Style Secrets: $6 Moto Jacket

Instagram photo

Oh, hello Monday. Though I had a great weekend, I'm finding myself off to a slow start and wishing I had just one more day to get things organized and get ahead of schedule. But who doesn't, amiright?

I'm going to let you in on a little secret of mine: I don't purchase anything if it's not on sale. This goes for clothing, home decor, accessories…you name it. Call me cheap, but I consider it savvy shopping. Why pay full price if you don't have to? You see, retailers have a cycle they follow. New arrivals come in and are marked at regular prices. After about three weeks, the "new arrival" prices are discounted to move inventory and make room for more clothing coming in. If you're patient enough and figure out the retail cycle of your favorite stores, you can find things for as much as half off or more. So worth it. It's so predictable and every time I walk in J.Crew or Banana Republic I quickly browse the full-priced items in the front then head straight to the sale. Another not-so-secret secret? Stores have sales all the time! Banana Republic is known for their 25% store-wide sale they have at least once a month. If I'm shopping and don't see an extra sale happening, I'll wait. These are not earth-shattering tips people, I'm just super aware of all of the sales happening (thank you, e-mail) and plan my shopping trips around them.

I wish I could say that I was eyeing this jacket for a month waiting for it to go on sale, but I wasn't. In fact, I had never seen it before. In my local mall, shopping is sparse and we don't have a huge selection of stores. I was looking for an outfit for Go Blog Social and needed a moto jacket and wasn't having any luck. JCPenney has the occasional cute piece, so I walked in and had a mini celebration when I found this jacket on clearance. The price? $6. Sometimes you just get lucky! I wasn't sold on the multi-colored buttons, but at $6 I couldn't pass it up.

Last weekend when I wore the jacket to Go Blog Social I got tons of compliments and was asked numerous times "Is that vintage?" and my favorite ,"Is that real leather?" Sorry guys, I'm not that good!

So there you have it, part one of my style secrets. What shopping tips have you learned over the years? Do you have any rules you follow when shopping? Where do you find the best deals?

P.S. Thank you for participating in the Sparrow $50 giveaway! We have a winner!