9 Ways to Get Free Clothing

How much money would you save if you never had to pay for clothes again?

Or what if you were able to make money from your wardrobe?

I am particular about my clothing and have a style I love which I get complimented about all the time.

If I bought them brand new, it would cost a few hundred dollars per dress.

So how do I get my clothing for free?

1. Reselling

By selling off the clothes I no longer wear, I am always able to buy more when I feel like it.

How it works is I buy specific brands second hand or on clearance.

When I am done with them or my kids outgrow them, we sell them and shop again.

More often than not, I make a profit on the clothing as well.

Brands such as Cue, Review, Hell Bunny, Collectif, Kitten D’Amour and similar cost a few hundred brand new but I can usually get them second-hand for $1 to $10.

When I sell these brands, I typically sell them for $50+

Every school holidays we have an op shop day where we go to the second-hand shops in our area and buy what we want.

My teens get a set amount each and love finding clothes that are their style but different to everything in stores.

Some of the shops have $2 tags or racks and 50% off certain coloured tags.

This is where we have saved even more.

Rarely do we pay more than $2 or $5 for an item and since we can sell them for more, it means our wardrobes make us money.

Obviously, we take good care of our clothes and this is hard to do with babies/toddlers.

Get my full guide on buying things to resell to see exactly how I do this.

2. Free Gift Cards

There are so many ways to get free gift cards and doing that means you can buy clothes with them.

Cahsback programs, online surveys, entering competitions, using reward points from wherever you shop etc.

I share 5 ways to get free gift cards plus tips to get discounted gift cards in this article.

3. Hand Me Downs

I grew up getting my sisters and cousins hand me downs.

As adults, we have continued this with each other and our kids because we change sizes and have kids after each other.

It has saved a small fortune sharing clothes this way and some of us do it with friends too.

As long as the clothing is in good condition, well taken care of and useable, why not share clothes when you are done?

4. Clothing Swaps

Everywhere I’ve lived in Australia had clothing swaps arranged at different times.

Some are done as charity fundraisers, others are arranged through mothers groups, church groups or other community centres.

How they are run varies but generally, everyone can bring some clothes to swap.

Everyone who brings clothes is allowed to swap theirs for a specific number of items so no one can be greedy.

The ones I went to had the clothes dropped off the night or week before and set up on racks on the day for people to shop.

Any clothes not taken at the end were donated.

Because the quality is usually higher with clothing swaps, some of the clothing at the end was able to be donated to charities such as Dress For Success who help people get back into the workforce or similar.

5. Gifts

Clothing can be given as gifts if you know what you want or the receiver wants.

Always keep the receipt so it can be exchanged if necessary.

My kids usually get some clothes as part of their presents and always have e.g. cute PJ’s at Easter with the chocolates.

Provided your expectations are realistic and you’re not asking for a Louis Vuitton handbag from someone who is struggling to make ends meet, clothing can be a good gift.

6. Prizes

Enter competitions and you never know, you might win.

I haven’t personally entered clothing competitions for years but a few years ago I did and won a few items.

A lovely white dress for summer with a matching dress for my daughter.

It did not stay white on her for long. Lucky for bleach!

PJ’s worth $80, some underwear, shoes and a handbag have all been items I have won related to clothing.

Separately, when it comes to competitions, I have won thousands this year alone simply by entering competitions for products I buy.

In fact, it worked out to be 75% of the competitions I entered, I won something.

Check out where the best Aussie giveaways and competitions are plus my tips for winning.

7. Learn to Refashion Items

If you can sew, you can refashion items to create something new.

When my kids were younger I’d often cut long sleeve shirt shorter or if pants got holes in the knees I’d iron on cute patches they chose or turn them into shorts.

Mens shirts can become dresses for girls with a little effort.

I’ve seen tablecloths turned into skirts, dresses, tops and aprons.

There are numerous examples online of clothing being refashioned to suit the new owner.

My kids are into this and often buy items they can see a new future and style for.

They’ve also done it with some of my clothing and for me.

8. Loyalty Programs

Supermarket and credit card reward programs and similar can often be cashed in for gift cards to use anywhere, which includes clothing stores.

Most of these programs send discounts and gift cards for your birthdays as well.

Some require a certain amount of spending with them throughout the year to be eligible for the bonus offers though so make sure you read the fine print.

Check out how to combine discounts to save even more.