Shoppin' on a Budget...a real budget.

Has it really been nearly a month since my last post? Yikes. This semester's work load is killing me, but I digress. Lately I 've found myself chatting with friends about where to buy professional clothes to wear in our teaching practicums. At least two of my friends have mentioned they're on the look out for dresses and skirts. Yet, sometimes it seems you can only find dresses that are cute but too short or dresses that are wayyy too matronly to want to be sporting in your 20's...or ever. And of course on top of all these dress debacles you wanna stay on budget! So, I thought I'd put together a blog post of my favorite places to snag professional, yet adorable (in my opinion!), and most importantly affordable outfits. And let me just clarify I'm talking real-life affordable, 'cause this girl does not consider a $70 cotton dress to be budget-friendly. Seriously... getting a dress at a Gap Outlet clearance sale for SEVEN dollars was one of my proudest shopping related moments...or just proudest life moments ever. Check out my go-to's for my teaching ensembles...

1. J. Crew Factory: Now you may be thinking wait a minute I thought she was going to write about budget-friendly places?! I know, I know J. Crew is not the first place I think of when I think of affordable clothing either, I mean they were selling hats for upwards of $30 this winter, not my idea of cheap! But I promise you their sales are out of this world! They often do 40-60% the whole store AND they give a 15% discount to students with I.D.'s. Not to mention they sell tons of cute skirts that are long enough to wear in a professional environment.  Just yesterday I was able to snag a dress, a statement necklace, a pencil skirt, and a pair of black jeans for $70 total! I dare you to pull off that deal at Target. 

2. Old Navy: Old Navy is my old standby because even before a sale they tend to be pretty affordable, but when they have a sale oh-my-goodness can you get some deals! They also sell dresses that have longer hemlines, so perfect for a work environment. 

3. H&M: H&M is another place that tends to be generally on the inexpensive side, not to say I haven't seen items there for upwards of $50. Yet, I always seem to get great shirts or hit lucky with sales (sometimes they do buy one get one free, what!). 

4. Asos: My newest discovery is Asos.com. They are an online company and they sell it all! Everything from cheap, cute dresses to pricier designer duds. My trick is to hit up the sales and click "sort lowest to highest price." This forces me to forgo looking at more expensive items that I can't afford. By checking out the cheapest items first I don't feel like I'm depriving myself from items that I love but can't afford because I simply stop looking at things once the items begin to go above my price range. Also, they offer free shipping- both ways! 

5. Gap: Gap is another store I don't regard as super affordable, but like J. Crew Factory they do great sales. I just go straight for the sale rack and don't even bother with full priced items. It works for me and they've got dresses that can be professional which I am all about. 

I know this was a super word-y post, but I hope someone could find it helpful. Cute professional clothes do exist and you don't have to have tons of money to afford them! Please hit up these stores and help me banish boring dress pants forever.