The Challenge: Look Elegant On $100 A Year.

By Elaine Barnes

By the start of April, twenty-five percent of 2024 had gone by, and I had spent 28.43 percent of my annual clothing budget. That is—$28.43 of my $100.00 annual budget.  

Will I be able to stay within that budget this year? I have done so every year since I began this project, in 2017, when I decided to live with an extreme budget even though I love clothes and fashion.

At about age five I discovered the thrill of playing dress up. I have never outgrown the game. 

My career background was as a registered dietitian with an MBA, which provided a variety of career opportunities. When I was promoted to a management job, some of the challenges were offset by the chance to wear business suits and outfits all the time, essentially playing dress up. Now that I am retired, I am still dressing up, to travel, take classes, and attend lectures and concerts.  

Why start this $100 project in the first place?  I had a friend who told me she was able to resist buying any item of clothing for an entire year. Interesting idea, I thought, but I would miss shopping and adding a few items to my wardrobe. So I developed my own plan–-spend less than $100 on clothes in a year. And every year since 2017 I’ve adopted the same budget. It is a fun challenge to score one more year of great finds, and to claim bragging rights to them!

Here’s how I do it. 

• I begin each year by reviewing what I spent the previous year ($58.65 in 2023).  

• I live in Asheville, North Carolina, where there are plenty of places for bargain shopping.  

• I choose my clothes carefully and keep them a long time, which works with my preference for classical styles.  

• I can sew, but rather than starting with fabric and a pattern, I alter or reconfigure outfits I find on a $1.00 rack at a favorite thrift shop. In fact, when possible I visit that shop on Wednesdays, when all clothes are half priced, including the bargain rack. A garment (latest find was jegging slacks) for 50 cents is a true score!  

• Sometimes just upgrading buttons on a jacket or vest can add extra style.  

• At every thrift store I am sure to check out accessories. A scarf can make an outfit, and doesn’t take up major storage space at home or in a suitcase.  

• Another technique I use is to swap clothes and accessories with friends. Some items, like a fashion backpack, have gone back and forth more than once.  

These are three of my favorite outfits:

• First, pictured above, a  jacket purchased at an outlet for $6; a travel skirt bought at thrift for $2; a top from a thrift for $1; classic Ferragamo flats for $10; and a hat bought from a thrift shop years ago for $1.

• A print silk jacket from a thrift shop for $10; a top for $1; leggings for $2 from a bargain rack in Melbourne, AZ; and a hat from a London charity thrift shop, trimmed with ribbon from Liberty—total cost for hat under $6. Plus leather shoes made in Portugal, a recent bargain find, $2.  

• A really vintage outfit includes a lilac St. John’s Knit dress, purchased for $15 almost 30 years ago from an individual purging her closet; cream leather shoes for $6; and a $1 hat from a thrift shop. To jazz up the outfit I added sterling silver buttons (passed down from my Mom) to the dress, and created a colorful decoration for the hat. 

What I don’t spend on clothing goes to my travel budget, and while traveling I am still trawling for fashions at bargain prices.  

Dressing up never gets old.

Elaine is a retired MBA/dietitian and fashionista who loves clothes and travel.