Versatile clothing is essential when buying streetwear clothes on a budget, or any clothing for that matter. A versatile piece of clothing is something that can be worn in many situations, and integrates well with many different outfits.

This guide will go over how to make the most of your money when it comes to choosing clothes, and how to mix and match your clothes to create many different outfits for minimal costs.

Multiple Uses In Your Wardrobe

Having multiple uses of a piece of clothing allows you to wear it in many different conditions, and get much more value out of something as simple as a plain t-shirt.

For example, when it comes to versatility long sleeve shirts trump short sleeves in every aspect. They can be worn in colder weather, layered with flannels, jackets, and coats, and you can roll up the sleeves to be more comfortable in warmer weather.

 

Compared with a short sleeve t-shirt, which is usually just worn as is, you have 3 times as more uses for the long sleeve shirt than the short sleeve, thus making the long sleeve short more versatile and the better buy.

The same holds true for pants, specifically, joggers. Having a baggy pair of joggers (as pictured below) is much more versatile than having a tight fit pair as the baggy pair can be worn as-is with high-tops such as Jordans, Sk8-Hi’s, and then pulled up to be worn with low-tops such as Nike Flyknits, Yeezy’s, and more.

 

Using your money on clothing that can be worn in multiple styles/outfits will allow you to get the most out of your clothing, and allow you to be more flexible in other parts of your wardrobe.

Colors & Matching

Fashion blog RestartYourStyle has a great system for judging a clothing piece’s versatility. In short, the best, most versatile clothing are solid, neutral colors while patterned, brightly colored clothes are the least versatile.

Solid and/or neutral colors pair well with other solid/neutral colors, making it much easier to create multiple outfits out of the same piece.  However, in the case of a patterned and colorful piece of clothing, you will have a much harder time mixing and matching that piece into multiple outfits.

In general, darker and more pale colors are going to be more versatile than bright, popping colors. Spend your money on solid colors in order to get the best bang for your buck.

Tip: Choose a few colors (2-3) that you like that you will make a focal point of your wardrobe. Having shirts, pants, and sneakers that match well together will save you a lot of money in the long term.

Think Long Term

Buying clothes specifically for summer can be fun, but is not exactly cost effective for your wardrobe. For a clothing piece to be versatile, it should be able to be worn in all 4 seasons. An example of an extremely versatile clothing piece is a baseball shirt.

 

A baseball shirt can be worn in all 4 seasons and looks good in almost any outfit. It can be layered, it can be worn as is, or it can be the focal point of the outfit if it has a flashy design, like a team logo.

On the other hand, an example of a non-versatile piece of clothing is a pair of floral shorts. Something that will only be wearable in a specific season (eg. Summer or Winter) is going to limit its uses.

 

Essentials

Having versatile clothing in your wardrobe will allow you to mix and match more of your clothes, and keep your wallet happy at the same time. Below, I have listed a barebones list of ‘essential’ clothing pieces that meet all of the criteria listed above, so that you can build your wardrobe without breaking the bank.

Shirts:

Long Sleeve Cotton T-Shirt ($8)

Baseball T-Shirt ($10)

Waffle-Pattern Thermal Shirt ($12)

Camo Long Sleeve Shirt ($11)

Jackets/Sweatshirts:

Bomber Jacket ($33)

Hooded Sweatshirt ($14)

Legwear:

Tapered Denim Jeans ($34)

Joggers ($35)

Sneakers:

Vans Sk8-Hi ($55)

Nike Air Force 1s Mid ($100)

Nike LunarGlide 6s ($85)

Adidas Tubular Original ($90)

Adidas Tubular X ($100)

With this list you will be able to build out a solid base for your wardrobe, and save you hundreds of dollars in the long run.

This concludes our guide on how to buy & find versatile clothing. Be sure to also check out our Frugal Friday series, where we share the best value streetwear pieces and sneakers your money can buy.

Do you have an essential piece that you can always depend on? Don’t keep it a secret, post it in the comments! Also be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter.