Change of Season Sales

When a season changes, stores have to adjust what they put on their shelves depending on what season we are going into. We all know this. Something that you might not know, though, is that this is the best time to get good deals on clothes. I've made a point to keep doing this at the end of every season, and some of my favorite clothes have been bought out of season on a sale rack. Now I'm going to share with you a few tips to help you take advantage of these sales. (After the jump)

The first kind of change of season sale that you should be aware of occurs when seasons are changing from summer to fall or winter to spring. The clothing stores have extra merchandise from the year before that is going to be season appropriate in about a month, so they clear out the back rooms, mark their old clothing down, and put them on a sale rack. The most recent of these happened around the end of July and carried into August. This is when the stores put out all of the old winter clothes that they need to get rid of in order to make room for the new fall/winter clothing. I've gotten a bunch of great stuff last month by taking advantage of this sale. Zara was having a huge change of season sale, so I knew I had to take advantage. I got this shirt for $10:

Orig. Price: $40, Sale: $10

I got a few sweaters also, each for $20:

Orig. Price: $59.90, Sale: $19.99

Orig. Price: $79.90, Sale: $19.99

I even bought a blazer for $40:

Orig. Price: $89.90, Sale: $40

I stopped by H&M a few days later, and they had a rack of last winter's leftovers and I picked up this zip up sweater for $20:

Orig. Price: $49.95, Sale: $20

 I did some math, and my total money spent was $109.98. If none of these items were on sale, and I bought them at full price, I would have spent $319.65. By utilizing these change of season sales, I was able to save $209.67, which is almost two-thirds of the total price. It's hard to argue with those numbers. If you didn't have the chance to take advantage of the most recent sale, don't worry, because there will be another one once winter is over. All the old spring/summer clothing will be on the sale.

The second kind of change of season sale is the one that is happening right now, in September. This sale occurs when the weather starts to change, and summer clothes are beginning to not be warm enough to wear. All of the summer clothing will be marked down in a last effort to get it out of the store. This also happens at the end of winter, when heavy knitwear is starting to become too hot to wear. This is my favorite sale, because I always buy a bunch of stuff for cheap and put it in the back of the closet. Then, when the seasons change, and I have forgotten all about what I had bought months before, I go through my closet. I find the sale items and it's like I gave myself a present! This may sound stupid, but if you love clothes as much as I do, you'll love playing this little game with yourself.

The other day, I stopped by Urban Outfitters and saw that they had a $10 rack with a bunch of summer t-shirts on it. I grabbed this long sleeved tee that was originally $49:

Orig. Price: $49, Sale: $10

 I wore it one time since the weather hasn't cooled down a lot yet, but I'll save most of its wears for next spring. If I add this shirt to my total savings, I've saved $248.67. The proof is in the pudding. So now that you know exactly when and where to take advantage of these great sales, shop around a bit and find those change of season rollbars.