Michala M's VIPs Guide to LuLaRoe on a Budget
"I LOVE LuLaRoe but it's so EXPENSIVE for just an outfit." I hear this phrase so often as a consultant. But as a total cheapskate myself, I get it. Spending $60 for a pair of leggings and a top that I only wear together was not my cup of tea either. As my blog name suggests, I'm a thrift-aholic. I LOVE getting a deal so I really struggled with the LuLaRoe price tags at first. I'm here to tell you now, you CAN have an adorable LLR wardrobe on a thrifty budget and I'm going to show you how. In this post, we will take 15 LuLaRoe items and create an entire wardrobe look out of them. We came up with 50+ outfits using just these 15 items and a few staple accesories....but first, a little background on how we got to this point....I have this friend, whom I love dearly and whom I shall not name but she knows who she is....We shall call her Sally. Sally was like many other people when it came to clothing. She would buy outfits, a top, a bottom, jewelry, etc to all go together and then would only wear those pieces together. Sally and I started working on mixing up her wardrobe and would build new outfits out of what she already had. Sally really didn't need my help in this area as she is extremely fashionable on her own. Sally just needed someone to tell her it was ok to mix it up even thought she bought all those pieces to go together. Now, I'm no fashion expert, nor do I claim to have all the answers, I just pride myself on mixing and matching and trying not to wear the same things together twice (unless I'm pregnant and then I have like 5 outfits that fit- currently my situation.) This is something I really love to do and have always done in my own life....I'm thrilled to help others!
So, when I was in college and even when I first started teaching, I had this INSANELY huge closet stuffed full of all my super great discount finds. I prided myself on never paying retail for anything. I tried to keep shirts under $10 and pants under $20. I NEVER got rid of anything because I liked to mix it up and wear them other ways; I viewed everything in my closet as a "staple." Now, enter adult life, church, kids, work, etc. I found that I didn't have the kind of time to do the bargain hunting/shopping I used to do. And with kids, it is impractical to expect them to be patient while you forage through endless clearance racks to find pieces that can be used in the wardrobe. I realize that there are some people that do this...not me. I like to shop ALONE. And so I began paying retail for clothes because I needed them and only had an hour or so to shop without anyone else around. I would say I was spending a few hundred dollars every few months on clothes. Nothing too extravagant but ALL my clothes from my shopaholic days still fit...kind of. I had TONS of clothes but I was unhappy with them all. And then I found the gloriousness of capsule closets. I first read about it here from Unfancy and her Capsule Closet 101 post. Her number one tip that stuck out to me the most was "LOVE IT? Put it back in your closet." If you don't LOVE it, don't put it back- either put in a box and reevaluate another day or just donate it. I went through this process with my wardrobe after my first pregnancy and got rid of FOUR HUGE trash bags of clothes. I decided that life was too short to have all these clothes I may wear SOME day. We keep this same mentality in our house. If we aren't going to use it in the next three months, we don't need it. If the time comes when we do need it, we can go out and get it. No sense in storing things for the eventual MAYBE. Get it?
Ok, so what am I getting at with all this blabbering? Well, In January of this year, I found LuLaRoe. I got my first pair of leggings and an Irma and the rest is history. I'm now a consultant....haha isn't that how it goes? After I started really building my LuLaRoe wardrobe (you have to wear it to sell it) I got to thinking about how versatile the stuff is and how it can be worn so many ways. Then I got to thinking about capsuling with LuLaRoe. I also noticed that a lot of people commented on how expensive an outfit is....Well, when you buy one thing to go with another and never wear it another way, yes! It gets pricey if you only wear one shirt with one pair of leggings. So, my darling baby sister and I got to work. She's a fashion maven and pro photographer (she's in the process of re branding so her website is not currently up and running but you can check her out on Facebook for now)....Let's talk about making some meaningful purchases that will go a LONG way and help you expand your wardrobe further than you could have ever imagined.
My fashion blogger friend, Heather, over at Rock, Style, Teach talks a lot about formulas. She likes to use these formulas to create outfits that work well together. I'm going to ATTEMPT to give you a LuLaRoe Must Haves Formula to follow so you can get the most bang for your buck here. This formula could be used for someone just getting started with LuLaRoe or someone who is looking to make their pieces go further.
Capsule Closet with LuLaRoe
We used 15 pieces to build this wardrobe.
Qty
|
Style
|
Price
|
Total
|
1
|
Classic T
|
$35
|
$35
|
2
|
Perfect T
|
$36
|
$72
|
1
|
Randy
|
$35
|
$35
|
3
|
Irma
|
$35
|
$70
|
1
|
Lindsay Kimono
|
$48
|
$48
|
2
|
Cassie
|
$35
|
$70
|
1
|
Maxi
|
$42
|
$42
|
2
|
Nicole
|
$48
|
$96
|
2
|
Leggings
|
$25
|
$50
|
15
|
<Total Pieces
|
$518.00
|
|
Wardrobe Total>
|
|||
For this capsule, we went with 7 shirts, a kimono, 3 skirts, 2 dresses, and 2 pairs of leggings. With that combo we came up with 55 outfits. We didn't take pictures of any of the outfits with the black leggings nor did we include them in the count of outfits as we felt they were pretty self explanatory, they could be worn with any of the pieces we included here so that could essentially increase the outfit count to over 100! We could have done so many more outfits and combos but tried to limit ourselves for the sake of time. We included our FAVORITES in the image below just a little ways....
So the formula for this that I talked about earlier would be: (please remember that this is a GENERAL idea- it is not the end all be all! :) )
15 Piece MUST HAVES FORMULA
- 1 pair of patterned leggings with lots of colors or with a neutral that goes with a lot. We chose the purply magenta color and it went with all the shirts we chose!
- 1 pair of solid black leggings- because everyone NEEDS these.
- 2 solid shirts (black and white)
- 2 striped shirts- one that we chose (Irma) was more of a brown tone and the other was black and white
- 2 "pops of color" shirts that go with your leggings
- 2 Cassies- 1 solid that coordinates with your colors and 1 neutral colored pattern (black and white)
- 2 Nicoles- 1 solid black and 1 pattern that coordinates with the colors you have chosen
- 1 Lindsay- in a neutral color and pattern (stripes are a safe bet)
- 1 Randy- We opted for black and white
- 1 Maxi- Cheetah print is a really awesome pattern that is easy to pattern mix. ;) Pretty sure everyone needs this skirt in their closet!
Also used that I didn't include in the 15 piece count-
1 Sutton Necklace from Stella and Dot. This piece is a MUST have. I wear it at least once a week. :)
It for real goes with everything....
1 Stella and Dot Necklace that has been discontinued :( This Belle Necklace would be a cute alternative!
1 Thin black belt
1 Thick Black belt
1 Brown belt
And now...the OUTFITS!
For close ups of each outfit, please join my Facebook Group and look under the Albums for OUTFIT IDEAS
Now, let's look at the Maxi. This, in my opinion is one of the most versatile pieces that LuLaRoe offers. There are TONS of Youtube videos that show you all the different ways you can style it. Some of them are a bit out there for me but I have included some of my favorites below:
 |
| Maxi with Classic using the "hairtie trick" |
 |
| Maxi as a Dress |
 |
| Maxi with Lindsay |
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| Maxi with Perfect |
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| Maxi with Randy |
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| Maxi with Irma as Halter |
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| Maxi with Cassie as Shirt |
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| Maxi with Classic Shirt and Cassie as Scarf |
 |
| Maxi as a Dress |
 |
| Maxi as a Kimono with Leggings and Classic T |
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| My new favorite- LEGGINGS AS A SCARF! With Cassie and Classic T! |
As I said, this is just a general idea of how to style some basic LuLaRoe pieces. Getting started with LuLaRoe can be incredibly overwhelming with knowing how to start. Happy Roeing!
My friend, fashion style blogger, and also soon to be LuLaRoe Consultant, Heather Lindenmeyer is a great stylist to help you out with styling needs! :)
You can shop her Stella and Dot HERE
You can also join her VIP shopping group on Facebook HERE
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