The answer is to shop savvy.

For every skint person looking for that fab new dress there
is a skint person looking to sell their old one, or someone looking to make
some more wardrobe space by donating to charity. You can certainly avoid looking
like a high street clone this way, but with a bit of imagination and a keen
eye you can also make sure you stay on the cutting edge of fashion.

Where can you buy these pre worn and bargain items? Out and
about in your area you're bound to have some specialist vintage clothing stores,
most major cities will have at least one. Quality varies. Some of these will
be dumping grounds for 50 year old junk, but among these you might find the
odd gem. Look for classic styles like 60s shift dresses, 50s circle skirts and
70s jackets.

Specialist vintage stores can sometimes be expensive, so another
place to look is local charity shops. You're more likely to find a super cheap
bargain in the more out of town stores, but city centre shops can still provide
the odd bargain. Look for vintage belts, gloved and shoes, and hidden among
the racks of unwanted rubbish keep an eye on the labels for some bargains. Charity
Shops are an excellent place to look for more recent items, anywhere back to
the 80s, as people clear out their wardrobes and think that no one would possibly
want their old stuff!

If you can't be bothered to trawl the racks at your local
stores then shopping from your own home is the way to go. There are many specialist
vintage sites, but by far the best place to look for a bargain is Ebay. Recent
changes have meant that it's now safer than ever to buy on Ebay,
especially if you use Paypal to pay for
your item.

Each season there are key trends and taking elements of these
to use for your search can produce fruitful results. For spring summer 2008
nautical trends are huge. Searching for nautical on Ebay will produce massive
results, but they will be the same ones everyone else has found and competition
could be fierce. Try searching for Navy Stripes, or Anchor, or just Red and
White could produce some unexpected finds that everyone else has missed.

If you find an Ebay shop that has a lot of items you like remember
that stock updates regularly and they will probably have a newsletter you can
subscribe to to keep updated and ensure you don't miss new bargains. My own
ebay store Retro Chick UK has new
stock being added 2 or 3 times a week, and you never know when the best stuff
will appear. I use a variety of mediums to keep people updated when I add new
stock. My Ebay newsletter can be found HERE
But by far the best way I have of keeping people up to date is my facebook page
Retro Chick on
Facebook

If you like a seller it's likely that they use similar methods
to promote their shop. Check their ABOUT ME page on Ebay for possible links
to websites that they may also sell on, or that may offer other promotional
opportunities such as update emails or discount vouchers.

Remember when searching for vintage and pre owned clothing
that sometimes accessories can make all the difference. A plain red dress can
be made to fit the nautical trend by the addition of a white belt and blue scarf.
Buttons can be changed, hem lines altered and issues like broken zips, missing
beads and ripped seams are often easy to fix but can bring down the price of
a fantastic item to one that is easily affordable!

Finally, if you're on a serious budget then I bet you've got
friends that are too! Get them all round, with their entire wardrobes, drink
wine and swap clothes! Happy Shopping!

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