When I visited America 20 years ago, I owned my first pair of Levis and Sketchers. These brands were much cheaper in America than Australia, and some items weren’t even yet available in Australia.
Fast forward to our recent trip in December 2018, and I had many people say to me, wait till you go shopping in the US. It’s so much cheaper.
The thing is, when we have so much choice with online shopping and we can shop within our budget (or I generally wait for a sale), it’s hard to gauge whether it’s best to use spending money for clothes, or use it more for experiences. I also know my style and know where to go to get it.
I had people tell me clothes shopping in London would be fabulous – especially at shops like H & M, Topshop and Warehouse (when they hadn’t opened in Australia). I went into these stores disappointed. I bought a few things but nothing that made me go ‘AMAZING’. And when I converted the currency, I probably could have saved my money and bought better at home.
After this experience, I wasn’t sure whether clothes shopping in America would be cheaper or not. Things can change over 20 years.
I personally didn’t need any clothes. But my husband was in need of new jeans, tees and shoes. We headed to a few stores in Australia (ie Universal Store) to see what the shoe prices were so we could compare when in America. We knew we’d be greeted with Boxing Day sales when we got back from our trip, so we weren’t fussed on buying in America if it wasn’t worth it.
On our trip, we headed to the Orange County Factory Outlets for half a day visit and found the men’s shoes and clothing were way cheaper than what we could buy in Australia. Jacob faired the best out of our shopping expedition. It was definitely worth waiting to buy up for him.
Adidas sneakers which retail for $150 in Australia, were $40US if we bought a full price pair of shoes. Even the full priced shoes were cheaper than what could be bought in Australia.
Men’s jeans were buy 2 pairs for $27.99 US at Ralph Lauren. Levi’s were $49.99 US each or buy two pairs and pay $39.99 US each.
Tommy Hilfiger t-shirts were $19 US each. Jacob got a few of these. We also got clothes for the kids. Prices started from $9.99 US for a tee from Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger.
What I bought in America
Even though I didn’t need any new clothes, I’m still a shopper at heart. I couldn’t walk out empty handed. 🙂
I had been wanting a pair of black sneakers to swap with my white Frankie 4 Nats. I got a pair for $60 US from Sketchers. I wasn’t fussed on the brand, but buying these allowed the girls to get their Sketchers half price. Esther got the newly released light up shoes that can be charged with a USB.
Black Sketchers with Rose Gold Details
I also bought a pair of distressed and ripped Levi’s for $39.99 US, much to my dad’s delight. Jacob found a pair of black jeans and our purchases made both pairs of jeans cheaper.
Other clothes I bought were within Disneyland itself. It was pricey purchasing clothes in the park. I don’t want to do the conversion of how much we spent. So instead, we bought what we saw and loved. I bought headbands for all the girls (they range from $27.99 US each) one t-shirt for $29.99 US and a scarf for $23.99 US. I didn’t think the tee and scarf were too bad for buying within the park itself. Plus they’re memories from our trip.
One of the crowd at Disneyland
I also had to get a tourist ‘I LOVE LA’ tee. I found this in a cheap A Mart store for $4.99 US.
Overall, some things especially the sports and lifestyle brands were much cheaper to buy in America, especially at the outlets.
We went to the outlets with an idea of what we needed. I think that is what made the outlets experience worth it for us.
If you head to America, do make a visit to the outlets. For us, it was definitely worth the wait. To bring back all the clothes, shoes and toys we bought in America, we placed one small suitcase into the other. For our family of five we traveled with 2 suitcases and came back home with 3.
Have you found clothes to be cheaper in America than Australia? What destination has been the best shopping experience for you?