Looking Fabulous For Less

As surprising as it may sound, looking fabulous does not have to cost a fortune. With a little time on your hands, and some shopping around, it should be no problem to find affordable clothing, including cheap designer clothes.

Tips for Finding Cheap Clothes

• Shop online – The Internet is a great resource for finding cheap clothes in general. Quite a few websites sell clothes from famous designers with too much stock, who want space for new styles. To find cheap designer clothes online, simply do a search of the word ‘cheap’ and the name of the desired designer.
• Scout for sales – These days, there are enough regular sales happening that it is possible to shop almost exclusively on sale. Check the websites of your favorite retailers for regular sales and online deals, especially during the week. As a rule, most retailers have sales and lower shipping costs close to holiday periods and other times when many people are likely to be shopping. Also be on the lookout for clearance sales.
• Practice End-of-Season Shopping – When one season ends, stores tend to clear out their stock in order to make way for clothing for the next season. Two of the best times to shop for cheap clothes are at the beginning of spring and at the end of summer, immediately before school starts. These are ideal times to look for cheap dresses and get amazing discounts on shorts, and other clothing suitable for warm weather.
• Shop at Factory Outlets – This is a great way of looking fabulous for less. Designers pride themselves on the quality of their clothing, and do not want to market items of clothing that are even slightly imperfect. The clothes in factory outlets have very small defects, and are sold at low prices. These designer outlets make gettingcheap designer clothes pretty easy. Any clothes bought from an outlet store needs to be properly inspected, in order to ensure that the quality meets your requirements.
• Sign up for online newsletters from your favorite retailers – This is perhaps the best means of finding cheap clothes, since many of these online retailers make offers that are exclusively for members. Other retailers use this medium to inform members of any sales or bargains they have coming up, and may even offer discount coupons. The best part is that they generally give you the option of customizing how often you receive their newsletters, so you can arrange to get these notifications only at specific times.

To save money on clothing buy only clothes that you like, and clothes you will be able to wear regularly. Even though you may be looking for cheap designer clothes, do not allow changing fashion trends to pressure you into buying, because styles are always changing and trends are temporary. Perhaps the best thing to do is to buy clothes that can be worn throughout the year – natural fibers and knit fabrics, such as jersey, are recommended.

Travel tips

No  air travel tips or travel packing checklist would be complete without the following extremely useful items. Divide the checklist into four key areas to ensure that all the things you will need will get packed for your trip. Separate the things into the following categories: Essentials, First Aid, Finances, Clothing, Accessories, Toiletries and Miscellaneous Items.

Essential Items

1.      Emergency numbers and important addresses

2.      Suitcase and carry-on luggage

3.      Notebook for jottings

4.      Passport/Ticket/Itinerary/Visa

5.      Stationery- pens, pencils

6.      Travel insurance

First Aid kit

1.      Band aids

2.      Bandages

3.      Anti-diarrhea medication

4.      Insect repellent

5.      Iodine/ Hydrogen peroxide

6.      Medicines (as needed)

7.      Motion/Sea sickness tablets

8.      Tylenol/ Advil

9.      Re-hydration salts

10.  Travel scissors

11.  Tweezers

12.  Vitamins

13.  Water Purification tablets

14.  Vaccinations – get all relevant shots!

Finances

1.      Credit and debit cards ( Visa and MasterCard accepted worldwide)

2.      Local currency of the country being visited

3.      Traveler’s cheques

Clothing items

The bare essentials such as shoes/boots, underwear, sleep wear and a few items of everyday clothing like blouses, shirts, shorts, T-shirts, jeans and pants. Include one article of formal attire just in case.

Accessories

1.      A good hat/cap

2.      Belts

3.      Handkerchiefs/tissues/napkins

4.      Scarves

5.      Portable sewing kit

6.      Watch

Toiletries

1.      Hydro-cortisone cream

2.      Comb/brush/clips for hair

3.      Prophylactics (condoms, contraceptive pills)

4.      Q-tips

5.      Dental Floss

6.      Deodorant

7.      Make up including a chap stick/lip balm and moisturizer

8.      Bars of shampoo, conditioner and toothpaste

9.      Shaving cream

10.  Mirror

11.  Talcum powder

12.  Tampons/Sanitary napkins

13.  Toothbrush

Miscellaneous items

1.      Batteries (all sizes)

2.      Entertainment- novels/ebooks and reader

3.      Bottled water

4.      Camera/film and extra memory cards

5.      Chewing gum/mints/candy bars

6.      Luggage locks

7.      Compass

8.      Plastic cups/ forks/spoons

9.      Duct tape

10.  Cellular phone/charger/electrical adapter/plug converter

11.  Flashlight/torch

12.  Guidebooks

13.  GPS

14.  Travel pillows

15.  International driver’s license

16.  Ipods, MP3 player, Discman, PSP

17.  Laptop

18.  Maps

19.  Mosquito netting

20.  Ziploc bags

21.  Wet wipes

22.  Toilet paper

23.  Laundry detergent

Additional tips

• Luggage- Do not fold the clothes, roll them instead, especially in tissue paper. The bag will hold more and clothes will be less wrinkled. Keep medications and important papers inside the carry on especially for long flights with stopovers. Also, pack a change of clothing in the carry-on just in case your luggage gets delayed or worse yet stolen. Place the clothing in Ziploc bags so that they may be seen easily when you get to customs and to eliminate unnecessary rummaging. The plastic will make the clothing visible without having to unpack the entire bag.
• Diaper bags- Diaper bags offer a certain protection from theft so carry one even without baby to store important documents and cash. Chances are, the diaper bag will be the last bag anyone would want to steal!
• Shoes- When packing shoes, place shoes inside an old sock before putting them face to face inside a Ziploc bag. This will eliminate odors and maintain a clean suitcase.
• Divide and conquer- Divide all those credit cards, cash, traveler’s cheques and any other valuables by putting them in different pockets or compartments either on your person or inside your carry on. If one pocket is rifled through and cash is found, chances are the thief will not search further, leaving your backup stash safe and secure.
• Always exercise caution and common sense on every trip.