Shopping habits to cease immediately

I too am one of those woman that stands in front of her closet every morning, pouting that I have absolutely nothing to wear. Nothing! Even though my cupboard is quite large, and quite full, and has something new added to it every week. The problem is that I generally buy the same thing. I have at least 30 short skirts (my favourite item for this winter) but always forget to buy things I can wear on top. I also tend to buy things for special occasions yet not so suitable for other days. To give myself a kick under the behind, and to give you all one too, hereby the bad shopping habits that have to cease immediately.

Always buying the same thing

I could wear a different skirt every day but have barely anything (so sad) to wear on top. And I always buy shoes, but now I have an insane amount of shoes and relatively far less clothing.

The very next time you set foot in a shop and seem poised to buy another item that you already have 100 of, act immediately. Hang it back up, walk away, do not buy it. Go home and first check if you have something suspiciously like it. It very often has the chance of being a mis-buy if it’s from the H&M or Zara. Only buy if it is extremely beautiful or timeless, otherwise be strict.

too many impulse buys

We all have it sometimes; that huge desire to shop. An insatiable I-have-to-buy-something-now feeling. Or you go shopping with a friend because she’s looking for a specific dress, and then end up coming home at the end of the day without the dress, and you with 3 pairs of trousers and a jumper “because it was so much fun.”

Think hard three times before pulling out the debit card. Is it really that beautiful? Does it add something to your wardrobe? Some things can become an obsession, but take a little breather outside, sleep on it for a night and postpone the moment of buying. If you simply cannot put it out of your mind all evening, then go back for another trying on session and then consider buying it.

buying just because it’s a brand

That jersey is cute, not really my thing but hey it is an Isabel Marant and fairly priced so why not? Well because you’ll never wear it and because you must be a brand-brat.

Fairly simple, just don’t do it. Only buy it if you seriously love it, despite the brand name inside.

falling for sales traps

I am soooo bad at this. If I see something with an 80 euro discount, I always think omg I need to buy it now. But that more often goes wrong than right. I bought a dress from Preen in the last round of sales at the Bijenkorf, which used to be 600 smackers but was reduced to 70 euro. I think I can count 1 whole time that I’ve worn it because it doesn’t really suit me.

Breathe in, breathe out, step away from the garment and think about it. Does it suit you? Is it really something for you? Is it comfortable? The danger is that you’ll think “yes but it’s only 50 euro instead of 450”, but look at it like this; you could also spend the 50 euro on white wine sitting on a heated terrace. I mean come on!

Never returning things if they don’t fit

Oh I am so guilty of this, especially with online orders. Because it’s so much effort trying to figure out how to do it. Find the return address, pack it all in again, go to the post office, man oh man what a mission. Another problem is that when I get something home to try on, I start growing attached to it during the trial time, and then don’t want to send it back. That’s why I have quite a number of items in my closet with price tags still hanging on them.

Lazy so and so; don’t be crazy and send that shit back. The whole world does it and so can you. And about that getting attached thing, don’t buy things to play with at home anymore. Decide in the store or not at all.