A couple of weeks ago I went through my wardrobe with the aim of improving it and
in the process realized that I had accumulated many items through the years that I no longer wore and many that I had gathered earlier on to give away. It was then that I got the idea of working with what I already had since my goal was to cut on spending and also spruce up my wardrobe. I came up with the following tips that helped me fix my wardrobe cheaply.
I tried many of my trousers to find out those that fit and those that didn't and to my surprise found out that about half didn't fit, so rather than purchase new pairs, I just took those that didn't fit to a tailor. It's cheaper to have a pants tailored to fit that buying a new one, besides you also save the time that shopping for a new one would have taken. Having my old pairs fixed cost about $15 to $30 depending on the amount of work to be done.
Another thing I did was to have a couple pairs of shoes repaired and polished. The soles were coming off of one pair and the other needed a good polish and new laces. This was a much cheaper route than buying new shoes and the bonus is that I don't have to break in a new pair of shoes.
I am a big fan of sweaters no matter what the season. And since I wear them quite often they tend to get worn looking rather quickly. Some of my sweaters had a few holes in them at the elbows and seams and others had a bad case of piling. So I hand washed my old sweaters (you can dry clean also) and de-piled them by hand. The sweaters with holes I had mended by my mother (you also can ask a quality retailer who they would use). I have to admit I was rather surprised how nicely they came out and I feel like I just got new sweaters. After all, I liked them when I bought them and still do.
I evaluated my current wardrobe and thought about what I needed the most. I chose to buy just a few new pieces that will easily coordinate with what I already have. For me it was a new pair of black dress shoes and couple of new dress shirts to wear to the office. My advice is to just make sure it works with what you currently own. A few new things can really freshen up your existing wardrobe.
A really simple thing to do is to have an old suit or sport coat dry cleaned and/or pressed. You can also have a sport coat that doesn't quite fit tailored by taking in or letting it out so you can wear it again. I did this to a sport jacket I bought years ago and am thrilled.
And lastly, a great thing to do is to consign or sell old items and use that money to buy something new. I have done this many times. There are consignment shops just about everywhere. You can also sell things on eBay or Craigslist. And considering these bizarre financial times, it might be wise to sell or consign old things than just give them away.