• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

You are here: Home / Shop / The College Girl’s Guide to LA Style on a Budget

The College Girl’s Guide to LA Style on a Budget

March 24, 2020 //  by Eman Alami

Shares58FacebookTweet

For the fashion girl, getting the latest trends is an expense that adds up quickly like the weekly grocery bill. It’s a long list of rules to stay in trend with the current fashion scene. It doesn’t help when the list adds up quickly with the addition of college expenses like tuition, books, insurance, rent and more. If you identify as the fashion girl, your fashion expenses rank higher than your grocery list. You won’t resort to walking down the streets of Beverly Hills in tacky, grandmother hand-me-downs.

Here are some tips and tricks to achieving all your dream looks in Los Angeles.   

Trying to achieve a one-of-a-kind look with one-offs from a fashion show or fashion label’s studio can be challenging. But in Downtown L.A. every week in the Cooper Building, sample sales range from a variety of designers from those emerging on the fashion scene to well-known brands like ALC, Joie and Paige denim. Sample sales often include those unique pieces not found in a department store either; some include designs that never left the designing process. You don’t have to be a size 0 to find an item–sizes range from size 0 to 14.

The prices are usually up to 75% retail price for brand new pieces. Some are catwalk samples or unsold merchandise with tags from retailers such as Bloomingdales. Sometimes there are luxury sample sales of accessories from brands like Prada, Givenchy and Miu Miu, but the premium brands have a discount between 20%-50% depending on the collection. You have a chance of adding to your treasure chest a Swarovski encrusted Miu Miu bag, oversized Prada cat-eye sunglasses, and perhaps a wedding gown from Oscar de la Renta. 

Fashion Girl
Photo by Eman Alami

Shopping doesn’t only stay in Downtown–sample sales happen sporadically through Los Angeles County, on the shopping app Chicmi there are lists of locations in Santa Ana, Venice, Beverly Hills, Commerce and Westminster. Also, samples aren’t limited to fashion pieces per se. There are items from furniture, candles and beauty care to give your dorm that upgrade.For the girls who have an eye for the more rustic items, vintage shopping in Los Angeles is a haven.  Crossroads Trading has some of the best unused, secondhand and lightly used clothing, with a mix of vintage and trendy clothing. You can score a current piece sold at Zara for half the price or a vintage Dior blouse from the ’80s for little to nothing. One time I found one for only $20.Crossroads Trading also accepts your secondhand clothing for full store credit or getting half the estimate value in cash. However, they stay true to buying only current fashion styles, whether it’s a color or designer or silhouette of a garment.  Crossroads Trading has locations ranging from Santa Monica, Pasadena, West Hollywood and Culver City. 

For the girls who want authentic pieces from the 1910s-1990s without following the fashion magazine, there are quite a few stores for those desires too. The Way We Wore, Decades and Recess, located in Los Angeles county, offer those classics people scout for. Outside of the big city, Playclothes in Burbank has exclusive styles for Victorian-style lovers. 

Fashion Girl
Photo by Eman Alami

 The most fashionable streets of Los Angeles, where the wealthy fashionistas, Hollywood stylists and runway models shop at premium boutiques. Most people feel hesitant to go shopping on luxurious streets like Melrose in North Hollywood, but this street has a treasure chest of secondhand luxury clothing. The RealReal on Melrose offers secondhand luxury clothing, accessories and handbags for up to 80% off the retail price. If there is a certain collection piece from the 1990s, early 2000s or a piece from last year, the RealReal is like the designer storage store. You will find it. The prices are perfect for a girl on a budget because a pair of Fendi flats for $97 or that vintage Chanel tweed skirt for $147 will not make your check bounce.

“For a while, I wanted to purchase the Longchamp Roseau leather tote bag, when I saw the bag retail for around $500, it was too high for my budget. I saw the same bag at The RealReal in an excellent condition for $329,” said East Los Angeles alumni Diana Adams. “It was an amazing price for a great quality bag, I had to purchase it without hesitation.” There isn’t a particular price range, it makes quality items accessible for the general public while also doing good for the environment. The best part of the RealReal is their online site where you can purchase an item and have it shipped to your front door. Or you can be notified once a piece is in the Melrose location to try on a garment you really desire. 

Fashion Girl
Photo by Eman Alami

If you love quality shopping without the crowdedness of the inner city or hectic LA traffic, consider a shopping destination at an outlet. The Outlets at Orange, Ontario Mills, Citadel Outlets and Camarillo Premium Outlets are all outside of Los Angeles, but they aren’t on the other side of the state. All the merchandise at outlets are current and past season merchandise with eye-opening deals from 25%-80% off, depending on the seasonal promotion.  “Before I decided to purchase my Prada belt, I had my eyes on it around May. The price tag, however, was still too costly for me to spend,” said California State University, Los Angeles alumni Emily Tam. “A few months passed and I came across the same belt at a lower price due to sales. Without hesitation, I bought it in a heartbeat. You can always own luxury items without breaking the bank.”  

A Current Affair
facebook.com

Fashion doesn’t have to be purely a weekend pleasure. A Current Affair is a vintage fashion Expo in Los Angeles is a two-day event that happens once a year at the Cooper Building in downtown. To be granted entry to the 500 plus private vintage exhibitors, you have to buy a ticket in advance on their website. The golden ticket grants you access to pieces that you couldn’t find in shops in Los Angeles because the exhibitors are from across the United States. If you’re out of the Los Angeles circle and love vintage fashion, you can shop Los Angeles vintage boutiques at other fairs. A Current Affair hosts the same fair in New York and San Francisco.   

Shares58FacebookTweet

Filed Under: Money Shop

About Eman Alami

Eman is a junior transfer, majoring in Art History and French. When Eman's not at Powell reading French literature, she's at the Getty or Rodeo Drive admiring all things beautiful.

You May Also Like

gifts for music lovers

Top 10 Gifts for Music Lovers 2020

Christmas

10 Gifts For Parents That They Want But Haven’t Asked For

a wrapped christmas gift for your boyfriend gifts for college guys

10 Gifts Your Boyfriend Actually Wants

friends film still

21 Gifts for Your Roommates—Whether You Like Them or Not

10 Virtual Gifts for Your BFF that Will Make Them Love You Forever

Real News: 10 Gifts for the Future Journalist in Your Life

marvel

Top 10 Marvel-ous Gifts for MCU Fans that Say “I Love You 3000”

Halloween decorations stand in the foreground in front of the Silverbullet rollercoaster.

10 Orange County Sights COVID-19 Hasn’t Ruined

girl in bed at home on her laptop

Buy These 15 Amazon Products and One-Up the 2020 School Year

15 Easy Ways to Spice Up Your Living Space and Your Life

quarantine outfits

Mask It Up: 14 Outfits for the Socially Distanced Summer

fathers day diy gifts for dad

10 DIY Gifts for Dad Easy Enough for Any Craftsman

joyful products

10 Joyful Products to Create a More Positive Living Space

10 Ways to Rule Your Campus with Your $150 Shopping Spree

Did Someone Say Coffee? Top 10 Coffeehouses in Iowa City

The College Girl’s Guide to LA Style on a Budget

Your guide to the best backpacks for college

CM’s Top 10 Backpacks for College

friends

21 Gifts for the Artist in Your Life

sue and lexie the middle gifts for college students

Top 10 Gifts Every College Student Actually Wants

30 Foolproof Gifts for Every Type of Boyfriend

gift ideas for girlfriend hipster girlfriend

Top 10 Gifts for Your Hipster Girlfriend

dorm essentials

21 Dorm Room Essentials No One Tells You About

Me and my big ideas college planners

10 College Planners To Cure Your Due Date Amnesia

10 Gifts to Show Your BFF They’re the Platonic Love of Your Life

Previous Post: « Finding Solace during Coronavirus Isolation
Next Post: 30 Thing to Do to Pass the Time in Quarantine Guy and girl enjoying and eating pizza at home»

Primary Sidebar



Trending Posts

dancing dreams
63

Saying Goodbye to My Dreams of Dancing

50

Stargazing in the Sand: My Trip to Terlingua, Texas

42

How My Childhood Bully Followed Me to College

9

Top 10 Covid-19 Safe Spots to Explore Near UCLA

Brass-colored 21 foil balloons inside a room.
8

10 Spots to Celebrate Your 21st Birthday Near UCLA

Featured Chapter: St. John’s University

Footer

logo

College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.

Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

Majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

Intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

Money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

Travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

Shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

Copyright © 2021 College Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.