Top tip: Visit www.men.style.com and check out upcoming trends but don't follow trends blindly or you may have to throw out some clothes after one season. A smart buy is something that's affordable, lasts and can be mixed and matched as much as you want.

Fave haunts: I love multi-label boutique Collage (04-138 Far East Plaza, 03-07 Cathay Cineleisure Orchard and 61 Haji Lane). They carry home-grown brand Furrmuse, which has casual options in flattering cuts. Prices start from $39 for a T-shirt.

Buy staple T-shirts from Topman. When it's clearing stock, you can get T-shirts for $9 each.

Multi-label boutique Inhabit (B1-03 Palais Renaissance) is another great brand. It recently had a clearance sale with items going at 90 per cent off.

I got the jacket that I'm wearing, designed by a Brazilian designer, for $59.90 instead of $599. I also got British brand Ted Baker shoes for $39.90, down from $399.

Manila has a really fantastic underwear brand called Bench, which sells printed underwear for 290 to 600 pesos, which works out to about S$9 to S$18.

Top tip: If you don't know what to buy, take a girl along. Girls have a better sense of style and they know how to accessorise at a lower price.

Fave haunts: You can get T-shirts in the shops in Bugis Street for less than $20. My mum just brought back a lot of nice long- sleeved shirts for me which she got in Kuala Lumpur for about $5 each. Peninsula Plaza is a good place to get band T-shirts. You pay $15 a T-shirt and below $25 for skinny jeans.

Top tip: I don't go shopping often, so I put in a little more money to buy clothes I know I'll wear for a long time.

Fave haunts: You can get a good, affordable T-shirt from Nike for about $30. Spin The Bottle (03-06 The Heeren) brings in T-shirts with designs that have been worn by celebrities like Madonna and sell them at $45 to $75. They are unique so they are still value for money.

Top tip: Try to look out for sales and shop online to get cheaper deals. Some online websites that I go to are www.myvintage.co.uk and www.erasoul.com.

Fave haunts: The third floor of the Bugis Hawker Centre, which is behind Bugis Street. They sell second- hand jeans, shirts, and jackets from $5. Golden Mile Complex, opposite Beach Road market, sells secondhand clothes like baseball jerseys from $20.

Fave haunts: For jeans, I like River Island (02-34 Raffles City). Jeans in a variety of washes and cuts are about $100. Leftfoot (02-07 Cathay Cineleisure Orchard) has limited edition sneakers at $150.

Photos: ST, Alan Lim