What serious shopper would buy a generic or off brand piece of clothing if they can get a name brand piece for a similar price? If you are willing to take the time and effort you can find bargains on name brand clothing so that you don't have to settle on the department store or discount store brands.

These days you can find outlet malls in nearly every area. I know where I live we have an outlet mall less than an hour drive to the west and another about the same distance to the east. Chances are that you will have one in a reasonable distance from your home as well. The great thing about these places is that they will have the same designer fashions that you see elsewhere at the ridiculously inflated prices for a many times less. I make it a habit to check these places out when I am traveling.

If you are friendly with the sales clerks at local retail shops that you are frequenting you will be surprised at how many bargains you can find. I was very surprised at how much mark up there is in clothing. I had a relative once who was a manager at a local clothing store and he used to give me his price on clothing. Pants that retailed for as high as $40 I would only pay $6-$8 bucks for! I would go in and get several pairs of pants and shirts for under $200. Needless to say as long as he worked there I didn't shop anywhere else. You don't need to have a relative to get good deals though.

Sometimes you will also find good deals from small mom and pop type boutiques that are locally owned and operated. These local shops may have huge mark downs when certain clothes go out of style or at the end of seasons because they don't have the network of other stores that they can pass the clothing on to like many of the larger retailers. They also usually have much more limited floor space which requires them to only keep what is selling good and in season.

You may also find that sales clerks that are on commission will be more flexible and are willing to discount clothing to make sales at some stores if they have the ability to do so. At some locations they may not be able to discount a high priced pair of designer jeans but maybe they can offer some other concessions.