I think that to get good clothes at the discount places (and outlet malls), you have to go often and not be all that picky as far as color or style. When I shop I’m usually looking for something very specific like a black pencil skirt in a specific size and never have any luck so I’ve kinda stopped checking those places out. the only discount place I still shop is Neiman-Marcus’ Last Call which usually has incredible designer shoes for insanely low prices.
Oh, and I meant to add that you have to be willing to spend a lot of time going through the racks. I’m usually too impatient to do that (unless it’s shoes).
Yes. You have to go every week, in my experience. I have found Lily Pulitzer, Jones New York, Donna Karan, Isaac Mizrahi among others at Marshalls/TJMaxx. I’ve also been there and seen absolute dreck. It’s really all in what you’re looking for.
I’m loving it now that I’m down into misses sizes. I found the plus sizes to be particularly loathsome.
VCNJ~
I live for Salvation Army & Goodwill. Outfit my kids in designer clothes ( and that is not important to me at all.) but for the cost of what someone would originally pay for a girl’s designer style dress at $35-45, I can outfit one kid with that dress and seven or eight little outfits for the summer.
YAY!
Also, if you have a chance and a waistline, **H&M ** in chicago is the freakin’ bomb for Kids through Adults clothing. w00t!
I’ve bought several very nice outfits at Ross, and a few things at TJ Maxx. However, I’ve only found something worth buying at Ross maybe 1 out of 10 times I go there. It’s very hit or miss, but when I hit I get really nice clothes at a very low price. At the last two weddings I’ve attended (not including my own), I wore outfits I bought at Ross but I definitely didn’t look like a blue-light special.
I no longer need nice clothes for my job, but when I did, I shopped mainly at thrift stores, rummage sales, and clothing-liquidation stores. If you take the time to sift through the stock, you can turn up some amazing bargains at such places. Once I found a Neiman Marcus suede jacket in like-new condition for $10.
I would like to brag that I bought a perfect, new pair of purple Fendi sneakers for $5 at a place called Opitz, which is located just outside of Minneapolis in St. Louis Park. They were sized incorrectly (but fit perfectly). So sometimes discount stores will have bizarre good deals.
ZJ
Also, don’t forget that Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, and Ross Dress for Less all have home departments where you can get great deals on name brand pots, pans and other kitchen equipment. For example, I bought a five quart dutch oven from a company called Well Equipped Kitchen for about $30.00, a fraction of what a similar pot would have cost from Le Creuset or Staub. The only flaws were a small chip of paint and a swirl of paint on an area of the pot that doesn’t impact its performance.
Handkerchiefs 
A pair of President Clinton’s Used Underwear: $3.99
A pair of mismatched leather gloves: 2 for $5
That loud, Salvation Army jumper: Priceless
Most of my clothes come from either TJ Maxx/Marshall’s or Target. I’ve gotten Lucky jeans and Polo t-shirts(so soft) from TJ’s at a ridiculous fraction of full retail price. My parents are true TJ’s addicts. I’d say the best things we’ve ever found at one of those places are the down jackets from Victorinox that the whole family now owns now.
-Lil
I don’t buy much at Maxx or Marshall’s, but Sally is my friend. Got a very cool, well-worn and well-loved leather bomber jacket there for $15, for one example.
I have quite a few items from Goodwill, but I work there and get first dibs on the good stuff. The key is to go frequently because things are never the same two days in a row. Especially in a college town, anything decent will be picked clean the day it comes out.
But I once bought a pair of CK underwear that was in my size, yet came up almost to my ribs. It has to have been a very irregular pair.
My extremely fashionable wife shops almost exclusively at Ross, with frequent visits to Goodwill and Salvation Army thrift shops as well. She has an uncanny ability to seperate the wheat from the chaff. She avoids hip & trendy “vintage” clothing shops that are very common hereabouts, decrying their insane prices. It’s amazing how hot she can look in a 4 or 5 dollar dress.
While not strictly a discount store, most of my wardrobe comes form Old Navy. I did once receive a compliment from a very pierced and inked guy salesdude in Hot Topic about my “awesome” hawaiian shirt with a ukelele-playing hula gal on the back. He seemed chagrined when I revealed its unhip origin.
I find better clothes cheap by going to the department stores like Macy’s or Hecht’s and buying from the 50% and sometimes even 75% off rack. I’ve gotten $79 Liz Clairborne shirts for $19 at Hecht’s (50% off rack + a 25% coupon). But I’m a guy, and it’s a little easier (read clothes are more monotonous) for us.
As I am typing this, I’m wearing a pair of slacks that I bought at Costco. I like them enough that I will be heading back there this weekend to get some more.
Mrs. Butler is a queen of the Goodwill bargain bin! She never looks anything less than well dressed, and brags openly about her frugalness. Often she brings home clothing with the very expensive store tags still on them!
She’s purchased quite a few things there for me as well, and unless she told me she got it at Goodwill, I’d never have known they weren’t brand new.
/me loves his cheap wife!
-Butler
I’ve had good luck at Marshall’s. I bought my most comfortable pair of shoes there–also a pair of Hilfiger khakis for $10. But I practically live in the clearance racks at Mervyn’s. I would say about 90% of the pants I own came from Mervyn’s. You can usually find good stuff in the 60-80% off racks there.
Sorry, posted to the wrong thread. :smack: