Some hints and tips on smart shopping for clothes

Our interest in clothes goes far beyond their use as a shelter. For most of us clothes are an expression of our personalities. We express ourselves in the styles and colours we pick and the combination of clothes we put together. At the same time we use clothes to express our individuality. We also use them to show our membership in special groups.

You can see that clothes serve several important purposes. This is why, when choosing clothes, we need to keep both functional considerations such as durability, comfort and ease of care in mind as well as considerations such as style, pattern and colour. None of us can really afford to neglect our appearance. Just as we use clothes to express ourselves, other people use them as a way to find out what kind of people we are.

To be well dressed, we need something more than a miscellaneous collection of slacks, sweaters, skirts, and shoes. To really meet our needs, a wardrobe must be planned in relation to the kinds of things we do and the kind of places we go.

To begin with, we must consider all our different activities and the kinds of clothes we need for each. Clothes for one of the categories may also serve another category. For example, clothes for school usually are also suitable for informal parties.

Clothes for dress-up social occasions may be suitable for church. Most of us can afford to buy only a few new items each year. This is why it is important to make every choice count. There are, however, some buying techniques that can help you stretch a limited clothing budget.