The previous episode of my “Objective Capsule Wardrobe” series was all about de-cluttering, only keeping the clothes you liked and liked you back and making room in your cupboard and your life!
But of course, everyone knows nature abhors a vacuum, and there’s very little point pretending you’ll never want to buy anything anymore now that you have all of that empty space! So I thought it would only be fitting to focus the second episode on strategies to buy better so you don’t have to go back to square one too often.
My mum has always tried really hard to explain the whole price VS quality thing to us. I was that kid that never got one pair of expensive branded trainers but was always wearing expensive, well-made leather shoes.
But when I first started buying my own clothes, I obviously forgot it all at once for quite a while and ended up with far too many things, many of which that didn’t fit me and I incidentally never wore.
I’m not even sure why I fell in the fast-fashion trap. I clearly didn’t need that many things, but it was so cheap and I felt like buying things “in case I’d need it” made me ready to face every situation I’d ever encounter. I was basically trying to build an armour out of all those junk-clothes I’d never wear and believed that my life would definitely be ruined if I didn’t have those sparkly silver heels the day I needed them.
Thanksfully, that’s when bloggers started taking a step back and talking about minimal wardrobes. Reading Dead Fleurette and French blogger Une Chic Fille, I had a bit of a lightbulb moment and eventually realised that I didn’t need all these things in my life. That having them around actually made me feel worse rather than good and that my money would be better used differently.
That same evening, I sat on the floor of my room and filled two (TWO!) Ikea bags with all the things I shouldn’t have bought in the first place. I donated most of them, sold a few, and promised myself it wouldn’t never get quite that bad again.
I obviously needed to come up with a plan though! That’s when I created my very own “Investment Theory” as some sort of a test for potential wardrobe suitors, so I thought I’d share my top tips to buy well!
1. It’s not all about the price! Mark my words: no deal is good enough not to be missed. If you’re never going to wear it, no matter how cheap it is, you are still wasting money buying it. This is especially true when it comes to sales; I’ve bought SO MANY things on sales because it was cheap and I would never find such a good deal ever again! Whether or not I would be using it was a thought that never crossed my mind. So now, every time I catch myself thinking “oh, that’s such a good deal”, I ask myself if I’d still get it if I was shopping in Liberty and it had the usual £££ pricetag. Works like a charm!
2. Better material is a worthwhile investment: Well-made clothes will last you longer, so it might be worth putting in the exact £, especially for those major pieces you’ll wear quite a bit (shoes, coats…). (However, that only works if the quality increases proportionanlly with the pricetag. I usually find that there is some sort of price ceiling for this, which is generally related to the impact of branding.)
The reasons behind it being that:
1- Better material will keep you warmer and won’t made you sweat so much (i’m so glamourous!)
2- Well-build items can be fixed.
3- Good-quality material will keep its form and colour much better.
4- You won’t tire of wearing basics quite as quickly as you would of wearing the last fashion fad.
3. Cost-per-wear: If I invest time in money into buying something, I want to make sure I get the best return on it. Which is why I usually only invest in items I know I’ll be using on a daily basis. So before you go out and spend all your money on really beautiful but also expensive pieces, take the time to figure out what you are actually wearing every day. One good way to measure this up is by putting all your clothes in the Closet app which allows you to log in what you’ve worn and does all the hard work for you!
4. Beauty samples: I love how you can get samples for pretty much every beauty product there is. That’s such a great way to try things out and decide whether or not they’re truly made for you without cluttering your cupboards!
Do you have tricks to avoid shopping mistakes? I’d love to hear them!
Cake and Whisky 