I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to buy a snack only to end up grocery shopping, or gone to buy makeup remover only to end up buying three new beauty products.
I’m also a big fan of Target’s clothes, shoes, and accessories, and while I try to keep most of my wardrobe thrifty, I still often turn to the department store when I want to buy a trendy pair of ballet flats but don’t want to spend $1,000 on designer shoes.
I was inspired to return to Target this week after seeing a buzz on TikTok about the brand’s fall clothing, with shoppers describing the items as Pinterest-worthy and fall staples.
Sure, I own quite a few clothes—oversized sweaters, ripped jeans, Halloween tees, etc.—but most of my fall outfits are casual, so I wanted to see if I could add some elevated basics and fall-appropriate work wear to my closet with my limited funds.
So I gave myself a budget of $100 with a simple goal: to find comfortable, luxurious clothing that wouldn’t strain my wallet.
Fall is officially here at Target
Target sells a lot of clothes. A lot.
Within 30 seconds of walking into the store, I saw frayed shorts, summer dresses, lightweight coats, and countless denim skirts and jeans.
The women’s clothing section was small and a little disorganized, but that’s just part of shopping at a department store.
I quickly came up with a plan: I would wander each aisle and pick up a few fall-appropriate outfits that weren’t too similar to what I already owned.
At my local Target, shorts were on sale alongside sweaters and hoodies. Amanda Krauss / Business Insider
When I got to the fitting room, I had five items in my cart: three tops and two pairs of pants, totaling $126 ($119.70 if you use your Target debit card for the 5% discount).
In the end, my choice was pretty much perfect: either I went $26 over budget (not the first time I’ve done that at Target) or I got rid of one pair of pants, bringing my total down to $98.
I picked five items, including three tops that are under $30 each. Amanda Kraus/Business Insider
Who needs designer clothes?
As I tried on different clothes in the fitting room, I noticed that all of the clothes I chose looked very similar to the high-end garments I had previously browsed online.
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The $18 knit tank top in my cart looked a lot like a $118 cashmere-blend outfit from J.Crew, and the $30 cream cargo pants I tried on looked similar to a $148 pair from Alo Yoga, one of the year’s most buzzworthy status-symbol brands.
I can see myself wearing this $48 outfit regularly throughout the fall season. Amanda Krauss/Business Insider
A $25 striped sweater from Target looked similar to a $198 sweater I saw on the Neiman Marcus website, and a pair of $28 burgundy chinos reminded me of a pair of $130 pants from Anthropologie.
The last item in my cart was a $25 cream-colored vest, not much different in price from a sold-out $175 item from Ralph Lauren.
All five pieces I tried on were comfortable, versatile, and relatively affordable. Amanda Krauss/Business Insider
For $100 ($126, a little over my budget), I was able to buy four or five knock-offs of high-end clothing.
These versatile pieces are the perfect way to refresh your home wardrobe and create countless new outfits.
Sure, no one would mistake my new Target purchases for designer brands: The store’s vests were made from a thin rayon rather than Ralph Lauren’s thick cotton, and the cargo pants I tried on were a bit more see-through than I’d prefer.
But that doesn’t mean the clothes at Target were bad quality: The tops and pants I tried on were comfortable, classic, and made from good materials for their price points. I think each of the items I chose will last me years.
But what’s even better is that it was reasonably priced – why splurge on something in your online cart when you can get five new things for the price of one?
