'Queer Eye' star Tan France says tailoring and choosing classic pieces is key to looking wealthy, and shares 4 stores for dressing well on a budget

Bobby Berk, from left, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness, cast members from the television series &quotQueer Eye," present the award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.Phil McCarten/AP

• Tan France, a fashion entrepreneur and part of the "Queer Eye" Fab Five, says that choosing classic pieces and getting your clothing tailored is the secret to making affordable pieces look expensive.
• He says these tricks fooled his future husband into thinking he was wealthy when they first met.
• His four favorite stores for budget shopping are COS, The Kooples, Sandro, and Zara.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Before "Queer Eye" star Tan France had success with a Netflix show and a clothing company, Kingdom & State, the future entrepreneur dressed himself on a budget. But, he says, he dressed so well he managed to trick his now-husband into thinking he was wealthy when he wasn't.

"I started dating my husband 11 years ago," France tells Business Insider. "And he always assumed I was rich - like really quite wealthy. And it was because of the way I dressed."

He says that tailoring is a simple upgrade that "is a lot less expensive than one might think." By getting things tailored, France says he's managed to make cheaper pieces look much more expensive than they actually are. And when he first met his husband, that was the trick. "I think it's because my clothes always looked like they were custom made to fit my body," he says. "I always looked chic."

For those wanting to look like they're worth far more than they are, the Fab Five's fashion guru has four shopping suggestions.

British fashion brand COS is his first suggestion. "You would think that it's a higher-end brand than it is," says France. "They have styles that are similar to the likes of a Celine or a Chloe, especially their color stories. But they're relatively inexpensive compared to those designer brands."

His next suggestions are French fashion brands The Kooples and Sandro. "They do a good job of making it seem like their products are worth hundreds upon hundreds when it's really not at all," he says.

And lastly, he suggests Zara for quick pieces that look like they're worth double than they really are. "I've worn a Zara suit or a Zara outfit many times on a red carpet or on the show and people assumed that it's something ridiculously expensive," say France. "And it's not, it's Zara."

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