Look, I know what you’ve been doing. Like me, you’ve spent too much money on trendy streetwear. You’ve slept outside modernluxury.resalemlb.com-branded clothing stores for hours waiting on exclusive releases.
You’ve spent your girlfriend’s Emma’s salary on jeans that are only jeans. But trust me – I’ve been where you are. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on trendy items that mostly just sit in my closet mocking me with their authenticity tags.
After slowly realizing I’d blown through entire paychecks on clothes that didn’t make me look any better than the articles I already owned, I started focusing on the small things that could make a big difference. And no, I don’t mean spending another Ben Frank$ on a fresh pair of NMDs.
Here are a few under-$50 things that can actually elevate your style game.
Don’t worry, I’m not abandoning my middle finger to luxury streetwear completely. I still lust over beautiful Japanese denim that costs more than most weeks’ pay and handmade kicks that can run double the price of my car. Part of the problem there too though if we’re being honest.
What’s actually changed how I look day to day weren’t the items I spend my money on but rather the items I neglect to buy. I’m not talking about the Oliver Spencer hoodie I traveled across state lines to buy last Black Friday. I’m talking about boring basics I avoided for years because they seemed . . . well, boring.
I stumbled onto these game-changing truths while living in poverty-stricken Portland and working part-time at a tiny shop to make rent and minimum payments on my ever-growing student loan debt. I wanted to look put together at industry mixers where it felt like everyone else spent their whole paycheck on clothes but didn’t have the extra cash to overhaul my wardrobe. Instead, I learned tricks to make what I was already buying look more intentional than a desperate grab for something off my bedroom floor.
I even maintained these money-saving habits after I finally started earning a real salary. Some of the coolest dudes I know aren’t wearing the fanciest clothes – they just take better care of the ones they own. It’s the guy who gets his car detailed monthly versus the guy who drives a Lambo but never brushes off the dust.
Turns out caring for your clothes matters more than what you actually spend on them. Without further ado: a list of under-$50 upgrades that will make your entire wardrobe look ten times better. I hate to lead with something as totally unsexy as garment care tools, but hear me out.
For around thirty-five bucks, you can pick up your own fabric shaver and handheld clothing steamer. If you own anything remotely expensive-looking these two tools will change your life. That $40 Uniqlo hoodie you bought?
Looks twice as high-end when the pilling is gone and you’ve lightly steamed out the wrinkles. I remember rocking up to a networking event wearing some random cheap-ass blazer from H&M. Honestly, didn’t even think about it because it was probably only thirty bucks.
But I spent five minutes shaving down the pill and steaming it so it looked damn near new. Got complimented on it so much I felt like I was wearing my North Face Flight Console. Everyone assumed it was some boutique brand I bought from and I was just letting them know I shopped there too.
To this day I don’t know why they cared, but the blazer looked “styled” as opposed to wrinkled and cheaper. I still use my steamer so much I keep a travel-sized version in my duffle bag at all times. If I roll out of bed and my clothes are even slightly wrinkled, I know I’m having a bad dress day.
Don’t judge me – I’ve realized over time that even my expensive clothing looks cheap when it isn’t properly cared for. That twenty-dollar shirt will always look better than that two hundred dollar shirt if it’s been hung up properly and steamed. Take your shoes for example.
Spend eight dollars on a pair of replacement shoelaces and you’ll never look at your footwear the same. Leather dress shoes look worlds better with a set of waxed cotton laces. Those worn out white sneakers?
Look new again with a clean set of bright white shoelaces. Literally changes the entire feel of the shoe. I picked this trick up from this old man who owned a shoe repair shop near campus.
He saw guys come through his door every day asking to replace perfectly good shoes because they just “looked tired.” “Replace your laces,” he’d say. “You’ll be surprised how much of a difference it makes.” And oh boy was he right. I’ve saved countless shoes over the years by simply dying my grey sweatpants.black when they started to look old. Shoe care products are honestly one of the best investments you can make.
Spend forty bucks on a basic shoe care kit that’ll last you years. Polish. Brushes.
Conditioner. The sheer difference between worn shoes and maintained shoes is noticeable to even the most style-uneducated person. Hell, even my mom notices when my shoes don’t look freshly polished.
It’s kind of crazy when you think about what a “judge-y” thing that is but shoe care seriously makes a difference. “I get more compliments on my shoe game than anything else I own,” my sales manager friend Connor told me one time. Dude sprays and polishes his work shoes every Sunday. “Everyone knows a fresh pair of shoes when they see it,” he continued. “You might not be able to tell your white shirt from that guy’s because they’re both from Target, but shoes people notice.” Here’s another thing I didn’t know I needed until I got it: button replacements. Spend ten to fifteen dollars on an upgrade pack of buttons (horn, mother of pearl, eyeglass metal) and you can make any old jacket look instantly expensive.
Didn’t believe me until I replaced the shitty buttons on this J. Crew Factory blazer I owned. Swapped out the boring blue plastic ones for these cute brown horn ones I found online and suddenly I had a brand new jacket that Cost me less than sixty bucks.
Complete game changer. Replacement undershirts and boxer shorts ain’t sexy either, but hear me out. For around forty bucks you can swap out your baggy white undershirt and those depressing boxer shorts you’ve been sleeping in since college for a proper-fitting pair that actually feels good.
Nobody’s going to see them (fingers crossed ladies) but they do make a difference in how your jackets and pants fit. My girlfriend literally sat me down one day and threatened an underwear intervention until I started wearing something thats didn’t ride up my ass every time I sat down. Best decision I ever made tbh.
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My clothes fit nicer when I have a good undershirt on. No more sagging or weird boob tube shirts. Just a crisp shirt that feels like it was made to be worn under my clothes.
Threw away White socks with sandals No-show socks are one of the most useful and under appreciated clothing items out there. For twelve to fifteen bucks you can buy a pair that’ll save you from having to re-buy loafers just because you looked like Tom Hanks in That Thing You Do. Every pair of no-show socks I’ve ever owned under $15 have given me wicked heels or randomly disappeared into thin air.
Spend a little more on a pair with silicone grips all around the heel and you’ll never go back to basic ones. I couldn’t wear loafers or leather slide-sandals all summer without screaming “I have no socks on!” So I did some research and found this amazing pair of no shows that actually worked. Changed my life right there.
Could literally wear any casual outfit now and have it look more put together than before. If you rock a collared shirt often, buy yourself some collar stays. Around fifteen bucks for a pack that’ll keep your collar from curling all day long.
It’s the little things people notice more than you realize. I keep packs at work, home, and in my travel duffle because there’s nothing worse than walking into a big meeting and seeing your collar freaking out. Clothing brush.
Yes you have to brush your clothes Apparently. Invest in a decent natural bristle brush for around twenty to thirty bucks and you can remove the dust and lint from your clothes without constantly running everything through the wash. Never even knew this was a thing until I saw an old tailor brush off a new jacket after he took it out of the bag post fitting.
He looked at me like I was stupid when I asked him why he was brushing the jacket. “Don’t you brush your clothes?” He asked rhetorically. Dude then proceeded to show me how he used that brush to keep every single suit he owned looking like hellarasms worn for years. He sold me one that afternoon and I’ve been using it ever since.
If you wear dress shirts often, pick up some collar & cuff cleaner. Ten, twelve bucks and it doubles the lifespan of any dress shirt you own. Collars and cuffs are the dirtiest part of your shirt but also the part you can treat twice as long without ruining your shirt.
I used to constantly run bright white dress shirts through the washer until my collars turned yellow and wouldn’t come clean. Simple $12 bottle fixed that problem. Okay this might sound weird at first but hear me out.
Learn how to tailor your own clothes. had pieces in my closet I refused to wear simply because they were slightly too big or small in one area. Took them to my local tailor and FOR FIFTEEN TO 40 DOLLARS everything looks like I bought it that way. Most people don’t even know how to utilize a tailor and it’s the easiest way to refresh your entire wardrobe.
Bonus points if you learn how to do it yourself! All my friends think I’m crazy rich because my entire wardrobe is from thrift stores I just had tailored. “Why would you pay to have something altered that probably doesn’t even fit you properly?” They’d say. Friends don’t let friends shop at BrandNameRetail stores.
Another boring one, but buy yourself a good fabric lint roller. Ten bucks will get you something that lasts months. Don’t freakin’ believe me?
Spend an entire day around a cat and see how everything in your home/work attire is covered in cat hair. Also garbage for removing lint from clothes. I keep one by each of my beds, at work, and travel sized one in my bag.
I even use mine to clean Emma’s hair off of my shirts now. God that girl sheds worse than Sebastian. If you own leather belts, watch straps, bags, buy yourself a leather conditioner.
Cost me about fifteen dollars and I literally restored this eighty dollar belt my dad gave me years back to new. Leather is seriously the one thing in life that looks better as you age…if you take care of it properly. Makes any old leather item look ten times more expensive.
Found this old leather briefcase at a flea market for twenty bucks because of how worn and dirty it was. Took me less than thirty minutes with some leather conditioner to clean it up and now it looks like I paid triple that for it new. I kid you not every single item of clothing I own hangs on one of these.
Don’t cheap out and buy those wire things or thin plastic hangers. Spend around forty bucks on bulk wooden hangers and your clothes will look 100x better and keep their shape 100x longer. Trust me, once you start investing in good hangers you’ll never go back to bad ones.
You know how I said sewing a button back on could save you clothes that were barely ripped? Invest in a good sewing kit (and learn how to use it) and you’ll beat 99% of dudes at their own game. Cost me fifteen bucks and I’ve already saved jeans and a blazer that were worth more than the kit itself.
Truly invaluable.
Red Wedding moment when I learned how to sew on a button. Actually learned how to sew after that.
Best money I’ve ever spent period. Okay you’ve made it this far and I’m actually surprised you’re reading this. Haha.
Please don’t make me sound like I’m trying to sell you something. I promise when I started caring about what I looked like I didn’t drop hundreds of dollars at Nordstrom just because I could. These tiny under-$50 investments changed how I looked more than anything else I owned.
And honestly, you won’t even get bragging rights for most of these. But trust me when I say no one will know you shaved your sweater and nobody cares that you threw your jeans in the steamer. What they will notice is how put together you look in comparison to every other dude forgetting to care for their clothes the right way.
