Our first stop: Joe Fresh at Loblaws. Seriously, everyone I know shops at Joe. When the line first came out a few years back, I thought my mother was the only person who would ever buy clothes there, but boy was I wrong. There’s a good reason behind the brand’s growing popularity from what I can see – the clothes are a fraction of the price of those in regular clothing stores yet follow all the same trends. I was actually overwhelmed with the selection. Mittens! Galoshes! Argyle! Purses! Everything I love, and not one price tag I could find over $50. I snagged a fun, trendy plaid shirt and black jersey skirt for a grand total of $38.

You can see a larger photo of my two outfits here. Can you tell them apart?

Next up was Zellers to check out their “Pure” by Alfred Sung line. The price range was similar – the selection was not. Right now, the line is basically just work wear for 20 to 30 year-old women. I don’t think it’s selling well; the blazer we purchased for the shoot was one of dozens still left on the rack, marked down from about $35 to $20. I guess the cheap chic formula isn’t foolproof.

After doing the discount thing, it was time to see what actual clothing stores in the mall had to offer. I perused some of my personal favourites – Aritzia, the Gap, Jacob – to find pieces similar to those from our cheap-chic brands. The trendy items were staples at pretty much every store, so it wasn’t a difficult task. Unfortunately, my credit card took a beating in this round, with prices up to triple what comparable items cost in Loblaws or Zellers.

Since I’m often partial to my favourite brand names, the question for me became which outfit would be best – since cheaper doesn’t usually mean better. However, after trying on a high and low-end version of basically the same outfit (and soliciting opinions from my co-workers) it became clear that the discount clothes were a much better buy.

The plaid shirt from Joe was, according to my male colleagues, far more attractive than the “sloppier” flannel from Aritzia – and a third of the price. Go figure. And the cheap skirt actually looked more expensive than the higher-end version.

Overall, the cheap chic outfit won out … and I’m actually going to keep it. Mission accomplished!