Most of my summer days consist of wearing pajamas til noon and then wearing my workout clothes for the remainder of the day. There have been a few rare days this summer that I have made myself look presentable before going out in public. The pictures below were taken on one of those days and when I analyzed my outfit, I realized that it embodies my taste in clothes perfectly.... tailored, feminine, conservative... and affordable.


For some reason, I don't like the idea of wearing the same thing everyone else is wearing. I would not describe my look at eclectic at all. I'm not a hipster or into vintage apparel, but I still don't like feeling like I am twins with every other 20-30 year old woman in America. Which is why it's hard for me to shop at Target. I'm not against Target by any means, and five years ago I actually bought a lot of my clothes there, but now I just can't, because when I wear something from Target everyone else knows it is from Target and they probably own it too. In fact, they are probably wearing the same article of clothing at that moment and we should probably take a picture together and post it on Instagram...
So here are a few of my secrets for filling my closet with cute, affordable, clothes that don't necessarily look like everyone else's...

I'm not too good for any store... My friends and I have many ongoing jokes about how I am not ashamed to shop at Kohl's. I know many of you probably hate the idea... but you shouldn't. About ten years ago when I moved to Texas, I visited a Kohl's for the first time. It reminded me of a Sears and I left the store as quickly as I could. It was not until a new Kohl's was built by my parent's house a few years ago that I gave the store another chance. And I was happily surprised to find that it was no longer like Sears. Actually, it is still like Sears in a lot of ways, but there is this one glorious little department that is filled with great stuff. I don't think it has an official title, but I call it the woman's young professional section and you will find it near the front of the store. It carries lines by Vera Wang, Lauren Conrad, and Jennifer Lopez, and seriously, the clothes are cute. Not all of them, obviously, but enough to make it a monthly shopping stop. The prices are great too. The moral of this story is not that you have to shop at Kohl's {although you should} but that you should be open to shopping at any store with cute clothes, good quality, and decent prices. When I was a teenager, I was the biggest store snob. I only wanted to shop at Abercrombie and Fitch and was ashamed that my parents made me shop at places like Fred Meyer and Target before it got cool to shop at Target. But now I don't consider myself too good for any store. Last year, I got my first cross-body bag at JCPenney and if Sears had something cute for a good price, I would probably shop there too...
The outlets are your friend... The Banana Republic Factory Store is one of my favorite places to shop. If you have outlets anywhere near where you live or have a chance to visit them on a trip, I highly recommend it. I used to think that outlet stores sold "seconds" or name brand clothes that were somehow flawed for discounted prices. That's not really how they work. Every once in awhile you will see some slightly flawed goods, but most store chains make separate styles for their stores that are sold at a lower price point. Banana Republic is one of my favorites because I get the tailored granny chic style of Banana Republic for about 40% off their usual prices. The other great thing is that because outlets are so rare, the chances of other people wearing the same item are incredibly slim. Other great outlet stores are GAP, Ann Taylor, J.Crew, and Nine West.
Discount stores are also your friend... I cannot rave enough about the amazing things I find at TJ Maxx and Ross. Many people are scared of Ross, because some of the locations can be pretty chaotic and crazy, between the racks and the clientele. The one right by my house has a line at every register until closing every night. But if you can find a nice clean Ross, I highly encourage you to shop there. My shoes in the picture above were from Ross and cost $10. Recently, I got two pairs of sandals from Ross. One pair was Chinese Laundry for $10.99 and the other pair was Steve Madden for $15.99. Amazing. Recently, I went into Marshall's for the first time in years and discovered the jeans I just bought at the Nordstrom Anniversary sale in there for $18 less than the Nordstrom sale price? What???? Remember, that Nordstrom Anniversary clothes are for this coming fall... so Marshall's had current, on-trend Nordstrom merchandise for post-season prices. Discount stores are great places to find designer clothes and trendy labels for extremely discounted prices. Yes, please.
Shop handmade... The longer I spend in the blogging world the more I am drawn to handmade shops, especially for accessories. It's fun to support the businesses of friends and entrepreneurs by buying handmade goods. My bracelet below is from Neon and Nude and is just one of many pieces of jewelry I have bought online lately.


So there you have it. My tips, tricks, and the lessons I've learned about wearing unique, high quality clothing without going broke. Well, as long as you can control yourself in TJ Maxx, you won't go broke...
*Linking up with The Pleated Poppy*