if you were to look through my closet and read the tags on my clothes, you’d find a decent variety of brands. in the past couple years, i’ve really made an effort to try new stores to shop at and have found some success! most of my daily outfits consist of closet staples, which i seem to have from a select number of places. it’s one of those things where once you find that perfect fit in a pair of jeans or that tee that’s just long enough and soft enough, you don’t spend anymore time shopping elsewhere. in my case, i buy that tee in 7 colors and wear them for four years.
my favorite place to get tee shirts from is J.Crew Factory. i’ve been buying them there for years and don’t see that ending anytime soon. they’re high quality, come in plenty of different colors, and you can get a ridiculously good deal on them when they have a sale. i usually have luck at Target, too, but J.Crew Factory is my first stop when i’m on the hunt.
i’ve mentioned before that it wasn’t until a couple years ago that i actually started caring about footwear. i used to exclusively buy my shoes at Target. they always had what i needed and i couldn’t find cute shoes for a better price anywhere else! i still shop at Target, but i’ve found that Zappos and DSW are almost always a guarantee to find something. obviously, they both have a huge variety and offer far more than just a single shoe store. i’m not brand-loyal to any type of shoe, so i don’t have a go to store that i know will have the fit and style that i’m looking for. plus, i enjoy the hunt with places like DSW and Zappos. and DSW’s clearance section is a gold mine.
before shoes, and for as long as i can remember, i have been a bag girl. i get it honest, since my mom loves and appreciates a beautiful bag, too. i would much rather invest in a quality bag than anything else in my closet, no doubt. i love the ‘magic’ wallets from J.Crew, especially if it has a cat print. i’ve also had good luck shopping at Nordstrom Rack for designer bags at a much more reasonable price point – especially when they’re on sale!
through the winter months, i wear a sweater almost everyday, so i feel like i’ve become an expert on where to buy sweaters that i like. H&M and Old Navy have come through clutch this winter with warm, cute, and affordable sweaters. Target, of course, has also been a good spot for me this winter.
jeans. oh, jeans. i mostly hate shopping for jeans, especially when i’m in-between brands. i tend to go on kicks with stores. for awhile it’ll be that i love Gap jeans, then Madewell, then Target will put out some great jeans and then back to Gap (or somewhere else). since living in the city, i’ve discovered the beacon of hope for my jean shopping that is ZARA. i’ve found several pair of jeans there that are comfortable and fit perfectly, so it’s currently my go-to place for jeans. their sizing is a little weird, so it’s definitely worth trying them on in-store (just a heads up!).
lastly, and probably my favorite, winter accessories. scarves, hats, gloves…all the things to cover all the parts of my skin from the windchill. i’m hoping somebody will invent an affordable heated winter jacket sometime soon because that would solve a lot of problems. anyway, Forever 21 is where i like to buy my winter hats because they’re cheap and cute. i don’t wear them enough to feel the need to invest in a higher-quality one, so these get the job done! i love a good scarf, so Forever 21 and ZARA have come in handy for that department. i pretty much swear by the scarves at ZARA because they’re warm, high-quality and big but lightweight. plus, when they’re having their big sale a couple times a year, you can get them for a fraction of the price and stock up for next winter.
if you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you probably already knew that i shop at all of these stores since they make up about 80% of my outfits. but hey, what’s life without consistency? 😉
