Four ways to stay fashionable on a student budget

Jennifer Nguyen
Contributor
As university students, there are a lot of worries that we face from time to time.
For some, it may be marks and the completion of one’s degree, but for most, it’s the rise of university tuition fees. At university, there are costs for transportation, food, housing, school supplies, entertainment, and of course, clothes.
But let me be the first to tell you that clothes shouldn’t be seen as another thing to add to the list of costs, but something that can actually help you save money. Unlike everything else, fashion doesn’t have to cost a thing. As students, we must prepare ourselves, financially, for the future so here are the top four ways to stay fashionable for university, without going for your wallet:
Spend time at consignment stores
If you have any gently used clothes or accessories (shoes, handbags, jewellery, scarves) that you don’t use anymore, you can earn a little bit of money from them. Consignment stores will buy, sell, and sometimes trade gently used clothing.
For an upscale consignment experience, visit Fashionably Yours, a Queen Street shop which sells discounted clothes and accessories from Chanel, Louis Vutton, Gucci, Balenciaga, and Alexander Wang.
Another destination on Queen, Common Sort, buys, sells, and trades adult men’s and women’s clothing. No appointment is needed to sell your clothing there, and you can bring your clothes during weekdays, when it’s less busy. The store also has a great blog that showcases featured items.
Over on Broadway Avenue, you can find Off The Cuff, which is dedicated to menswear. The store is well known for buying a variety of clothing, from suits to blazers, cufflinks to golf wear.

Add a bit of vintage to your fashion style
Fashion always recycles itself and there’s a good reason for that. If we take a look at ourselves, a lot of our clothes are from years gone by. Even the clothes we wear right now were inspired by the past. That’s why buying vintage is great; the clothes are great quality, yet less expensive. Older clothes were made more expensively and constructed with better materials, versus today where most clothes are constructed quickly, and with cheaper fabric.
One of the best stores to visit is Queen West’s Vintage 69, a store that even pop star Ke$ha visits to fill up her wardrobe. But if you’d really prefer to not spend any money at all, then the best store for you is your parents’ closet. Looking through your mother or father’s closet, you may find yourself something that fits you perfectly and makes you gasp, like that vivid coral red jacket that your mom had in the 90s or that black leather jacket that your father wore during prom. Just remember to keep an open mind when looking through old clothes.
DIY (Do-it-yourself)
Do you want that bracelet but gawk at the price tag? Or those beautiful heels that just shine in the room? The best solution is to just make it yourself. In a city like Toronto, there are lots of arts and crafts stores and fabric stores to choose from. The most popular is Fabricland, but there are other choices like Michael’s or Midoco. You can buy beads, scraps of leather, studs, and colourful fabric for a cheap price and add it on to an old piece of clothing or a worn-out shoe to make it stylish again. Instead of throwing out old clothes and accessories, rework them to make the statement that you want.
Learn to sew
Some might argue that they have no time in their busy schedules, but learning how to sew and investing time in classes will save you loads of money in the long run. Learning a life-long skill like sewing can keep you from spending money on tailors and throwing otherwise-ruined garments.
And you’re not alone when it comes to sewing. There are stores out there that are dedicated to giving people places to let their creativity soar such as The Made Den on Bloor West, a creative hub where you can rent a sewing machine for seven dollars an hour, learn how to sew, and meet like-minded people.
But it’s not only stores that have knowledge in sewing, you may be surprised to find that a close relative may know how to sew and teach you for free. At the end of the day, sewing will get you far with your fashion style.
With stores just waiting to raise the price for their clothing in the back-to school season and not many clothing departments ready to give a good deal, the best route for a student is recycling, selling, and spending time practising sewing. You may still have to spend money on books, food, and transportation, but at least you’ll look good doing it.