With cotton prices spiking in recent months, many clothing retailers have had to increase the prices of clothes, from shirts to jeans and everything in between.

How do you save money on clothes? Are there websites that you find have better deals than everywhere else?

Do you only shop at used clothing stores? Do you swap? Or do you simply not buy as many clothes as you used to?

Share your clothes-shopping saving strategies here.

Learning to sew.

Not so much for actually making clothes from by-the-yard fabric, but for being able to repair them, hem them, re-make them from one thing to another.

For example, you can take an old(er) jacket, replace the buttons, remove perhaps some flaps or other dated decorative details, shorten it (and/or the  sleeves), and it looks new & fresh again. Or cut a large, full skirt down to make an A-line or pencil skirt. Or remove the hood on a hoodie pullover & use the hood to re-craft a collar for the pullover.

Combine this re-work with great finds from Salvation Army & other thrift stores, and you can save a whole lot of cash.

Yard Sales--the absolute best thing.
Its all I do Saturdays 7-noon all summer.
Bought a bunch of stain removers and
have saved some beautiful clothing,
new but dirty/stained, bought for almost nothing.

Thrift shops--found some fantastic men's suits
for $9 each. New. I believe the people who once
owned them are now dead. :^)

Repairing/remaking. Will shorten sleeves,
flip collars, use fabric from unseen areas
to repair & replace worn areas. Have also
re-cut clothing and sent it to a seamstress
to piece back together. Only if its very high
quality though. To me the key to sewing
is to use basting stiches to hold everything
together and then to slowly run it through
the machine. Fabric glue can be useful to
hold things together.

Buying off-season and from factory stores.
I only buy brands like Land's End, Columbia, LL Bean etc 
Its not worth messing around with low quality
stuff.

Another thing is "buy for the rest of your life"
If the clothing is very nice, I'll buy it even if
it duplicates what I have. One needs to be
careful to avoid hording. I get rid of clothing
if its stuff I don't wear.

I shop at this great resale store in Malden - Tailored Impressions.  It's located at 15 Washington Street South and all proceeds go toward a nonprofit organization that helps low-income women return to the workforce.  www.tailoredimpressionsboutique.com

Here's what I do:

I shop only when needed and at thrift stores and discounters.  Look for the quality labels and only buy classic styles in neutral colors.  Also buy elastic waist and knits which are very forgiving when the weight fluctuates 5 or so pounds.  I also know how to sew and do my own alterations.  Example, I bought a cashmere sweater set at Salvation Army store and wore it to a bridal shower where the quest were mostly affluent, they raved about the set and how "smart it looked" I did wear a set of beautiful pearls with it but who knew but me where it came from. Now that's smart!

I'll still shop at Nordy's!

In Response to How do you save money on clothes?:


I only buy to replace now.  I like consignment shops but shops like Second Time Around are sometimes pricier than the sales rack at Macy's.  It depends on the shop and timing. 

One time, H&M had a clearance - I bought $1000 worth of clothes for $100.  I had enough office clothes for the year.