My mother taught me to sew when I was a teenager, in the 1960's. Had the war not intervened in her training (she was in London, England) she would have become what was then called a tailoress. Since then I've always made most of my own clothes, in part driven by a pear shaped figure, if it fitted my lower half it was too big up top and vice versa. I've always believed that the skill to make your own clothes meant that you needn't dress like anyone else. I remember numerous visits to dress shops where I was driven away by the lack of variety in fabric, colour and design.
My strongest tip? Never stint on the quality of your fabric, a garment lives or dies on the quality of the material and, here in New Zealand, where garments made of quality fabric are expensive, I can make a beautiful wool or silk garment for a fraction of the price, even when my fabric is very expensive. (Plus, it fits and is in my chosen, not the latest fashion, colour!
P.S. I've only just bought a serger, having used only an Elna Air Electronic for 30 years! Now that's big step!