To be able to take advantage of the best bargain shopping deals on clothing and accessories, you need a team.

In many shops, minimally damaged items are practically given away, because people don’t want the hassle of fixing them. With the right team at your disposal, you can buy these items and have them fixed in no time — and for very little money.

Here’s the people you need to know.

A clothing alterations person

They can:

• Take up or let down hems
• Re-stitch seams that have come undone
• Invisibly mend small holes (although this is expensive, so only worth it for a truly amazing deal)
• Take clothes in to make them smaller
• Let clothes out to make them a little bigger
• Remove shoulder pads
• Add a lining to see-through items
• Adjust tailored items so they fit you exactly
• Patch larger holes if you don’t mind patches

A shoe repairer

They can:

• Stretch shoes that are a little too small
• Replace missing buckles
• Add non-slip coating to slippery soles
• Shorten leather belts that are too long
• Keep all your shoes and belts in good shape so they last longer!

A great button shop

A well-stocked button shop will be able to:

• Find a close or exact match for a missing button
• Make new fabric-covered buttons to replace a missing one
• Sell you beautiful buttons to fix garments with ugly buttons

A jewelry repairs person

They can:

• Adjust a watch band to fit you
• Replace watch batteries
• Sometimes repair watch mechanisms
• Repair broken chains
• Re-string beads and pearls
• Repair solder joins that have snapped
• Repair or replace broken clasps
• Replace missing stones

A fantastic dry cleaner

A great dry cleaner can remove many stains and restore lightly soiled items to an as-new appearance.

Once you’ve got your team, a lot of ‘broken’ items of clothing and accessories can become worthwhile purchases — just don’t spend too much unless you’re sure they can be repaired!

If you’d like to know where to find bargain shopping team members in your area, check back next week.

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