While at OSU, you probably go shopping much less than you do at home (well, at least I do), and unless you are lucky (AKA are not a freshman and have a car with which you can venture to Easton or Polaris), then the extent of your shopping does not go much beyond Urban Outfitters (Urban) or Pitaya. You can pretty much guarantee that you will see someone else out wearing the same dress as you if you get it from the upstairs sale floor at Urban, and although Pitaya does take Buckid cash, there are other options! I’m talking about online shopping—it’s the perfect way to get a super cute outfit that no one else has and to not even have to leave your room! Also, isn’t it sooo fun and exciting to get packages in the mail at school? Her Campus has all the information you need to buy cute (and even designer) clothes online while on a college girl budget! Here’s the scoop on all our favorite sites.
Ruelala: Ruelala is my favorite of the designer discount websites. Ruelala is an invite-only online boutique that gets a few new brands every day when the boutique “opens” at 11 AM. That is why they say “friends don’t call friends at 11.” Some of the more popular brands sell out rather quickly; sometimes even by 11:30!  This is due to the fact that prices are usually around 60% less than what you would find in stores. A few times a year, Ruelala alos has a “Final Sale” where items that didn’t sell throughout the year are marked down even more.  Some of the brands featured on Ruelala are favorites such as Ray Ban, Cosabella, Puma, BCBG, Lilly Pulitzer, French Connection and Nicole Miller.  I have a Ruelala account and have bought several things on it…so here is your invite http://www.ruelala.com/invite/sallyelizabeth. Or, you can just go to www.ruelala.com and click on “Become a Member,” and they will add you when “space is available” (don’t worry, this is usually quite soon).  As I said before, this is my personal favorite of all the discount shopping sites, because of the great customer service, easy to use website, and awesome clothes!
Hautelook.com: HauteLook is very similar to Ruelala: it is invite-only, has several brands that “go on sale” each day and in addition to clothing they also offer vacation deals!  You can get deals up to 75% off and the sales start everyday at 8 AM.  Jessica Simpson and American Apparel were two of the brands that went on sale most recently. Although the website is not quite as streamlined and easy as some, they offer more brands daily than Ruelala. Â
MyPerfectSale.com: Anyone can make an account (you don’t need to be invited).  When you sign up, you select your favorite brands from a huge list and the website makes a personal sale for you, featuring all of the brands you selected, and finds where you can buy them cheapest online.  This is a great website because if you really want that Marc Jacobs handbag, it will find the cheapest price for you and saves you searching on several different websites.
Jossandmain.com: This works the same way as Ruelala and Hautelook, but instead of clothes and accessories, they feature home décor.  This probably seems like it would not apply much to us college girls, but they have really cute, reasonable things for apartments and is worth the look! Think cupcake stands and Lilly Pulitzer iPhone covers!
RentTheRunway.com: This website is awesome because it lets you access your dream closet, and is great for events like formal or a date party or a wedding.  There are over 95 designers to choose from. On the website you enter the date of your next event and your size and you get a backup size for free in case one doesn’t fit! After your event sending your dress back to Rent the Runway (RTR) is totally free and you don’t have to worry about dry cleaning even if your sloppy friend spills something on you! The dresses are over 90% off the actual price, and even though it may seem like a waste it totally isn’t because you usually just wear a dress, like a prom dress, only once.  RTR has the latest dresses from designers such as Calypso St. Barth, Trina Turk, theory, See by Chloe, Hervé Léger.  Not to mention RTR has clothes that celebrities actually wear, like the Halston Heritage dress SJP wore in Sex and the City 2, that can be yours for the night for a fraction of the price!
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