Admire the changing color of the leaves in the parks or woods, collect chestnuts to roast at home or prepare pumpkin soup, risotto with mushrooms or desserts made with apples and cinnamon in the kitchen. But also rediscovering the pleasure of reading a good book, having fun with family or friends with a board game, setting up the house with special decorations. These are all activities that find the ideal season in autumn, with summer now behind us and schools and work resuming at full speed.
Yet, the months of September, October and November also represent, for many people, the opportunity to renew their wardrobe by purchasing autumn clothes and creating new looks, for women or men, through combinations of colours, fabrics and accessories designed for every occasion. In particular, the Black Friday it is one of the most awaited events by shopping lovers: the Friday following “Thanksgiving Day” in the United States officially kicks off the Christmas shopping season, with discounts and promotions. But on the global e-commerce giant there is no shortage of offers on jackets, trousers, shirts, shoes and accessories for autumn.
From physical stores to online stores
Staying on the topic of online shopping, to try to combine quality and savings, there is also the community on Reddit “r/Autumn”where users exchange opinions and advice on purchasing clothing and accessories for autumn. But there are also interesting deals on the online stores of clothing: Zalando and About You (Germany); Asos and Warehouse (UK); Mango and Zara (Spain); Kiabi and Sézane (France); H&M and Weekday (Sweden); B.Young, Vero Moda, Samsøe Samsøe, Vila (Denmark); C&A (Netherlands).
To understand what kind of occasions you can take home, we did a test on About You, looking for some items suitable for the autumn season. At the time of our survey, some items were significantly reduced compared to the original price: a wool coat, for example, is offered at 83.30 euros instead of 199 euros, with a saving of around 58 percent. And again, a Vero Moda trench coat costs 46.67 euros instead of 79.90, with a saving of around 42 percent, while a mid-season coat has dropped from 119 to 48.93 euros, equal to a reduction of around 59 percent.
Then there are Italian companies like Ovs, with a very extensive physical network, which offers a wide choice of knitwear and outerwear, with wool blend cardigans around 30 euros and outerwear under 100 euros, to give just two examples. But also Imperial, a fast fashion clothing company founded in Bologna, where you can find various items discounted up to 70 percent. For women, among the proposals there are shirts with graphic prints at 26.70 euros, tracksuits at 46.20 euros and single-breasted blazers at 38.40 euros. For men, however, jogging trousers at 34.95 euros and crew-neck or perforated sweaters, respectively, at 17.70 and 20.70 euros.
Vintage markets and second-hand shops
“When it rains, you buy shoes”, goes an ancient saying. At this point, a question is obligatory: when is it really worth buying autumn clothes? At the beginning of the season you often find a wider choice of models, colors and sizes. By waiting for the following weeks, however, the opportunities to find bigger discounts increase, especially on items that stores intend to dispose of before the arrival of the winter collections. An excellent strategy can therefore be to immediately purchase the most coveted pieces or those for which the availability of sizes is limited and postpone less urgent purchases, monitoring promotions and discounts.
Another possibility is to take a look at the vintage markets, such as the Borghetto Flaminio, the Vintage Market and the Mercato Monti in Rome, the East Market in Milan, the San Salvario Emporium, the Gran Balon and the Vintage della Grande Madre in Turin, the Comunella Market in Bologna, the Piazza dei Ciompi Market in Florence. And again, the Vintage Market Bari and the Resina Market in Ercolano, a few kilometers from Naples. Even in chain stores such as Mercatino dell’Usato or Mercatopoli it is possible to find small bargains, although the quality and variety of the clothing department can vary from one branch to another.
Changing your wardrobe with apps
Autumn is often a harbinger of an unstoppable impulse: to empty the wardrobe and reinvent your outfit from scratch in preparation for the cold. An operation full of enthusiasm, as long as we don’t immediately bring ourselves back down to earth as Miranda Priestly, the director of the fashion magazine, would do Runways . “You don’t have the slightest idea of style, of the sense of fashion”, is in fact the ruthless welcome that Miranda, alias Meryl Streep, reserves for Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) in their first conversation in “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006), a cult film whose sequel was released last April.
And if the goal is to renew your autumn wardrobe without lightening your wallet too much, there is no shortage of opportunities online too. In fact, there are several apps and platforms on which to find items at lower prices than new ones, from coats to jackets, up to sweaters and trousers. In addition to Subito and eBay, there are Vinted and Wallapop, but also more “vertical” clothing platforms, such as Micolet, specialized in the sale of second-hand clothing. Before purchasing, it is still advisable to ask the seller for detailed information not only on the condition of the item, but also on the size and any imperfections.
The right time for every garment
There’s no point beating around the bush: to best orient yourself between the right times and channels, each item of autumn clothing has its ideal purchasing window. At the beginning of the season the assortment is wider and allows you to choose between more models, colors and sizes, while as the weeks pass, the opportunities to find promotions and more convenient prices increase, but with a smaller choice. It also applies to trousers and shoes which, for example, should be “sold out” between September and October, so as to take advantage of the maximum availability of models and sizes, typical of the beginning of the season.
For jackets, the ideal time is between the end of September and October, when it is still possible to find the right compromise between assortment and price. The same goes for sweaters and cardigans: it’s better to wait until October, when the season comes into its own and the choice of heavier garments increases.
For hats, however, October and November can be the right months to find a good balance between variety and price, especially when the first promotions on winter accessories start to appear. Finally, for coats and down jackets it is better to wait until later in the season, when outlet sales and promotions can guarantee more generous discounts.
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