Reddit mentions of SIBOSUN Women's Wrist Watch Lady Silver Mesh Stainless Steel Slim Band Minimalist Classic Quartz Bracelet

I hope you don't mind me building on this! I have tips that mayyy be more applicable for women, but could still help general folk!

I was very lucky to be raised upper-middle class. Due to a series of lifestyle choices, I wound up pooooor. Because of this, I have the mindeset of uppermiddle class while living an extremely low-income lifestyle. I lived on less than 20k/year without any sort of assistenace from the ages of 21-26. For a few of those years, I made about 13k/annually. I never took out a credit card and had no debt. I was frugal as hell and ate a lot of rice and eggs. I'm 29 now and stable, but I learned a TON while poor about how to dress for the life I wanted while keeping to an extremely tight budget. The biggest thing that differentiated me from my neighbors (and people I was competing with for jobs) was how I dressed and presented myself. Here are a few habits/insigts that I think gave me a leg up:

One.
Develop a capsule wardrobe. My wardrobe has about 25 pieces I wear reguarly (not including underwear or PJs/exercise clothing). Each of the pieces is lovely, timeless, and fits my body shape perfectly.
Here is a video and here is another about the capsule wardrobe, how to build one, etc. This woman, Justine Leconte, has wonderful tips about how to dress in general, but these will get you started on how to build a perfect wardrobe for yourself. There are many many other videos about the capsule wardrobe you may like better.


My current breakdown:
Bottoms: Skinny Jeans (2- one black, one dark blue), Little Black Dress (1), Day Dress (1), pencil skirt (1), fashion skirt, (1).
Tops: Nicer Tops-- poly blends/silk blends (3), Dressy Ts these are my favorite (3), Blazer (1), Faux-Leather Jacket (1), Sweaters (3)
Shoes: Dressy Heels- mine are nude because they match everything (1), Heel Booties (1), flats (2), keds (1)
Accessories: Scarf (2). Belt (1).

I do not count jewelry as an accessory, but I really only wear my wedding rings and a pair of silver earrings.

On this note, jewelry. One thing that many people in lower classes do is load up on cheap jewelry. If you want to blend in with the upper classes, you need to cut that out. Nothing screams low class quite like cheap fashion jewelry-- or wearing too much jewelry. First, fashion jewelry almost never has the right tone for your skin. Most people are either warm or cool toned. Depending on your skin tone, gold or silver is more flattering. I'm lucky to be "neutral," but I still only wear silver or white gold to keep my look homogenous. For style of jewelry, simple is best. Simple oval hoops, twist droplet shape, or simple studs are all good choices. Pearl or gemstone studs would be fine too-- whatever floats your boat. If it looks like something someone at a country club would wear, it'll be fine.

Depending on your style, a cheap watch will almost always look better than cheap bracelets. This is my every day watch. If you want something more jewelry-like something like this would work. But cluttering your body with lots of jewelry/accessories is just distracting.
You do not have to spend a lot of money to have a good wardrobe. It just needs to make sense and be homogenous.

Two.
I cut my own hair. I have for years-- since before I was poor. In fact, I cut it today! If you have mostly straight hair this video is a great starting point. My hair is 4 inches longer than the woman in the videos, and the tips still work. I get compliments on it regularly. What makes the biggest difference in hair looking nice is how it's dried!

A large round brush and the pointy attachment thing are crucial for smooth and shiny hair with a good swishy/healthy bounce. This is the video that taught me to dry my hair properly. Hair that is smooth and polished looking goed a long way in helping your overall "look."

Three.
Stay away from trendy makeup. One, it's expensive. Yes, I know that purple lipstick is gorgeous and would look super cute in xx circumstance. But it's a needless expense. Learn to do basic makeup, and do it well. Justine Leconte has a good basic look. Here's another video for professional looking makeup. and this is a good polished look that may be helpful for black women (or men! you do you).

Four.
Skincare-- because you mentioned it, I can't help but emphasize the importance of sunscreen for allllllllll skin types and tones. This is my holy grail sunscreen. I wear it every day. Lots of other people swear by it too-- so read reviews and see if it sounds good to you. Iv'e purchased this in bulk for 6 years now and literally give it out like candy to my friends and family because it's so wonderful and I've never met a person who has a breakout/issue becaue of it. YMMV, of course, but I couldn't help hopping on the soapbox.

Five.
Because you metioned suits, I wanted to expound a bit-- alterations can be very expensive. Besides a hem on the slacks, pretty much nothing about altering a suit is as cheap at $15. I worked in an alterations shop, so I'm fairly confident in this. Shortening sleeves (without lining) is $18+ and goes up if there are buttons. Adjusting the shoulders is $40+. Taking in the body is $50+. That said, if you find a suit jacket that fits well in the back and shoulder, it'll almost always be cheaper to buy and alter than to have a suit made. Even suits from Jos Bank or wherever need to be altered, so it doesn't really matter where you find a suit-- what matters is how it fits. When it comes to fitting, it is imperative that the back and shoulder of the suit fit your body. Otherwise, the seamstress will have to fully deconstruct the jacket (taking off the sleeves) to fix it. And that is $$$$. I only knew one person to ever have it done (for sentimental reasons-- it was his wedding suit for a vow renewal, and he had lost a lot of weight), and we charged almost $300 for taking in the back and adjusting the shoulders because of the talent and time commitment it took. It was a full day's work for the owner of the shop, who is a custom clotheir and amazing seamstress.

If you're going to buy a suit, watch some videos to know what to look for. Here's another good one.

Six.
One of the best pieces of advice I received was from my dad, "If you want to know where you'll be in 10 years, look at what you read and who you spend your time with." If your friends have low ambition and party lifestyles and you don't read, that's a problem. You should never be the smartest/most successful person you know. You should always have a book to read. Finding a mentor is extremely helpful when it comes to getting out of the poverty mindset.