...somebody mentioned race to the bottom? I'm probably the bottom.
I buy most of my clothes from Ebay (all tagged and new) or the discount shop 'everything five pounds' (aka, E5P). Occasionally I shop at Very, or Asos, but I only purchase sale items.
I try not to spend more than £5 for a top, or jumper, no more than a tenner for a jacket or cardigan, no more than £15 on a pair of jeans or trousers, and a maximum of £30 on shoes or trainers, or coat/jackets, but preferably less. I will spend more on an individual item, say, a coat or a pair of shoes, but only if I really really like it and think it'll go with stuff I already own.
This month was a 'spendy' month, for me, as I was updating my wardrobe for the coming autumn/winter, and I've spent, in total... £246.50, including postage. For that relatively paltry sum, I received...
6 t-shirts, long-line short sleeve cotton crew neck, asos, all mens range, in the sale, £6 each.
3 cardigans from everything five pounds, one of which was £2.50 in their sale,
2 jackets, a linen waterfall jacket, E5P, £5, a pvc waterfall jacket, zara via ebay, £15.
2 trousers, high waist jeggings, £8, and a pair of jeans, £10, ebay,
2 bras and 7 pairs of pants, a set of autograph silk bra and two matching pants, all £5 each, another bra, £5 and a matching five pack of M&S knicks, £5,
4 pairs of shoes: a pair of trainers, £26, ebay, three pairs of boots, £12, £16, £22, all the sale in Very.
1 long body crew neck jumper, £5, again, ebay,
2 bags, a leather cross body leather bag, £15, and a shopper, £10, ebay,
1 necklace, made of semiprecious stones, £3, ebay,
1 dress, short-sleeve midi, £8, Very
and 1 coat, mid-weight trench, £15, also from 'Very'.
That's my whole autumn/winter 2019/2020 wardrobe sorted, although I will buy, between now and next January, a scarf or two, a few pairs of tights, some socks, a few basic vests, some warm flannel pjs, another multipack of knickers, etc etc.
I probably spend around 250 quid, max, every three months, sometimes I spend less. I always plan for the 'next' season, and I always buy 'off-season', so, warm jumpers and heavy coats in summer, bikinis and beachwear at the start of winter, for instance, because that's where the bargains are. I make a list of what I want/need to purchase for the coming seasons, which means I don't buy on a whim. I keep items for years: a well-cut white linen blazer can be worn every summer until it gets holes in it, same with white jeans, a heavy woollen overcoat can last five years, leather boots can be re-heeled, black jeans I re-dye when they lose colour, and as nothing is particularly on-trend to start with then they don't really seem dated a few seasons later.
I'm not a 'fashionable' person and I ignore trends, I have nobody to impress but myself and yet I like items to coordinate with each other in terms of colour and I want these garments to work with items I already have in the wardrobe.
I love dressing up and I love fashion, but most of the time when I go out I'm only popping to the shops for bread, or walking in the park, or, pre-lock-down, visiting the local pub for a few pints on a Saturday afternoon. I'm in love with the 1980's style big puffed sleeve two-tone chiffon blouses I'm seeing online this year, but I know if I buy one, I'll wear it once and then it'll go into the loft until ten years roll by and it's 'cool' again. If I had a photo-shoot, or a special night out with the girls planned, then yes, I'd get the blouse, but I don't love it enough to want to wear it every month for the next five years. If I buy an occasion dress, when will I wear it? I don't really do 'events', or luxury hotels, or 'posh' dinners, so I tend to buy what I need and what I will actually wear.
I'm very happy with my uniform of skinny trousers, long-body t-shirts and waterfall jackets, and people often pay me compliments on my sense of style (if they're taking the piss and they want me to know then they need to be more overt!) and I love it when people ask me where I bought such a thing and I say, 'oh, this old thing? ebay, five years ago, cost me six pounds' or whatever.
I could spend more money, of course, but I won't. I take a perverse pride in being a cheapskate...