tips to help you look fashion forward

You can spend hundreds of dollars on clothing but still look weirdly out of style. You can spend a few dollars and still look fashion-forward and gorgeous! How does that happen? Well, if you want to look like you spent a lot more money on your clothes than you really did, you need to know which clothing features show the lack of tact.

Bellow you will find five most common features that show off the poor value. Read it right away and go through your wardrobe. You might find something that is not working as well as you wish!

First stop – embellishments. Embroidery, sequins, beading, and studs look great when skilled crafts people apply them, and it also creates that expensive look you wish to get. But clothing that are on the line of looking too cheap usually were embroidered by machines. That creates a chance that those sequins are going to fall off pretty soon leaving you looking messy as well.

To avoid that – forget about embellishments at all. Better purchase some basic pieces you can decorate as much as you want with your jewelry. At JCPenney website, you can shop at much as you want for such clothing. And since there are these super awesome JCPenney promo codes and deals –  you can make your shopping even for more expensive items a lot cheaper. Just don’t make the clothing piece do all the styling work for you. Do it yourself and you will always look like a million bucks!

Be very careful with various cotton knits and jerseys if they are in darker or saturated colors. Black, navy, rich jewel tones and bold primaries might look good. But actually, it will work as long as you wash it for the first time. After that, it starts to fade and loses its bright colors and, at the same time – expensiveness too.

To avoid that, better stick to cotton knits and jerseys in light colors. For instance, grays, pastels, and whites. Or if you want dark colored clothing (which is totally fine!), spot treat, and hand-wash it at home or spring for dry cleaning instead.

Small and colorful prints might be fun to wear, but you are also taking a risk of looking a little bit cheap. Instead, focus on simple, graphic prints. Stripes, polka dots, and plaids in contrast color combinations, like black and white, are always in style and can be mixed and match with other clothing well. So better stick to this.

The simple trick how to avoid buying cheap looking clothing is to go 10 feet away from that print. If you still instantly recognize what print it is and all its parts, then skip it and don’t buy it.

Lace is sexy and is great, but too much lace is too bad! And it is pretty easy to spot then lace is made with love and delicacy and when it is not. The moment you take real lace into your hands, you will understand that huge difference instantly. But it is usually quite hard to afford such lace too.

If you still want some lace, better choose fine mesh. It is not as girly as lace, but it is still feminine and see-through. And it costs a lot less as well. So just keep in mind, that real lace is expensive and cheap lace always looks cheap!

Finally, the very first thing you can notice on cheap clothing is gathered seams! Designers like these because they can make clothing more forgiving and it helps to hide fit issues. But sharply tailored garments are harder to make, more expensive, and can be worn by fewer people. That adds up the price too. Lousy copies of such clothing only show that it is cheap.

Instead, look for clothing with clean lines and sharp tailoring. And always choose pleats over gathered seams. That way you will always look like a million bucks for sure!

Were these tips helpful? Do you know what to look for in quality clothing? Do you have any other tips to add to this?