FashBlog.com

Usually when we buy brand new clothes, we expect our purchases to be perfect. All the buttons are in place, the garment is clean and free from stains, etc. In fact, if we notice something wrong after we get home, we are likely to march right back to the store and demand an exchange or outright refund.

As I said, that's how clothes shopping usually works. There are times, however, when we expect our brand new purchases to have some defects. These pieces, euphemistically called "irregular", are factory rejects that are usually sent off to discount retailers. These discount retailers then clearly label the items as irregular or imperfect, and sell them at significant savings to consumers. So this represents a very attractive alternative for shoppers who really want name brand clothing without paying outrageous retail prices.

Purchasing irregular clothing is not a new trend, and there are some very well-known labels that operate their own outlet stores where they sell this imperfect merchandise. The Polo and Chaps brand names by Ralph Lauren are both widely available in this manner. Polo has factory outlets in several locations across the country where you can purchase their namesake polo shirts with the famous horse and rider logo for a fraction of what you would pay at a store like Marshall Field's. In fact, on a recent trip to North Carolina, a friend of mine stopped by a Polo factory outlet and purchased a bunch of shirts for $10 each. In a regular suburban mall, those shirts would easily sell for $50 a piece.

The catch, of course, was that the shirts were irregular. What, exactly, does that mean? Well, since we are talking about mistakes (either sewing machine error or human error), the actual irregularity varies from garment to garment. It can be anything from a small hole caused by rough handling to a dropped stitch resulting in the logo appearing a bit off. When talking about pants, it can be something relatively minor, such as a slightly loose belt loop, to a bigger problem, such as the legs being of different lengths. In addition, each garment is probably marked by the reseller in some way. For example, either the inner tag is cut in half or marked with a permanent, colored dot. This is common and is meant to discourage people from trying to return the item to a regular department store for full price.

Shopping for irregular clothes is not exactly the random crapshoot that it sounds like. Most of the time, the nature of the imperfection is stated on the tags. Then, you can inspect the merchandise, try the clothes on, and make your final purchasing decision based on the results of these and any other tests you choose to perform.

There are many stores that sell irregular name brand clothing items. Places like TJ Maxx, Marshall's, and Value City always seem to have a large selection on hand. They may even carry non-defective name brand clothing and still offer it at a discount, particularly if the items are from previous seasons or are in strange sizes (either very large or very small).

So if you want name brand clothing without paying big prices, try purchasing irregular items. You'd be surprised at the way very minor defects can turn into major savings for you!