Shopping habits you need to stop immediately

I am also one of those women who stands in front of her wardrobe every morning sighing that I really have nothing to wear. Nothing! And while that wardrobe is quite large, and quite full, and something new comes in every week. But the problem is that I consistently buy the same things. I have about 30 short skirts (my favorite item for winter) but always forget to buy things that I can wear over them. And I also buy things for an occasion, but they might not be suitable to wear on other days. To give myself a kick in the butt but also to do that for you, these are the bad shopping habits you need to stop immediately.

You always buy the same thing

I could wear a different skirt every day but have almost nothing (so sad) to wear on top of it. And I always buy shoes, but I have an absurd amount of shoes and proportionally much less clothing.

The next time you are in a store and about to check out an item that you already have 100 of, intervene. Hang it back, walk away, don’t buy it. First, check your wardrobe at home to see if you really don’t already have something similar. Especially if it’s a piece from H&M or Zara, it has everything in it to become a bad purchase. Only if it’s really, really very special beautiful or timeless can you go for it, but be strict.

You buy too much on impulse

We all have that sometimes; enormous shopping urge. An insatiable I-must-buy-something-NOW feeling. Or you go shopping with a friend because she is looking for a certain dress, and at the end of the day, she comes home without a dress and you with 3 pairs of pants and a sweater “because it was so much fun.”

Think three times before you pull out your debit card. Is it really beautiful? Is it an addition to your wardrobe? Sometimes things can become an obsession, but then take a walk outside, think about it overnight, and postpone the purchase moment. Do you notice that you can’t think of anything else in bed at night? Then go back for another fitting session and possibly proceed to purchase.

You buy it because there’s a brand in it

That sweater is quite nice but maybe not really my thing, but hey it’s by Isabel Marantand it’s quite affordable so, well, why not? Well, because you’re never going to wear it and because you shouldn’t be a brand snob.

That’s pretty simple, just don’t do it. Only buy if you really think it’s very beautiful, regardless of what brand is in it.

You fall into sales traps

I am soooo sensitive to this. If something is hanging on the rack with an 80 euro discount, I quickly think, omg I have to buy this. But that goes wrong more often than right. In the last sale at the Bijenkorf, I bought a skirt from Preen that originally cost about 600 bucks, but I could now take it home for 70 euros. I’ve only worn it once because it just doesn’t look that good on me.

Breathe in, breathe out, step away from the garment, and think about it carefully. Does it really look good on you? Is it really something for you? Is it comfortable? The danger is that you think “yes but it now costs only 50 euros instead of 450” but look at it this way; you can also NOT do it and spend that 50 euros on white wine on a heated terrace. I mean!

You never return it if it’s not right

Oh I feel so guilty about this, especially with online orders. It’s because I find it so much effort to figure out how to do all that. Finding the return address, repacking, going to the post office, man stop what a hassle. Another problem is that when I buy something to think about it at home, I already become attached to the piece during that thinking time and then don’t return it. And so there are quite a few pieces in my wardrobe with the tags still attached.

Lazy bum that you are, don’t be ridiculous and send that stuff back. The whole world does it and can do it, so you can too. And regarding that attachment, don’t buy things to play with at home. You decide in the store, and otherwise not.