I absolutely love the Sales season! It allows you to get your hands on those items you have been chasing over the last months and can also be useful to start getting ready for next season. Nowadays taking advantage of the Sales season is extremely easy because you can buy everything online, get it delivered to your door, and also returning non-fitting or unwanted items is simpler than anytime before. I think however that are some tips and tricks you can use to maximize your shopping experience and satisfaction, and so apart from showing you my favourite items I bought in this years’ Summer Sales, I will also give you some tips on saving (even) more money. 

Long lasting Summer

The first set of items I would like to show you are items I bought to use still during the Summer. I think my favourite has to be this dress from H&M.

I’ve been looking for a white dress with lace details for a while. This 70s inspired kind of dress is a must have for the season. I like this one because it just has a bit of lace, so it’s not overwhelming. I also love the shape of it (and those wide sleeves). It is a bit transparent, so if you want to use it in the city you may consider lining it (which I’m planning to do). Such a beautiful dress for this price is well worth a bit extra work.

I purchased this one at H&M online (still available here). Again this Sales season H&M was offering free deliveries for any amount. I love that they do this! So you can buy even a pair of socks and get them delivered to your home without any extra costs. Pretty cool, right? Returning items has a cost of €1, very affordable if you really need to return something.

Faux leather is also very trendy at the moment. Mostly worn in black, it comes in the form of jackets, skirts, leggings, dresses and so on.

Faux leather will not be everyone’s favourite, but I find it interesting. I fell more for it though when I found this skirt at Zara.

Isn’t it just gorgeous? I love that the skirt is crossed and that bow is super cute!

I ordered online because it was unavailable in the stores nearby me. Zara only offers free delivery after certain amounts, but you can request your purchases to be sent to a store nearby you, free of charge. Since I was only ordering the skirt that’s what I did. Plus you can return any item directly at the store, also at cost zero (like like like!).  The skirt pretty much fits all seasons, so infinite outfit possibilities. My outfit post from last week included this skirt. If you want to see how I combined it just take a look here. Ah, and the skirt is still available here!

Getting ready for Autumn/Winter

I live in the Netherlands, and in the Netherlands it rains (a lot) throughout the whole year, but mostly Autumn/Winter. An absolute essential in this country is raining gear. Everything from umbrellas, trench coats, parkas, raining trousers, wellington boots. All you can find to make sure you reach your destination (by bike) as dry as possible. So because I was missing a good pair of wellies, I started hunting for them hoping there would be something on Sale.

 First I just didn’t know which brand to go for. Hunter boots are extremely fashionable and you’ve probably seen every single celebrity with a pair of these. They look gorgeous and are suitable for several occasions and outfits.

Hunter boots are not cheap though, so I dug a bit online for reviews of costumers. I found this really nice post that summarizes different brands pretty well (see here for details). It appears  that while old Hunter boots were made to last decades, the more recent are more cheaply made and will last only a few months before breaking apart. Also the cheaper but very beautiful wellies from Joules appear to not last very long. So I was not to take the risk with both of them. Apparently excellent wellies are the ones from Le Chameau, which are a bit expensive (for my pocket), but look gorgeous on Kate Middleton (yes, she wears wellies too!). So I’ve decided to go with another favoured brand in the reviews, Aigle, which has mid price wellies. After some long research I found a nice model available online at Zalando, and guess what… with 60% discount!

I’m a EU size 35 and Aigle actually has 35 (most brands start at 36). They fit perfectly, are comfortable and so far have not let any water in :) I’m really really happy with this find! At the time of writing of this post, Zalando still had size 36 available, for some reason now only with 50% discount.

Another great find, while being at Zara to pick up my skirt, was a black knit dress. This must be completely out of the stores by now because this was the only picture of it I found online.

I really like to wear dresses in the Winter and this one is a really nice knit and will keep me warm with a tick tights and a t-shirt underneath.

So as you see even during Summer Sales you can find great items to get ready for the new season.It takes a lot of patience, research and time to find the exact item you’re looking for, with the best quality/price ratio. However I think it is well worth it. The items listed in this post would have a total cost of €190,84 out of the Sales season. I’ve saved €117,95 by purchasing them on Sales season (total cost of items above in Sales season – €72,89), and haven’t spend a cent on delivery or return services. Of course sometimes you see a coat or a blouse you fall in love with and waiting for Sales can mean that you won’t be able to find it anymore in your size. In such love affairs I would suggest that you buy it without waiting too long, to avoid your heart getting broken afterwards. Moreover, always check delivering costs and possibilities, to save as much as possible and track your favourite items in all the online platforms that sell them. Sometimes the same item is available in several online stores at very different prices!

I’ve been intending to write a post about this earlier in the season, but with all the time it took to set up the website, etc, it ended up being a bit delayed. I hope you can keep these ideas with you for the few sales still available and for the future ones.

Have you got more tips about online and Sales shopping? Tell us about it on the comments section. All advice is welcome!

Xo,

Cátia