Avoiding Boxing Day without giving up fashion

I know this may come as a surprise to some of you, but I have not gone shopping on Boxing Day in about five years.

I actually have a good reason for it too: I’m broke.

Let’s just take a step back and think about all of this for a second. We’re students. If you celebrate Christmas, it has just passed. This means you have probably spent most of your money on gifts for friends and family. In return, you may have gotten some cash.

Now you want to go out the following day at some ungodly hour to blow it all on items that have only been marked down enough to save you taxes? Let’s be honest, while they do have great deals at Best Buy, for example, retail stores barely mark down their bestsellers. Having worked in retail, I’ve seen this first hand. It’s the items that haven’t been selling during the season are given away like candy.

Don’t get me wrong, I also suffer from Impulsive Buying Disorder, but even I can’t rationalize fighting a crowd for an Aritzia jacket marked down only $15.
Bottom line: for items like these, you can always go shopping on another day. If you’re really looking to pick up some last minute items from fall/winter 2011-2012, the best markdowns occur closer to the end of January when stores begin to restock for spring and summer. I realize that means that there will be less selection but if you don’t mind doing a little bit of hunting, it can be worth it.

Keep in mind that fall and winter fashion is packaged together, so anything you picked up in the past couple months can be worn right until the end of the season. I’m a firm believer in having pieces that you can just keep recycling and make it look new by adding new accessories.

Example: Knit Sweaters

Sweater: H&M ($16 – on sale)

This sweater is an example I used for the No Jeans Challenge. Last time I gave it more of a fall appeal with light trousers and soft suede wedges, but now I can give it a more appropriate winter look:

Boots: Aldo ($100); Statement necklace: Aldo ($20); Mineral-wash leggings: Forever 21 ($14)

While I kept this style simple, the cheapest ways to update any sweater like this is through accessories (the necklace) and leggings. Statement jewelry is always considered “in” and it looks even better when used to play up a simpler outfit, giving it a slightly classier touch. In addition, leggings come in so many colours and patterns that grabbing one or two pairs that deviate away even a little from the standard blacks and greys always gives something new to an outfit. So if you skipped out on Boxing Week this year, there’s still many ways to be in style through the rest of the winter.