bargains

i love bargain shopping. i hate paying full price for any item & i generally try to wait until an item goes on sale to purchase it. i do have to be honest & admit that when i know that it'll be a popular item or it might be a limited release i'll generally jump the gun & buy it before i regret the missed opportunity to do so.

i also love to comparison shop. this means that if there's an item that i really want, but i don't want to pay x amount of dollars for i'll try to look for something similar in pattern, shape, color, etc that's selling for a smaller dollar amount. for example, i fell in love with the stripes from prada s/s 2011 & since there was no way that i was going to be able to afford anything from the collection i went out & bought a multicolored striped dress from h&m that satisfied my bold stripes craving. additionally, i fell in love with the bananas print from the same prada collection & i jumped at the chance to buy a sheer banana print dress from h&m. obviously, neither of the dresses look anything like the original look, but they quite nicely fulfill my need for a multicolored stripes & banana prints which is good enough for me.

h&m is a favorite place of mine to satisfy fashion cravings, but zara, forever 21, & especially thrift stores (since trends always recycle) are also great places to find specific trends that you might want to try at a price that you can afford. sometimes its not just limited to higher end brands that i cringe at the thought of shelling dollars out for. if i think that the said product is not unique enough & overpriced considering the quality/cut/color then i will try to find & often do find a similar product at a price that i'm comfortable with.

here are some examples of my comparison shopping:

kate bosworth in calvin klein (i think). i loved this dress on her & immediately needed to buy an orange dress.

i instantly fell in love with this bright, citrus number at zara- $60

prada s/s 2011 RTW

i bought this at h&m - $15

prada s/s 2011 RTW

i found this cute dress at h&m for $30, but with a 20% discount i got it for $24.

i wanted these steve madden booties - $130

so i went to dsw (great selection of shoes) & found these similar steve madden booties- $50

i wanted these limited edition swedish hasbeens x h&m, but they were sold out in my size- $70

i went to urban outfitters & saw these in store for $40 & checked their website & sure enough i found them for- $15