I recently came across an old blog of mine that (jokingly) gave suggestions on how to save money in the most ridiculous of ways. I had such a blast reading it that I decided to re-post all chapters one at a time every Thursdays as my Throwback Thursday posts.
There were seven chapters, so I’m all set for the next 7 weeks. After all 7 chapters have been posted, I plan on continuing this series, hoping that future me would have as much fun as I’m having right now.
Please remember that this is all for fun. Don’t take anything from this post seriously.
Kaptain Kuripot’s Guide to a Sulit Life
Chapter Six: Fashion
Let's face it. Clothes have two purposes: to hide parts of the body you don't want others to see, and to simply look good.
As promised, the sixth chapter of Kaptain Kuripot's Guide to a Sulit Life will focus on fashion. Credits go to jan-na and uzziebee. Regular visitors will observe that there was no post from this blog last week, even though this was supposed to be a weekly blog. That's because I was preparing for something special.
This week's chapter is a double-length chapter. Lots of practical (and funny, of course) tips on how to be a fashionista while saving fill up this post. But wait, there's more!
I am relaunching one of my first blogs, The MLog (Movie Log), which is my personal critic of the latest Hollywood and Local movies. This blog was first seen on Friendster, but can now be accessed in Blogger and Multiply starting June 2, 2008.
Anyway, back to this weeks topic. Making you feel comfortable isn't the only thing a nice set of clothing can do, it has to make you look good, too. And while quality nowadays become synonymous to costly, it doesn't have to be. If you're wise and just give it a thought, you can always be like Kaptain Kuripot.
Haha, enough with the rhymes. Save money while looking good. Here goes:
1. If you're buying clothes just for a pictorial, don't spend just yet. There are alternatives. For the geeky or techy (techie? tekky?) type, image processing should always come first. The most popular tool, of course, is Adobe Photoshop. Anything is possible with Photoshop. You can be standing on top of Pluto's highest mountain with a few clicks. But this won't get the job done by itself. You need another popular tool: Google. Search for nice dresses, scan old pictures of yourself, and voila. Now you practically own that google-ized dress.
2. For the more common and non-geeky/techy/techie/tekky type, here's one for you. Drag a friend (of the same sex) to a mall's department store and pick up all the nice clothes you can find. Proceed to the dressing room, fit the clothes one by one, and have your picture taken (in each clothes, of course).
3. But if you're planning to buy clothes for everyday wear, you still have to be practical. If you're planning to buy a pair of pants, look for those pants-that-become-shorts type of jeans, where you just unzip the bottom portion and it becomes a pair of shorts. Same goes for the women planning to buy skirts. Look for the shorts-that-turn-into-skirts magical dress. This way, you buy two types of dress at the price of one.
4. When purchasing a bed sheet, choose the pattern or design correctly, and it can turn into a curtain after a few months. Then, once you get used to it hanging along your windows, turn it once again into table cloth. Lastly, since we're talking about fashion, bring it over to the local tailor and turn it into pretty drapings or polo shirts. Better yet, do it yourself.
5. For the girls, if you're planning to buy baby tees at ukay-ukays, buy children's shirts instead.
6. When buying clothes for your baby (as in sanggol, dude), the best way is still to purchase at your local ukay-ukay store, where baby clothes are cheaper than adult clothes, unlike in malls, where it's the other way around. But if you really want brand new clothes for your baby, just purchase kiddy clothes, instead of baby clothes. Toddlers' clothes should be cheaper or should roughly cost the same as baby clothes, but when your baby grows up, you only need to buy pants and he/she is good to go.
7. Instead of purchasing pants for your baby, buy him toddler's shorts. When fitted into the baby, shorts turn into pants. And once the baby grows, they return to being shorts again. Magic, huh.
8. Same goes for girls. Buy mini-skirts and use them as skirts. They return to being mini-skirts in a couple of years.
9. Screw Havaianas. The next time you visit a hotel (like Sogo :D), keep the free slippers. Bonus: ask for a discount card prior to checking in for your next visit (credits to... never mind).
10. For the guys: wear boxers instead of briefs. When at home, they turn into regular shorts. You don't need briefs under them. It's much more comfortable that way.
11. Better yet, don't wear anything when at home!
12. For the girls: stop buying bras. Look instead for shirts with built-in pads. They work the same way.
13. Stop buying short-sleeved polos. Get the long sleeved ones. Long sleeved polos can double as short sleeved ones by simply folding or rolling up the sleeves. Actually, rolled up long sleeves look more formal than short sleeves. According to uzziebee, it also looks more gwapo.
14. Number 13 is especially true in ukay-ukays, where short sleeves and long sleeves cost the same.
15. This brings us, finally, to ukay-ukays, the second part of this post. Everyone knows it's much, much cheaper there. You only have to "bear" wearing clothing someone else already wore. But so what? I've never heard of anyone getting sick because of wearing someone else's clothes. Besides, the clothes you buy from malls, well, someone else had fitted them before and chose not to buy them. That's right. Sweaty, greasy guys, have fitted them. And they cost ten times as much. Here's a picture of jan-na, generously donated by herself, wearing a two-in-one poncho/coverup she bought from a local ukay-ukay for Php80:
16. From here on, the tips focus on ukay-ukays. Did you know that there are several ways to save, even in ukay-ukays? Rule number one in ukay-ukays, never buy new arrivals. They always cost more. Wait two weeks and prices drop to less than half the original price. I once saw a long-sleeved pink Marks and Spencer polo that I wanted, and it cost Php250. I didn't have time to buy it, so I decided to return a few weeks later. It was still there, and I bought it for Php80.
17. Always haggle. If they don't give in, don't buy the items. Act as if you're leaving, or better yet, leave. Come back later to actually buy the product.
18. Check out the brands. Ukay-ukays usually get supplies from abroad, where fake clothing are almost non-existent. Therefore the Marks and Spencer polos, and the Giordano maongs, are all authentic. Get more value for your money by purchasing normally expensive branded products. Besides, if it's really expensive, it means the original owner is wealthy and probably clean and good-looking. Problem is, he's of the same sex, too.
19. This one's from a former officemate of mine. When purchasing buttoned items (like polos or pants), try removing one or more buttons. Then ask for a big discount for the defective product. Just sew back the buttons afterwards.
20. Ukay-ukays have a "warranty". You can always return purchased clothing within the day or the next day, but not later. If you have a swimming party today, and a prom tomorrow, you know what to do.
21. Most ukay-ukays are arranged by prices. One row of clothing costs Php80, the next row costs Php60. Wait when no one is looking, then grab the Php80 dress you want, and tell ate it came from the Php60. You'll still pay for the Php20 difference on a deferred basis, that is, when you reach heaven. With interest.
22. Another advantage of ukay-ukay over department stores: malls sell clothes in big supplies. Therefore there's a big, big chance that someone else bought a shirt with exactly the same design as yours. This is less likely to happen in ukay-ukays.
That's it for this week. Make sure you also check out The MLog right now, and every Mondays afterwards (same as with this blog). See you again next week for another edition of Kaptain Kuripot's Guide to a Sulit Life!
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