Is there a secret to affording expensive clothes?

[TheyCallMeJune]

Just wondering really.

We're comfortably financially but I certainly can't afford £300 dresses and Louboutins for nights out like so many people seem to buy.

Someone that I know who has a very average life/income goes on a two week holiday to Ibiza every year and buys an 'Ibiza wardrobe' each summer with expensive dresses and shoes.

Are there any secrets I don't know of?

Charity shops and ebay 😁

Getting into hideous amounts of debt?

Priorities, credit cards?

I am comfortable financially but still can't bring myself to spend lots on clothes. I think it's a hangover from the days when I had much less money and only bought in charity shops/supermarkets. I balk at even John Lewis/Boden etc.

As PP say its about priorities...

Credit card debt
Money gifts from relatives
Bonus at work
bargain hunter / eBay etc

Come on, use your imagination!

Some people spend all their disposal income on fashion. When I was on my 20s, I lived in a flat share and pretty much ate baked beans every night and got the bus everywhere. But I wore designer clothes, collected designer sunglasses, had thousands of pounds worth of shoes etc.

(Stupid way to live, but I was young and it was fun for a while!)

Maybe she doesn’t have many other outgoings?

when I was younger I bought expensive clothes. I preferred to shop that way as I found the cheaper stuff didn’t wash or last as well. I still have quite a bit of it 20/30 years later.

it probably cost me the same overall buying expensive bits and wearing them for years as it did my friend who preferred buying cheap, wearing a couple of times and then getting new.

Yep, Ebay and chazzers.

sugar daddy?

Higher income, being able to use income as personal pocket money due to spouse being 'breadwinner', inheritance, gambling, addiction, all manner of reasons.
Also differing perspectives.

I hear the charity one too often tbh, and considering the sheer amount of linking to original stores on here I strongly doubt everyone is managing to find every random thing second hand. I know I can't, and I am always on ebay!

Or 'I wait till the sales', when only their most shite products are actually reduced.

It also might be damn good luck. I have had my moments!

Oh and credit card debt.

Ebay! (I found an Armani jacket for £20 once and bought a £200 LK Bennett dress with tags for £15)
vinted
never found anything decent in charity shops but most of them have online shops too like Oxfam.
you can also hire expensive clothes and bags for special occasions/trips but probably not shoes.
Outnet (often have sales too)

a lot of people order fakes from China too!

If she is a size 6 or less and tall then she is probably picking up model samples from designer stores. Otherwise, she may be using a dress hire service or good at spotting bargains online.

Definitely not eBay and charity shops; it's all current season stuff ordered from places like Matches!

If she updates her wardrobe every year, maybe she sells stuff on ebay again and makes some
money back.
I think it’s a matter of priorities, I could afford designer shoes now but would rather spend my money on other things.

It's a combination of priorities and debt.

Higher general income than you
Higher disposable income than you
Credit
Prioritises those purchases over things that you might consider more important (eg you might buy more expensive home furnishings, cars, appliances/electrical gadgets, schooling for your children, hobbies etc)
Sells her previous season stuff on through designer preloved sites and so has a kitty of money to buy new season stuff with

I dress very well for my meagre income and it's all ebay and charity shops. Go to a nicer part of town and you get the higher end stuff.

There are also dress agencies that will lend you clothes and accessories. I remember Lily Allen and her sister opened one!

Are they all definitely real?
There’s a lot of good fakes out there on sites through Instagram etc

She must be supplementing her income. Sideline of some sort maybe.
Or maybe she's a CF that wears it and returns it all ! That seems to be a thing.

Credit card fraud or knows the local shoplifters....I had a friend, many years ago, who did this.

Not that I've got too many expensive items but if I do it's usually birthday or Xmas gift I've requested.
I would buy the odd nice dress, skirt or coat from sezane or comptoir cotonners and they have lasted years so happy to do it for a couple of items a year.
I have only just recently discovered ebay/vinted and I've bought a few bits.

Debt? Only fans?

Maybe she saves up?

I have some lovely things but I have to save up for them (or get given some gorgeous presents).

I think even if I was really well off I wouldn’t spend £300 on a dress 😬, I do like good quality clothes and I do think if you buy good brands they will last you longer. I don’t keep up with fashion so I, happy to spend a bit more on one item of clothing knowing it will last me years. I also buy a lot on vinted. I have no use for a £300 dress as I never go anywhere nice where I could wear it.

Maybe just what she chooses to spend money on, does she appear to save in other areas of life like a smaller house, not having new furnishings and the biggie, does she have children?