TK Maxx has been my high street must-visit for many years. When I lived with my mum as a teen we’d visit our local store and trawl through the homeware section, picking up pretty cushions, candles and photo frames for the house.
In recent years the discount brand has shifted the focus to fashion, stocking high end designer pieces for a fraction of their original cost. But it’s hard to change perceptions, and many people think the endless rails are full of last season’s tat. So here’s my handy guide to bagging the best bargains, sorting the fashion from the faux pas and finding that perfect piece (in your size). Read on, intrepid shopper!
Paraphrase angora jumper, £19.99
- With such a wide selection of brands, quality varies hugely
- These handy (and totally cute) labels make it quick and easy to pick out quality pieces – look out for them!
- Give each piece the touch test – feel for roughness, loose buttons and hanging threads
Jessica Simpson hat, £14.99
- Each rail is spilt into sections according to size, but don’t let that stop you. Things get mixed up, so search through all sections
- If you’re a less common size, you’re in luck – the sizes that get left behind in the shops are often found in TK Maxx (especially size 3 shoes)
- Try before you buy though – TK Maxx stocks unusual brands with unusual sizing!
Edina Ronay leather bag, £49.99
- TK Maxx is brilliant for discovering new brands – from fashion houses like Gharani Strok to indie labels like Rose and Crown
- If you’re looking for something unique, keep an eye out for quirky patterns. TK Maxx is great for pretty prints you won’t find in Primark
- The lesser known brands are often cheaper too
Michael Kors jacket, £100 (RRP £300)
- If it’s an investment piece you want, TK Maxx stocks lots of luxury labels with huge discounts
- The Gold Label range offers brands like See by Chloe, Versace, Stella McCartney, Moschino and Marc Jacobs
- And it’s not all old stock either – my Michael Kors jacket is from this season’s collection
Do you shop in TK Maxx? What’s been your favourite purchase? And if not, what’s stopping you?
WANT that Michael Kors leather jacket!!!!
victoriasprocrastinationproject.blogspot.com
TKMaxx have got some gorgeous winter coats in at the moment 🙂
I must admit though I go straight to the homewares where I always manage to find something quirky, affordable and individual…now I just need to apply the same to the clothes section 😀 xx
Nice post! I love that shop and my best purchase was an Anthropologie dress reduced from over 100 squid to 13. I was buzzing all day long after that bargain.Carla 🙂
I am so bad at shopping in TKMaxx – I always walk in – see the jumble of sizes and colours and items, freak out a little and walk out again!
Must try harder though – your finds are wonderful!
I’d love to have the patience with TK Maxx. I often find the rails upon rails of clothes really daunting to approach/scour. You’ve found some really pretty things though (:
I need to follow these tips, people always tell me about great things they’ve found in there but whenever I pass through I never seem to stop and really have a good look. I love that Michael Kors jacket! x
I love TK MAXX, it is brilliant for gym wear that doesn’t cost a fortune but still looks wonderful, for example I picked up a pair of pineapple purple trainers for £14.99, less spent of trainers more money for dresses!
I have to admit that I have found some great shoes and bags in there and I love the homeware section but I’ve fallen a little out of love with my local store after one grumpy sales assistant too many. Maybe the need of a new winter coat will be enough to lure me back in?
I think I feel about TXMAxx the way some people feel about Primark! I def. agree with the comment above re: gym wear tho, I’ve found some fab stuff from there for the gym; my hand weights are from there and were v cheap but are fab!
I LOVE tkmaxx. I found a coat there for £30 which was £90! it has lasted me for 4 years – wow! 🙂 I also love thrifting through their clothes rail, its the most similar to real vintage thrifting I can get my hands on. lol. GO TKMAXX! -I LOVE YOUR BLOG BTW. X
I actually haven’t given TK Maxx a fair go! I just get overwhelmed by how much there is in the stores that I find myself walking out. I’m a bit of a neat freak, so “messy”-looking stores just turn me right off, I guess (unless I’m charity shopping or at a car boot). You’ve found some lovely things, though!
x Michelle | thefeatherden.net
Great post, alot of people complain about having to trawl through the rails at TK but you do the same at a vintage shop or charity shop really.
Plus it makes it all the more exciting when you do find something. I’ve had cheap monday jeans for 90p and a luella skirt and jacket for £50.
Some people are surprised when I say i got things like irregular choice shoes there, but you just have to check in often enough. My mum probably goes to tk maxx once a week, but has an impressive wardrobe to show for it.
and the best tk maxx? high street ken. I’ve never seen so much designer stuff in one tk. (although if you ask my mum she says to go to one in a rough area where other shoppers don’t know the more obscure high end labels)
I’m painfully in love with that leopard print bag, oh my goodness it’s delicious.
I’ve never been a fan because our local shop was a disaster – I can cope with a rummage, but not when the place is so cold and grubby. Not fun! HOWEVER, they’ve spruced it up now so I’m going to give it another go 🙂
Love, Tilda
Wow I loooove that bag. The shape/size of it is absolutely perfect and the oh-so-amazing leopard print? Gorgeous x
I really like that hat… really ! I try to go into TKMaxx but I must be in the right mood to search !
I love the Maxx! The one in Leeds near Primark is fab. My best buy has been a cashmere cardi for £20! x
TK Maxx is my favourite shop to visit, there is always something different! I am so pleased someone else likes it, where I live, it only seems like me and my mum love it!
I redecorated my room in the summer and I go in the shop every week to see if they have something new to go with my room, I am currently on the look out for cushions to go with my bed throw but not been lucky so far!
I love the hook you have used to display the things too:)
Lovely blog.
Jazz xo
http://cupcakesnsweets.blogspot.com/
I’m always a little scared to even walk into a TK MAXX but you’ve inspired me to face the fear. That Michael Kors Jacket is just to die for, and such a bargain!
Rachael xx
http://rosebudindisguise.blogspot.com/
TK MAXX is a long term favourite of mine, I picked up a couple of beautiful BCBG dresses last year both under £30, both can be worn for work or dining with the gentleman caller. I’ve already picked up some xmas treats in there but ooo the afternoons I’ve wasted here! xx
we’re very much on the same page on this one. it’s up there in my top shops, if you know what you’re doing and have time or a good idea what you’re after it can be pretty easy and very rewarding. i’ve had a lot of bargains in my time, the final clearance section is a whoppa. i once bought 3 pairs of trousers and some shorts for £12 in total. latest finds includes this seasons farah slim cords (currently in urban outs for £70) for £19.99 and a merino wool racing green knit with grey elbow patches for £14.99
I am actually scared of TK Maxx! Whenever I think about it I end up being reminded of the shop in Carlisle which is a real dump! I’ll have to find some other branches and try them!
xx
http://homemadefashionista.blogspot.com/
I love TK Maxx 🙂 It’s such a goldmine if you have the patience for it 🙂 x
Oh wow, I would have never thought about getting all this from TK Maxx, mines unfortunately a wreck! And they never have particularly nice stuff in, but I think I’m feeling a little more inspired to rummage through everything. What perfect items, especially the jacket!
xx
I’ve found some great bargains in Tk Maxx in the past, it’s just a case of having the time to trawl through everything. Love that angora jumper, it looks so soft! x
At the TK Maxx blogger lunch a few months ago they talked all about the best ways to shop in TK MAxx and since then I’ve never looked back! Ace post.
Emily x
TK Maxx, god that place gives me the fear. Apart from home stuff, I think I’ve bought one top from there. It’s just too much hassle, there is stuff everywhere and it’s slightly jumble sale in places.
But seeing the absolutely gorgeous items you’ve got makes me want to try more.
x
so glad someone else LOVES tk maxi too!
The sales are amazing, I blagged a SEE by Chloe dress for £3 once!! THREE POUNDS.
I was so happy!xo
You’ve definitely inspired me to give it another chance, we used to have a TK Maxx that was truly awful, a right messy jumble, and whilst I do like a bargain, I like a bit of shopping pleasure when I buy clothes!
We do now have a shiny newish one that probably isnt half as bad, but because of the trauma of the previous incarnation, I’ve always been put off….I’m now going to definitely give it a go….
And yeah, I’ve a friend that got some Irregular Choices shoes from TK also, actually…
good tips. and by the way, that leather jacket rocks 🙂
I must confess, I always find the mass of jumbled rails pretty off-putting. I have found some great shoe bargains in there though, lots of lovely Converse for cheaps!
I love tkmaxx and your jacket is super cool.
Thesupertrouper
http://bit.ly/rsqQEa
TKMAXX has to be my best ever shop!! I love the baby things,beautiful quality. I have bought top rate clothes there and lovely stuff for my home. If I have a wedding to go to,that is where I will shop for a present.£10 in Primark is £10. £10 in TKMAXX can be anything up to £70!! One of my favourite buys was a lightweight ski type jacket with a fur collar. Edina Ronay and very stylish. The ticket said £129. I got it in “Clearance· for £19.99. It is into it´s third winter and I love it!
TK rocks. I bought an Allsaints Jacket from there (this season) for £23. The label said £160.. yesterday I bought the most beautiful amazing coat by Gharini Strok for £50. I have been looking for a coat that was different for 2 years.
TK Maxx Is my shop just the other day i bought a pair of Michael Kors heels!! at a cheap price 🙂
I Love love love TK Maxx… how would we live without it?… The only sad thing is that they Never have any good shoes in size 7… everything nice is either kid’s size 3-4 or 9
I have only been in TKMaxx like once however reading this post makes me want to go again to my local one in Romford,Essex as that is the only one I know
Romford is in London, not Essex.
After watching the Channel 4 Dispatches programme “Secrets of the Discount Stores,” (aired Monday evening 9 December). Has your opinion changed now it transpires that a lot of those strange so-called designer labels that nobody has heard of, are made in-house on the cheap by TKMaxx themselves? Inflated RRP’s on the labels? Saying it’s Current Season stock when infact it’s two or more years old?
The channel 4 documentary has not changed my opinion of tk maxx. being mainly a shopper of plain t shirts, the made brands do not bother me. There is so much selection of t shirts that are cheaper than top man and river island, and look better as most are classic/ normal designs, whereas the other shops change to suit the current trends. I’m not interested in this shift to more girly looking/graphic tees for men sold in other high street shops.
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You can get some fantastic bargains at TK Maxx, but some items there are clearly made for outlets/discount stores. See a lot of Michael Kors bags at my local one, they always have a different logo/lining to the ones I see in stores like harrods/harvey nichols. Same goes for most brands I’ve seen in there. Still if you hunt hard & long enough there are fab things to find, got a ralph lauren bag & purse for £150 (my mum brought exactly the same ones from the RL website for £400ish)