Move over designer brands - it's Lifeline Maitland for formal season

Maitland's collection of Op Shops is a great place to start, with the charity shops promising good quality clothing at affordable prices.

Whether it be a school formal coming up, a Melbourne Cup outfit, or even a Christmas party frock, there are plenty of options on offer.

At Lifeline Maitland, in High Street, a formal dress could cost as little as $10 and as much as $40.

"We've got about a dozen in our store at the moment that you could make into a formal dress," manager Trish Duca said.

"There are some that are flowy and some that are shorter - which is what some of the young ones are going for these days."

The store also has a range of suits, and formal jackets, for men as well as formal long-sleeve shirts, ties and bow ties to complete the look. Sometimes men can even find a pair of dressy shoes that fit to go with their outfit.

Ms Duca said people were tightening their belts as the cost of utilities, food and petrol continued to rise and put extra pressure on household budgets.

"There are so many people who can't afford to pay a couple of hundred dollars for a one night event, especially if they are not going to be able to reuse it," she said.

"If you're going to spend a couple of hundred dollars on something you at least want to be able to wear it a lot more than once."

Ms Duca said the formal dresses were in good condition and some could be dressed up or dressed down to be more useful.

"Most of our dresses are rarely more than $30 or $40. Sometimes we have shoes and handbags and clutches that match as well and sometimes you can even get jewellery too," she said.

"We still get a lot of clothing with the tags on, we get a lot of online clothing too that still has the tags on - people have either changed their mind or it didn't fit."