Inexpensive (cheap!) women's clothing shops

March 2, 2021 11:36 AM

I recently had weight loss surgery and am now down into the size range of normal shops. My go-to when I was still plus-sized were sites like womanwithin.com. You can get great basics (which is about all I wear) for very little money. And their selection is rather large, with the same garment in lots of colors in addition to many different styles available.

So what's the normal-sized equivalent? Whenever I google 'inexpensive women's clothing' I get lists of sites that have t-shirts starting at $25. My best bet so far is Old Navy, but I'd like to find even more options. And I do shop resale shops fairly regularly.

posted by wwartorff to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total)

Oh hi! Me too -- was larger, now in straight sizes for the first time in a very long time. My current go-tos (all via online shopping, given The Situation):

-- Yes, Old Navy, though I don't know if you've experienced their glacially slow returns process, which can be extra frustrating if you, like me, are still sussing out what size you wear and thus are often purchasing multiple sizes and needing to return what doesn't fit.

-- Uniqlo. Higher prices but frequent sales + other reductions when you sign up to receive emails from them. I've been really pleased with the items I've gotten.

-- Madewell. Much more expensive yet I've snagged some real beauts on sale. Worth keeping an eye on.

-- Target. Surprisingly high quality, **extremely** easy returns process that often means you get the refund when your return label is scanned, and sometimes even means they send you a note saying "Your refund is processed, no need to send the item back."

-- Amazon. Particularly Amazon's own labels "Goodthreads," "Amazon Essentials," and "Daily Ritual." (There are other labels as well, but those are the ones I've been purchasing from lately). Another extremely easy returns process, and if you choose items that qualify for their "Prime Wardrobe" plan (if you have Prime), you don't need to pay for anything up front, just what you keep.

Good luck!
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:50 AM on March 2, 2021 [8 favorites]

Target is good for this, maybe a bit better quality than Old Navy. they're currently running an online women's clothing sale with jeans from $15, tees from $5 and dresses from $12.
posted by zdravo at 11:51 AM on March 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

Macy's. Quite cheap when it's on sale (there's always a lot on sale) and the online shopping experience cannot be beat. Enormous inventory with accurate, usable search engine filters (including important but not-often included ones like sleeve length, neck, cut, etc.) Shipping free at some paltry minimum level, and REAL free returns, with no bullshit shipping and restocking fees or whatever. Quality miles higher than Target or Old Navy.

Agree with Amazon's own in house brands, esp Amazon Essentials. High quality, cheap, fast free shipping and returns with prime. But the rest of what's on Amazon is hard to find and tends towards the dodgy.
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:53 AM on March 2, 2021 [4 favorites]

Resale shops are my #1 choice. I've had good luck with Kohl's (kohls.com). Hanes.com is a good source for decent-quality items when they are on sale.
posted by SageTrail at 11:57 AM on March 2, 2021

Sideways answer: if you want cheap and BORING ASS no one cares about your clothing, look no further than Blank Apparel.
posted by phunniemee at 11:58 AM on March 2, 2021 [3 favorites]

Oh, another one to consider is H&M (www2.hm.com)
posted by SageTrail at 12:04 PM on March 2, 2021

Kohl's is one of my favorites.
posted by SLC Mom at 12:10 PM on March 2, 2021

JC Penney has really cheap and decent quality basics (better than amazon and target IME), and good sales. Lands end as well. J Crew (parent company for madewell) has great sales running basically constantly.
posted by erattacorrige at 12:10 PM on March 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

Asos.com has a wide range of prices but you can often find things for very cheap (I usually filter by price/size/etc.). There's usually only one color/etc. per style, though, so it's not the sort of place where you can buy every color of a sweater you like. There is also a lot but if you know what you're looking for, the search is actually really good.

It skews younger but I've found plenty of stuff that I wear (I'm 40) and there are enough interesting basics there (at least in terms of tops/dresses). Size charts are good and if you fill out the fit profile, it does a good job of predicting your size.

I will second Target (which has gotten better) and while I've bought some good stuff off Amazon, it's hit or miss (I find the Amazon "house" brands are better than just random brands, though). I've always found clothes from Kohls fit kind of weird.

(I'm 5'2", around 160 lb. and usually a size 8/medium in most things.)
posted by edencosmic at 1:41 PM on March 2, 2021

I've lost 60 lbs and four sizes, and have replaced most of my wardrobe by selling the too-big stuff and buying smaller sizes of the same things on Poshmark.
posted by Joleta at 9:26 PM on March 2, 2021