, I have had to learn and teach myself that fashion is not just reserved for those with high incomes (or lots of credit cards) and it is not complicated or fussy or expensive. It just took me 35 or so years to learn what I actually like (versus what people tell me I am supposed to like) and how to shop for myself.

As with all of my other financial decisions, clothes shopping is an intentional thing that I do – it is intentionally in the budget, I make choices based on things I already know about myself, and I intentionally do not stray far from my go-to pieces. Because of this, I’m able to invest in things I know I will wear over and over again, that go well with other things I already own, and that I feel like a million dollars in.

Here are the four keys to remember: cute, comfortable, versatile, and affordable. Do not buy anything that does not fall in all four of these categories!

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