Day 14. Savvy Shopping

Day 14. Savvy Shopping


Bargain hunting the smart way

• Check out the sales rack or bargain table the moment you walk into a store. Sales racks and ‘special reductions’ are usually prominently displayed inside the store entrance in the area known as the ‘compression zone’ or ‘transition zone’. This area is so named because it’s where we tend to pause and orientate ourselves when we’ve stepped inside a store; it is known to be the area where we are most influenced by promotions.

• If the sales rack isn’t at the front it’s likely located at the back, leading you through the shop and past all the current (non-sale) stock. Stay focused! Check out that sales rack first - wherever it may be!

• Neutral coloured items are the best buys because they are wardrobe basics. Neutrals are versatile and can be styled up with accessories - jewellery, belt, scarf, and handbag or shoes you already possess.

• A bargain is not a bargain unless it is in a colour and style that flatters you and you know you’ll wear it.

• Ask yourself: Will the item coordinate with garments you already possess? The gorgeous yellow silk skirt is not a good buy (even if it is drastically reduced) if the perfect top and footwear coordinates are not already sitting in your wardrobe at home! We’ve all wandered around the shops clutching an impulse purchase, searching for something (anything?) to team with it. Don’t make that impulse purchase in the first place unless you’re absolutely positive you already possess its soul mate to team it with. Search out coordinating garments such as a skirt and top at the same time (and in the same store) and buy them together.

• When you find a bargain item take a moment to think about the accessories you already possess - shoes, belts, handbags, jewellery etc. and whether they will enhance the item. Nothing is a good buy (no matter how great the price is) if other garments or accessories have to be purchased to enable you to wear it.

• If you really must have a garment and it’s not available in your size, go up a size. Do not buy a smaller size and hope it will fit because believe me, it won’t! Obviously it’s easier to alter a garment that’s too big than to alter than one that’s too small.

• Take the tailoring costs into account when considering something you know will have to be altered. If you don’t sew and the garment needs extensive alterations the chances are that it will not be such a bargain after all.

• An inexpensive too-small garment bought with the proviso “I’ll start the diet on Monday and slim into it” is never, ever a bargain! Give the garment a miss and go back to the store when you have gone on the diet and have lost the weight.

• Jackets and coats that are too small are usually too short in the sleeves and too tight across the shoulder blades. Lengthening sleeves is complicated and expensive; generally seam allowances within ready-made garments do not have enough fabric to be let out. Inserts constructed from different fabric become a costly exercise for a bargain jacket that may well end up looking like a patchwork quilt!

In the fitting room

Regardless of your size, weight or body shape, clothes that fit you properly are the most flattering. Just because you can get into a garment doesn’t mean it fits well.

A well fitting inexpensive garment can look a million dollars; a poorly fitting expensive garment will look cheap.

You owe it to yourself to ensure that your clothes fit perfectly; it’s the most important step on your journey to gorgeous.

Shop when the stores are quiet. You’ll receive better service and more attention if you hit the shops early on a weekday morning; and the beginning of the week is better than towards the end. If you can’t avoid shopping in the weekend, be waiting outside the stores when they open! Late in the evening is an alternative.

The more crowded times are lunchtimes, just before schools get out and about half an hour after schools get out.

Allow plenty of time and go alone. It is easy to get side tracked when you’re shopping with a companion. This is about you. You don’t want to be rushed and you don’t need someone hovering outside the fitting room fidgeting around and loudly wondering when you’re going to be ready to go for a coffee.

If you do shop with a companion (friend or family) don’t ask the companion to hold up garments or accessories against themselves so that you can see what the garment looks like against the body - unless your companion is your identical twin! Chances are that your scale, size and colouring will be different, and something that looks good on your companion may not look as good on you and visa versa. Also your companion may instinctively dislike a colour or style because it’s incorrect for her - and pull a face or say so, which could put you off it when it may just be the perfect one for you. Take the garment to a mirror and hold it up against yourself.

If you intend to buy items in the sales, suss out the garments you’re interested in and try them on beforehand thus avoiding wasting time standing in long queues at the fitting rooms. Most stores will not hold items until the sales for you.

• Get to sales early.

• Wear loose, easy to remove clothes (separates are ideal) and comfortable shoes. This is not the time to wear a shirt with zillions of buttons or a skirt with a difficult zipper, or buckle-up boots!

• You’ll be pulling garments over your head so ensure your earrings are secure and wear an inexpensive necklace. Lost property departments are full of items abandoned on fitting room hooks.

• Take an old chiffon scarf to cover your face when you are pulling clothes over your head. It protects garments (yours and the shop’s) from make-up stains.

• Find a large fitting room containing a couple of mirrors – ideally one will be adjustable so you can get a back view of the garments you are trying on.

• There is no stock standard garment size. Sizes are approximate, some companies cut their designs generously and some do not. Take a couple of different sizes of each style into the fitting room. Some shops provide a buzzer arrangement with a sales consultant available to fetch alternative sizes for you, but most do not.

• Examine the garment thoroughly to establish whether the quality, the workmanship and the finishing of the garment is satisfactory.

• Are the seams and hems secure without any loose threads? Embellishments such as buttons, pockets, topstitching and zips should be stitched securely, in working order and correctly placed for your figure. Are spare buttons or thread included – they’re usually attached to the washing instructions label. And make sure the care instruction label is there too, you’d hate to ruin a dry clean only garment by throwing it through a hot wash.

• Check how the fabric pattern is placed on the garment. If the centre of a flower or swirl falls directly over your breast, if lines or whorls lead the eye to your nether regions or if a large circle lies smack bang in the middle of your tummy, crotch or butt (don’t forget to check the back of the garment) return the garment to the rack and find another one with better pattern placement.

• Wrinkles, whiskers or folds in the garment when you put it on are indicators of poor fit.

• Tight whiskers occur across the body when a garment is too short or too small or both. Loose folds occur when the garment is too long or too big.

• Does the garment actually feel comfortable?

• Move around the fitting room in the garment. Bend, squat, stretch and sit down. How does it feel in action?

And now for the million dollar question… Does it flatter you?

No matter how classy, trendy or hot of-the-moment the item might be, if it’s not in proportion to your body shape - don’t buy it.

If it doesn’t look good on you – don’t buy it.

If it doesn’t make you look slimmer or younger – don’t buy it!

This is the hardest fashion lesson to learn. Many of us have wasted money on unflattering items that have languished unworn and unloved at the bottom of our cupboards until we’ve bitten the bullet, forgiven ourselves and slung them out. Sometimes it takes years to muster the courage to do this, and in the meantime the item is a reproachful reminder of our folly. We have to confront enough in our lives without elements of guilt, annoyance, discouragement or frustration tempting us into wearing anything that doesn’t flatter us.

If you don’t love it, then don’t buy it.

Forget the brand name on the label.

Forget the size tag (no matter how enticing it might be) and forget what the price ticket says.

If the piece doesn’t flatter you, if you don’t love it, if it doesn’t empower you and if you don’t feel absolutely great in it - walk away!





Keeping up-to-date and current

Shops showcase their coolest and most recently arrived stock on manikins; they’re a fantastic source of imaginative coordination ideas. Check out the accessories displayed on the manikins; you might have something similar at home.

If your favourite boutique or preferred clothing brand regularly accessorizes displays with the same handbag, shoes or jewellery you’ll know they have been carefully coordinated by professional stylists. Do you own similar accessories? Would they work with your wardrobe? Accessories can make or break an outfit. Stylists and window dressers do get it right.

Another great way to keep up with current fashion is to pay attention to brand posters on the walls around the stores. It’s a pleasant surprise to find you already own similar garments that can be coordinated to imitate a hot-looking outfit on display in the store.

Where to shop?

You may have a store you can always count on to deliver exactly what you want in terms of size, colour and the level of appropriateness you require. However, most of us purchase a piece here and a piece there in the hope that when we get home it will team with what is already in the wardrobe. The established fashion houses have recognized the spending capacity of the mature age market and tailor at least a portion of their seasonal ranges to meet those demands.

Be smart when you are shopping;

Will a garment allow you to showcase your jewellery?

Will you actually wear a sleeveless top?

Remember that you don’t have to have full body cover-up just because you are dancing in your summer years. The number after your name doesn’t make you who you are!

Factory outlets are discount constants and most major cities have a cluster of them somewhere. Don’t approach factory outlets with high expectations of finding items that are currently available (or recently available) in retail stores. Such items are unlikely to be heavily discounted at the outlets. Treat your visit as a fun outing, factory outlets are lucky-dip places where you could come across bags-full of amazing bargains or you could leave empty handed, it depends on the day and what’s in stock. Tuesday is a good day when the weekend rush is over, the stores have re-stocked on the Monday, and extra discounts might be offered to further tempt you.

At the outlets be prepared:

• To search through disorganised racks and racks of clothes.

• There will be junky and tatty items and you’ll wonder who on earth would buy them (the answer is no one; the store needs to have a clear out!).

• To check garments or accessories that you’re interested in buying are fully intact without bits (buttons, zips, embellishments) missing or broken and fabric ripped, pilled or damaged.

• That you are likely to be walking a long way on concrete flooring or other similar hard flooring.

• To keep an eye out for items (such as the LBD) that you aren’t specifically shopping for.

• That there will be a lot of items in sizes that don’t fit you.

• Not to have high expectations, treat any item you find as a bonus and have fun!

Brand Sales

Do you have a favourite clothing brand (or two) you can pretty much rely on? It might be the cut of the garments, the quality of the fabric, the styles, the sizing or the colours, whatever it is you know that label usually works for you.

Not all brands or labels operate factory outlets. Many have warehouse clearance sales a couple of times a year (or more) when they jettison last season’s unsold stock. If you do have a favourite brand of clothing it is well worth enrolling on their preferred customer list to be notified by email or post when special promotions, end of season sales and product events are coming up. Google your favourite brand and have a snoop around the website to see what they are doing, or call the marketing department. Some fashion houses offer very generous discounts that bring items that were price prohibitive during the fashion season down to an affordable cost.

Mass Retailers

It is always worth checking out mass retail stores for garments and accessories. These stores have their fingers on the fashion pulse and prices are competitive. Mass retailers are a great source for of-the-moment items that you’d love to wear for a season or two but you don’t want to spend a lot of money on because you know they will quickly become outdated. Mass retailers are always good for a tee shirt or two, slippers, exercise pants, underwear and shapewear, sleepwear, socks, etc. Some of the wardrobe basics – black skirt, white shirt, black pants, can be smart purchases from a mass retailer. Sizes aren’t particularly generous; you may have to go up one or two sizes depending on how loose-fitting you wear your clothes.

Hair and beauty products and some of the light pharmaceutical product (non prescription) prices are almost unbeatable so it is well worth stepping into the stores to purchase these items. While you’re there you might as well have a look around! Footwear

We don’t want ugly orthopaedic nightmares or boring practical classics, or shoes we can hardly walk in, or anything so sensible that we feel elderly and Nanna-ish. What we do want is stylish sexy footwear that fits. We should wear fabulous footwear and we can! It’s all in the buying!

What to do?

• Have both your feet measured next time you go shoe shopping. Chances are that you’re wearing the wrong size footwear and could have been doing so for years! Our feet change shape and size as we progress through life, when we hit the middle years most of us should be wearing one size bigger than we wore when we were twenty. Interestingly, most of us don’t buy shoes that fit properly.

• If you have one foot larger than the other (this is not uncommon) fit shoes to the larger size and use a padded insert, heel grip or insole in the other shoe.

• Lunchtime to mid afternoon is the best time to go shoe shopping when the feet have settled into the day.

• Uncomfortable footwear is not worth buying. Many of us have a pair (or several pairs) of shoes lying unworn in the wardrobe. These are the shoes that are so incredibly gorgeous that we can’t bear to part with them but we can’t bear to wear them either - because they totally kill the feet. There is no miracle cure for these shoes. Frame them, ditch them or give them to your daughter!

• Width is important – footwear that’s too narrow will pinch (it never stretches properly no matter what the salesperson says when they are pushing you to buy the shoes), paving the way to painful long-term foot problems.

• When you are trying on shoes wear the leg wear (pantyhose or socks- especially if you are test driving sports shoes) that you intend to wear with them.

• Ask for a new pair of shoes out of the box. Floor stock can become misshapen, stretched, discoloured, scuffed or mismatch the mate in the box in the storeroom.

• Stand up when you try on footwear. Walk around on different floor surfaces and look at your feet in the mirror from all angles.

• If you decide to buy two pairs in the same brand and style take the time to try on both pairs. Occasionally the fit can change from colour to colour even when the style, the size and the brand are identical.

• Once you’ve brought new footwear home and worn it outside and scuffed the soles, unless there is a manufacturing fault, the footwear is yours! If you have doubts about your purchase walk around inside on carpeted areas until you have reassured yourself that you want to keep it.

Retail details and magic products

Here are some of the labels who produce chic, simple, stylish and youthful-looking garments in the medium to lower price bracket in Australia: Most brands are available in larger shopping centres, or have a boutique counter in one of the department stores. To find them on the internet do a www. Then type the brand name in lower case without any spaces followed by dot com dot au.

Aero – knitwear, casual jackets and vests

Andiamo – classic casual pants that launder well, in a range of current styles and a choice of lengths, widths, fabrics, sizes and colours. They are well worth paying a little extra for. Available in boutique shops, not department stores

Anthea Crawford –this label can be relied on for elegant and chic garments in the medium price range.

Country Road – all garments but not all styles!

David Lawrence – conservative garments, generous sizes, worth checking out!

French Connection – edgy and well priced, great for tops, bottoms and jackets, some accessories

Gordon Smith – laid back casual garments and some accessories

Howard Showers – pants, glamorous eveningwear

Jump – knitwear, skirts and dresses – well priced and great colours

Just Jeans – jeans, boots, belts, some jewellery, trendy and casual, if you used to shop this label and stopped, re-visit it, offering lots of clothing appropriate for the mature person.

resort report – classic knits, tops and casual jackets

K-Mart – skirts, some knitwear, underwear, sleepwear

Marco Polo – knitwear, pants

Perri Cutten – it’s hard to go past this label for trendy, detailed, interesting quality garments in the medium price range.

Peter Alexander – up-market pyjamas

Portmans – jackets, straight skirts, jewellery- some edgy styles has this label back on the radar.

Queens Park – glamorous clothes for the over 30’s. Medium price range, spectacular colours, lots of bling and embellishment, great separates, jackets, dresses and accessories.

Re-launch – all outerwear, great seasonal colours, forgiving fabrics and of-the-moment styles.

Sportscraft – casual classic white shirts, pants, tops and jackets – this label has undergone a sexy style makeover. Check it out

Sportsgirl – jackets, some tops, skirts and accessories

Supre – great, inexpensive tee-shirts, some jewellery, pants if you have slender legs.

Sussan – basic garments such as black pants, tee-shirts and tops (always!) sleepwear, knitwear.

Target – skirts, swimwear, tops, some footwear, lingerie, you may need to go up a size, prices are excellent.

Trenery – Country Road’s new spin-off for women aged 40 plus

Veronika Maine –outerwear

Witchery – jackets, tops, some shoes, jewellery, belts

Wombat – pants, some shirts, some knits

Plus sizes

Maggie T. – great casual jackets, shirts and straight legged pants and underwear. Tend to be a little pricier – but the quality is fantastic.

Piper Woman – dresses $129 upwards, lovely colours and reasonably priced.

ts+14 – gorgeous colours, interesting textiles mixes and youthful styles at very reasonable prices – a great label for the goddess and diamond curvy shapes. Wear ts+14 pants with consideration as they tend to be wide legged; straight legged pants are more flattering to the curvaceous figure.

The following labels have seasonally affordable accessories:

Barcs – jewellery

Diana Ferrari – footwear. The ‘supersoft’ label is part of Diana Ferrari, comfortable, stylish footwear in wide fittings.

Diva – jewellery

Equip – jewellery and hair accessories

K-Mart – swimwear, sunhats, casual tote bags

Nine West – footwear and bags

Sportscraft – scarves, belts

Sportsgirl – jewellery and flat summer sandals

Target – sunhats, some footwear, lingerie, some swimwear

The Two Mrs. Grenvilles – jewellery, bags, hats

Trenery – belts, bags

Wanted – shoes, boots and sandals