She won't buy unless it's on sale.

For countless seasoned sales shoppers, this is hardly a new shopping strategy.

But it is to Hudson. Before times got tight, Hudson, 29, an industrial supply sales rep, was a retailer's dream. An admitted impulse buyer, if she wanted it, she bought it. Coach bags, Joe's Jeans, Theory trousers. She never waited for a sale. Ever.

Now with deep concerns about the economy and the stability of her job, she's learning to live lean.

"I've never been this cautious," she says. "This is all new to me."

This fall, more shoppers than ever are adopting a smart-shopping attitude. Either they're not shopping at all (what the industry is calling "hermits") or they're becoming more focused and practical, seeking out only what they need, rather than want they want.

"The days of overconsumption are over," says Shilpa Rosenberry, a senior consultant with the New York-based research group WSL Strategic Retail. "People are making do with what they have in their closets."

While shoppers in recent months have cut spending in all categories, clothing and fashion have been among the hardest hit, she says, up there with big cutbacks in eating out, takeout food and home decor.

"Regardless of income, we're seeing it," Rosenberry says.

In a recent survey, the group found that 63 percent of shoppers avoided stores where they tended to overspend, whether it was Saks Fifth Avenue or Forever XXI. Shoppers have been avoiding specialty clothing stores, department stores and even the budget-conscious favorite, outlet malls, she says.

"There's really been a cultural shift," Rosenberry says. "Saving is the cool thing to do. Shoppers are more likely to impress friends by telling them about the bargains they've found."

Courtney Small, 23, is one of them. She not only shops sales and discount chains, she's more selective than ever. Instead of buying an entire outfit, she'll buy one piece that will go with something she already owns.

"I'm trying to be more practical," says Small, an administrative assistant in Durham.

Clinton Kelly, the co-host of TV's "What Not to Wear," travels the country talking to shoppers at style workshops at Macy's. He's noticed the change. Women aren't so much looking for cheap. They want value.

"They're responding to pieces with multiple uses," he says. "They want a dress that will go from work to weekend to evening. She's willing to spend money on it if she can see herself getting several uses out of it."

Rebecca Nash, a Meredith graduate and owner of the High Point-based handbag company MadieDeluxe, says shoppers are still buying her bags. But increasingly they want smaller sizes, the kind that come with cheaper prices.

"People are not necessarily in panic mode, but they are consciously thinking of the dollars they spend," she says.

When the banking issue hit crisis mode a few weeks ago, she says she watched her Internet sales fall in half. "People were still on there looking, but they weren't buying," she says. "There were three or four days when we had a handful of orders. That certainly wasn't the norm."

Sales growth has come back, but other trends have emerged.

At the recent Junior League of Raleigh's A Shopping Spree!, Nash said she saw more customers paying with cash or a debit card, a sign to her that they were watching their debt.

And more people were saying the handbags they bought were going to be given as Christmas presents, not stocking stuffers, as they told her last year.

The most telling signs to her were her sold-out houndstooth clutches and cosmetic bags, two of her of lowest-priced products. Priced under $45, the bags were among the most popular with shoppers.

"I don't think people were being as excessive this year," she says.

She and other retailers are responding by adjusting inventory.

Ashley Vermillion Harris, who owns the women's clothing store Vermillion in Raleigh, says when she saw the economic crisis worsening, she made sure to buy pieces for her store that would appeal to her shoppers even in a slow economy.

"If it was above a certain price point, I wanted to make sure it was something gorgeous and sellable," she says.

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