NYC NOW - Fall Fashion on a Budget: How New Yorkers Can Stay Stylish Without Breaking the Bank

Episode Date: November 8, 2025

It’s fall in New York City and the fashion scene is in full swing. Teen Vogue style director Alyssa Hardy joins us to talk about the trends defining this season, from thrifting and sustainability to how New Yorkers can keep their looks fresh while staying mindful of affordability.

Hey there, welcome to NYC Now. I'm Jean-A-Pierre. Happy Saturday. And what a week. We've been talking about the mayoral election for months now, and it's finally over. With that said, let's switch things up a bit. That's probably what you're doing with your closet anyway. It's officially fall in New York City, which means sweater, weather, new looks, and maybe a little closet reshuffling. This year, with affordability, top of mind for,

so many New Yorkers. The question is, how do you stay fashionable and practical at the same time? Alyssa Hardy is the style director at Team Vogue. She's here in studio to talk about what's trending this fall and how New Yorkers are making fashion work for their budget. Alyssa, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. So, Alyssa, you know, New York City is one of the most expensive cities in the world. I'm wondering when we talk about affordability, how do New York workers make fashion work for their budget right now. Yeah, I think, as you said, New York is so expensive, but it's also one of the most fashionable cities in the world. And I think that when we think about affordability and fashion, oftentimes we go to fast fashion or cheap, quick fashion. But I think

that what a lot of New Yorkers and just a lot of people in general are thinking about is vintage, consignment, secondhand clothing. Because you can get really good stuff for affordable prices. Absolutely. And I'm a bit thrifter myself. I was thrilled. Before thrifting was cool, you know? And I know there was a stigma about that. Is that still a thing or not? Okay, no. I think that that's one of like the most beautiful things that's happening right now,

especially with young people, is that that sort of secondhand consignment stigma from getting it from like the big box consignment stores, that's gone. They love it. It's like a way to like find something different, find something that's not in your algorithm, kind of discover fashion outside of your phone. Yeah. And that stigma's gone. Yeah.

I thought I was tripping because, you know, walking around, the city, I'm noticing like low-rise jeans and a line skirts, like everything that's coming back and I'm like, wait a minute, am I missing something? You are not missing anything. You are very much on it because that is, it's everywhere, it's back. And you know, I think like there's a tendency for like millennials or people a little bit older than that to be like, we don't want that back. Like that was there. But I do think there's some fresh takes on it that are really interesting. Low-rise jeans, that's a tough one. Listen, if you could still fit them, Go for it.

Yeah, go for it. Right. Exactly. If it feels good, love that for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You recently wrote about frugal chic. Yes. I don't want to spoil it.

Tell us all about it. Yeah, so frugal chic is this concept that a TikTok creator has been coming up with talking about how, you know, as we said, people, there is an affordability crisis and people are trying to find ways to still be chic and, like, have that kind of feeling without spending a ton of money. So some of the things that people are doing are, especially here in New York, going to, uh, going to, um, like sample sales and going to places where they're maybe giving out free things, they're wearing like nice perfumes. And that's a way to kind of elevate your look. They are painting their nails themselves, but like doing a nail design at home versus going to get an expensive manicure. And, you know, not just thrifting, but shopping local helps with that, right? Yeah, I think the one thing, in, of course in New York City, there's a lot of great stores and a lot

of great designers, but I think just even anywhere, looking to your local stores and supporting local businesses, buying into things that you might not necessarily be seeing online, but you're kind of going to buy and keep forever. That's another way to really rethink the way that we are consuming clothing. Yeah, I think about that a lot, actually, you know, I just try to be more intentional about the pieces that I get and look at them as not clothes, but pieces, you know? Yeah, 100%. That's the best way to do it. Yeah. We're talking a lot about fall fat, and affordability. But talk a bit about sustainability here. Yeah, it's one of another reason why I love secondhand and vintage so much. And we know that clothing has a massive impact on the

planet. And then, of course, the millions of people that work in the fashion industry making our clothing. And so new clothing that's made, it's got, we're using a lot of water. There's lots of microplastics. And I think people are becoming so much more aware of it, but we're still really tapped into the trend cycles. And I think vintage as a way to kind of pull yourself, out of it to reduce the amount of clothing waste. We're getting rid of tons and tons of clothing every single year. Those clothing are ending up in areas around the world where communities are needing to now deal with clothing from the United States, from the UK, from Australia. And the clothing quality is getting worse than ever. And those clothes are ending up in waterways. The

microplastics are ending up in the water. And it's becoming a really, really huge issue for the climate and for the folks that are having to deal with the clothing waste that we have. Vintage is just a great way to tap out of that to not to lower your impact. So what I'm hearing is everyone should be frugal chic. A hundred percent. Thrifting's the way to go. But for listeners who may be new to thrifting, especially in a place like New York City where it could be a little, you know, a lot.

Yeah. With so many thrift shops around. Any advice for them? Yeah. I think one of the biggest tips that I have for thrifting is have a plan. Think about the things that you're looking for and the things that you're looking for. those things that you want to add to your wardrobe before you go in. And then when you're going into some of those larger consignment stores like Buffalo Exchange, then you can kind of go in and say,

okay, I want a white Oxford and I want it to be this length so that you know exactly where you're going and you can kind of dig from there. Because I also think you need to just go in understanding you might have to dig. Oh, it's a hunt. It's a hunt. You're hunting. Yeah. For sure. And that can be really fun. Yeah. But I think you have to go in with the right mindset and also have a snack before. Please eat. Well, Alyssa, I'm going to say it. I like your style. Oh, thank you. I like your style too. Thank you. You have great style. All right. So you're wearing a slip dress right now with a long brown sway jacket, black boots. I'm thinking this jacket, though, it's something that I could wear, you know? It's long on you, but it'll be just right on me. The suede jacket, perfect for fall.

Yes, thank you. Where do you get your inspiration? I get my inspiration from New Yorkers a lot. You know, I'm always, I work downtown. I'm always out and about. I always, I'm looking at people and I'm like, wow, like, you're wearing a brown suede jacket. That seems amazing. I don't really shop new at all. And I find that, like, for example, this is from depop, actually. And so I find that, like, the one good thing about the changing algorithms and the changing of how we're thrifting is that you can do so much, like, on your phone. I can look up, hey, brown suede top, brown suede jacket on a depop or a thread. up or a vesture collective. Or a poshmark. Or Pashmark. Yeah. Or eBay. So many places that you can actually just write out your fingertips.

You don't have to buy anything new if you don't want to. Yeah. I can't tell you the last time I bought something new. Yeah. You don't have to. You really don't. It's kind of amazing. It's kind of amazing.

You're amazing. Thanks so much. Alyssa Hardy. Thank you. Teen Vogue. This is NYC now. Thank you.