Feb 21, 2013

Combating the Winter Blues Part 3; Spice Up Your Wardrobe

How to Bring New Life into Your Wardrobe Without Breaking your Budget

By Jocelyn Rosenthal, University of Colorado
College Tourist Ambassador
This weekend while getting ready to go out, I entered the age-old battle with my closet. “UGH, I have nothing to wear!” I groan (almost daily) as I rummage through the hangers and stacks of clothes in my closet. Although this is rarely an accurate statement, we’ve all been here – bored and disappointed with our wardrobe, what’s a girl to do. Here are the best ways I have found to spice up your closet, without spending an arm or a leg.

Consignment

Do you have clothes in your closet you always pass over when picking an outfit and never wear? Go gather these items and bring them down to your local consignment stores. Buffalo Exchange and Plato’s closets have locations throughout the country and will either pay you cash or give you credit to use at their store to purchase new stuff. These places can be picky about what they choose, so call ahead and see what they are purchasing that week.

Clothing Swap

Make a party out of trading clothes with your friends! Get a group of your friends together (preferably those who are similar in clothing size) and have everyone gather the clothes they don’t wear anymore. Have some food and make a time of bartering with your friends for new clothes! The best part about this way, is if you decide you want to wear it, its not gone forever – only to your friend’s house down the street!

Bedazzle

If you are a girl of the 90’s, you will remember the excitement and frustration that came with the “Bedazzler”. Now you don’t need a kid’s machine to liven up your clothes, just rhinestones, ribbon, or whatever else you can think of and a hot glue gun. Add rhinestones to the pockets on your jeans, or make your straps and neckline sparkle. If you’re decent with a needle and thread, sew colored thread over the seams of your jeans to jazz them up!

Cut-Up

This happens to be one of my favorite past times. I had tons of big t-shirts that I never wore, so I cut the sleeves off and deepen the scoop of a neck for a non-constricting running tank. I also cut up my t-shirts into fun tanks to go over bathing suits during the summer and wear to concerts. Check this website for some ideas of how to cut up a t-shirt. Get creative and try your own ideas, worst case you ruin a t-shirt you never wore to begin with.

Donate

If all else fails and you still have stuff you don’t want – just donate it. It’s not doing any good collecting dust in your closet, and someone may actually get some use out of it this way. The Arc Thrift Stores and The Salvation Army are great places to donate your old clothing and accessories because you are helping those less fortunate in your area – something everyone can feel good about.

Let me know how these work out for you and if you have any ideas for spicing up your wardrobe on a budget, post it here on the comments! Hope you guys enjoy these tips!