As I went through every single article of clothing I owned these last few months, right down to every pair of socks, I took notes on common themes that destined some articles to be stayed from execution and others to be bagged up for charitable donation.
The "if you haven't worn it for two years, get rid of it" rule probably would have helped me speed through this editing process, but I wanted to do it more thoughtfully and learn from my previous mistakes.
Here's what I learned I should not do when buying clothes in the future:
1. Never buy anything simply because it's on sale and crazily discounted.
2. Never buy anything without trying it on. If it's mail order and it doesn't fit, send it back immediately for exchange or refund.
3. Don't buy multiples of identical or nearly similar items. How many pairs of tailored black pants do I really need? I'm not a waiter and I don't play in a symphony orchestra.
4. Clothes that must be dry cleaned, with the exception of lined, tailored suits, are a NO. I don't wear dry clean only clothes because I know I will have to find the time to take them to the dry cleaners, pick them up, and pay for the cleaning.
5. I will not iron. That's the sad truth. So I cannot buy machine washable clothing that must be ironed. That means button-down shirts and summer linen are a "no" for me, personally.
6. I will never feel comfortable wearing anything with an Empire waistline, or an even lightly raised waistline. It's probably because that silhouette reminds me of maternity dresses. So they're a NO for me.
7. Short sleeves never work out for me. My sleeves either need to be long or non-existent. Anything in between ends up in the donation bag.
8. I will not wear long skirts, so I can't buy anything longer than knee-length. I'm only 5'4" tall, so this means I probably need to buy petites and pass on anything meant to be midi-length on a model. And now I know that I will not wear a skirt shorter than 18 inches, no matter how much I love minis. They're just too, well, anxiety producing for comfort.
9. I will not wear anything poofy or girly. Any kind of full-skirted silhouette is a NO for me.
10. I should never buy this season's "fashion color" unless it's one of the colors I already wear because I look good in it.
11. No gold buttons. They look old.
12. No elastic waistbands. Elastic anywhere is probably a bad idea.
Here's what I learned I SHOULD remember in the future when buying clothes:
1. Stay with body-conscious cuts like wrap dresses and faux wrap dresses. The classic Diane Von Furstenburg wrap dress is still the very best silhouette for me. Some blouson cuts, if tight in the hips, also work for me. Tailored suits work on me.
2. Keep the hems knee-length or slightly above.
3. Buy high end classic items on sale. None of the high quality, lined pencil skirts I bought on sale ended up on the chopping block, nor the cashmere cardigans.
4. Dresses work out better for me than separates. I don't like spending time coordinating three pieces. That's probably why I don't often wear pants.
5. The wildest pieces, the unique ones, the crazy ones, are the pieces in my closet that I love most and wear the most often. It's the conservative pieces that don't get much play. So for me, a pair of leopard high heels is not an irrational decision; a pair of simple black pumps? Perhaps not a good decision. Brightly colored clashing prints Desigual dress? Yes! Audrey Hepburn little black dress? Not so much.
6. Cheap, disposable clothes are a bad idea for me. I need to stay out of H&M, Forever 21, Old Navy and Target. File under "Easy come, easy go." I tend to buy t-shirts, tanks, racerbacks, etc., at the cheap stores. I need to buy that stuff at American Apparel and J. Crew because their colors are great and their stuff lasts for years. I kept racerback tanks that are a decade old in this cull.
7. Crazy shoes with high heels, platforms, booties get a lot of play since I tend toward really minimal, body-conscious cuts with my clothes. Trendy shoes are not a mistake for me. I actually wear them! It's the sensible shoes I don't wear.
8. Uniform patterns work for me: small polka dots, precise stripes. Mushy prints, particularly florals, don't. And I seem to love paisley. Nothing paisley got edited.
9. Ethnic prints (batik, ikat) work for me.
10. Small cross-body purses and hobo shoulder bags work for me. Handbags do not.
I wrote all my "no" rules down and from here on out, I'm not buying anything on the "don't do it" list. No matter how tempting it is and no matter how steep the mark-down, I'm not buying it. And if it doesn't appear on my "essentials" lists, I'm going to resist the impulse to buy it, unless it's planned obsolescence/replacement.
No comments:
Post a Comment