Saturday 28 July 2012

Get an affordable (dupetastic) wardrobe!

Fashion Vouchers are hosting a competition on which blogger can create the best post about finding affordable online fashion finds and the prize is £300!  Enter the competition here, or read my entry below!

Boohoo
I've loved Boohoo for quite a while now as they're constantly bringing out new stuff and it's all cheap as chips! I've made a couple of orders in the past and I've been happy with the quality and prices.  Creepers have been absolutely everywhere lately and I own a black Underground pair which I bought at the beginning of this year for £80, then everywhere started doing them for under £30 and I can't believe I paid so much! I've recently really been loving the dalmatian print creepers and Boohoo do a great dupe for only £25, saving you £74!  There are also a few Wildfox inspired designs as well as some inspired by UNIF, specifically the Lexie cross tee, which I actually own myself, and that's just £10 instead of the regular £60 price tag.  Top brand-alikes for affordable prices!

Funky Divaa

I cannot tell you how long I've been lusting over a pair of Runway Dreamz shorts but there's no way I would ever pay over £100 just for some shredded fabric!  Thank heavens that Funky Divaa sell these gorgeous ombre studded shorts for just £15.  They're refined enough to look like they're from a shop and not amateur enough to look like you spilt bleach on your shorts and got them caught in a lawnmower.  They also look like they're a much more flattering cut, with the fabric on the bum being longer so your cheeks don't hang out like what happens with the god awful hotpants that appear to be so popular amongst young teens lately, no one needs to see that.

Olive

I really liked the hear/speak/see no evil skull tee when Zara first brought it out but I wasn't really willing to pay nearly £20 for a simple tee that wasn't even of exceptional quality.  However, then Olive Clothing came along and made a dupe with all three skulls on the front instead of two and one on the back, and they're only charging £7! I'm really lusting after this item but I'm waiting for a free shipping code or something as they charge £4 for UK delivery which is a little steep in my opinion!


Glamorous UK
I'm guessing quite a few of you may have heard of Glamorous' brilliant disco pant dupes [link] because they have literally been all over the blogosphere for a little while.  These babies can give you supermodel legs for £40 cheaper, and actually feature the button and zip closure as well as the pockets on the bum which many disco pant dupes do not have.  You can get them in the standard black, but also navy and a pewter grey too!  A couple of satisfied bloggers with the disco pant dupes are Kim and Becky.

Miss Rebel
I think most of you have to know about Black Milk's incredible clothing, printed leggings and the like, but the prices, at £50 with nearly £10 postage it's not exactly easy on the bank balance. Luckily Miss Rebel is at hand! At first I wasn't keen on the name as it sounds like a bit of a young teen try hard brand, but their clothes are great and so affordable, with a few Black Milk dupes that could save you over £45! They also do a pair of leggings similar to a Topshop pair that were out a while ago priced at £20.  The quality of Topshop has never been particularly spectacular so £20 isn't much of a reasonable price so never fear, Miss Rebel do a pair at just £6, so that's a saving of £14!

eBay

A bit of an obvious one, but eBay is literally bargain heaven.  Whether you're buying secondhand or new, there are always great buys going, especially shoes! I found a pair of Jeffrey Campbell Night Nail dupes on eBay for just £25 including postage, and I actually like how they fasten more than the real Jeffrey Campbell's as they actually just zip up at the back instead of a fiddle buckle, and I love the peep toe detail.  I do actually own a pair of the eBay dupes and I can tell you now they are absolutely worth every penny!

A Summary
- Altogether I have featured 10 pieces of clothing, and 10 dupes from 9 top websites and 6 dupe websites
- If you gave in and bought every piece of [original] clothing here straight up you would spend a whopping £650! (not including postage!)
- If you shop smart with my helpful tips, all this [dupe] clothing would be just £141
- Altogether that's a saving of £509 just by having a little more self-restraint and patience!
- You could buy all the dupes here four times over with the money the originals cost.
- That would mean that you would have 40 items of clothing for £650- Whereas if you didn't shop effectively, you would only have 10 items for £650

Hopefully I've put some perspective on online shopping by showing you some affordable websites, I find that even I was surprised by the statistics in the summary, that's a whole lot of money you could be spending if these affordable websites didn't exist, and just think if you used the rest of the money you don't spend on originals on dupes instead; you'd be swimming in bargainous clothes! So henceforth go my little pretties, save your hard earned money, don't give in to glorified t-shirts with ridiculous prices, be smart and shop safe!

More affordable clothing:
- OMG Fashion
- Superlooks
- Everything 5 Pounds
- Humbara

Swap Sites:
Yes, there are sites that exist where you can just swap your clothes for other clothes..for free! These sites include Big Wardrobe, Posh Swaps and CovertCandy but do be careful with these sites, sometimes there is a risk of getting swaplifted, which is when another person agrees to send you an item so you send yours to them, and they never send anything to you and then they drop all contact.  Swap sites are a great idea and an effective way to trade clothes of equal value but they can be a little untrustworthy.  A blogger that frequently uses swapping websites is Joelle and she has some great stuff so it's definitely worth considering!

Fashion Vouchers:
Be sure to always check out Fashion Vouchers before purchasing anything from online chain stores such as Urban Outfitters, Motel Rocks, Madam Rage and tons of others, because there will almost always be a discount code.  I actually bought something off Boohoo today using a code from Fashion Vouchers, saving me 10% on my order, so definitely keep this site bookmarked!

A couple of tips:
Mailing Lists - I'm subscribed to many online shop's mailing lists and I'm constantly getting discount codes and free shipping notifications, as well as trend updates and I often get early access to sales! It's definitely worth it and it's so easy to sign up as well, most websites have a box you can just submit your email into on their home page!

Student Discount -Remember, student discount is your friend!  The NUS card is definitely worth £11 as you save a load more than that eventually.  Even if you're not a student anymore, get in contact with someone that is, or even tweet to ask about it! There are countless times where people on my twitter dashboard have asked and I've tweeted it to them.  It's not like it's a secret thing so people will be more than happy to give out their NUS number.

Blog sales - I've picked up a good few bargains from blog sales, and often postage isn't very expensive either.  Cosmeticswise - don't be put off if the product has been used, as a lot of the time it will have only been swatched or used a couple of times, and lipsticks can always be cut and lipglosses cleaned.  Blog sales are basically a way of getting your favourite bloggers wardrobe for a fraction of the price!

Find potential - Hideous maxi dress in a size XXL which has a gorgeous pattern, could it be made into a summery playsuit and a skirt?  All items as hideous as they may be can always have potential, especially if you're a bit of a whizz on a sewing machine.  I once bought a velvet maxi dress and cut it into a tunic top and made the excess fabric from the bottom into a circle skirt which are super easy to make and totally on trend!
love amy x
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12 comments:

  1. lovely post :D it´s always great to find a cheaper version of something you want but that are expensive :D

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  2. THis is one of the best posts of I've seen on blogger, thanks so much.
    x

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  3. I love this post! I just did a post similar but I hadn't heard about the competition for it. Try the fake leather studded creepers from Boohoo.. I got mine in the mail a few days ago and I adore them. They don't look cheap at all and then I saw a pair exactly the same in a shop window for $200! xx

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  4. This is a great post, especially the extra tips at the end - I had never heard of the swap sites or fashion voucher site before. My OH has a student card, but too often I'm too impatient to leave the item and come back to the shop with him in tow, so I end up paying full price!

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  5. This is a great post. I'm wanting those two leggings now, so I shall be getting them after seeing the amazing savings I've made.
    I hope you win, because it looks like you've done a fantastic job!

    xx

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  6. What a great post! I own the original black milks and disco pants and I love them so much. The dupes are great but they can never compare to the real thing xx

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  7. Great post. I'm so rubbish at finding cheaper stuff online! When I see the posts of cheaper ebay finds on VIPXO, I'm constantly amazed by how Victoria finds the stuff!
    Love the black milk dupes!

    Emma
    Http://www.twentyone08.blogspot.ie

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  8. Thanks for post. Went over to missrebel.co.uk and got some cross print leggings, they had them on offer for £3.99! Got them delivered this morning. Im sooo happy!!

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