Talking Myself Down

While I still have much to learn when it comes to saying “NO” to buying whatever amazing clothing is dangling in front of me at the moment (which is really why this blog exists in the first place), lately I have been exercising tremendous restraint and I’d like to offer my entirely unprofessional two-cents worth. Please try these at home. And if they don’t work, well, then you are really no worse off, right? Because you were going to buy it anyway.

Method a:
Imagine that you buy it and you’ve brought it home and it’s the next day and you want to wear it out. What do you pair it with? I specifically think of shoes at this point (unless of course, the purchase IS shoes and then you should BUY BUY BUY), and try to imagine if I can comfortably allocate a pair to this particular item. If I can allocate several, I’m on the path to purchase. If I’m pondering buying a purple and beige dress (like I am this very moment), that’s another story. I’m leaning towards no since I don’t want to wear black with it and I don’t have any decent beige shoes that I can wear for a long haul. Get my drift? It’s in there somewhere.

Method b:
You like it…is it because you already have something pretty close to it? And by pretty close, I mean if you are thinking about a black cardigan – do you have one in a similar style (regardless of the accent, design, fabric). Would you wear this piece with different items than the other one you have? Does if fill a wardrobe gap (however small)? It should – don’t just add substitute items – not worth the money! Which leads me to…

Method c:
Is it really worth the money? Now, this question is kind of invalid when buying designer items because, well, of course the answer is usually no. (I’m not immune to it though!) But even then…ask the questions in a and b but if you are passionate about the piece and its pricey AND designer (and if it is truly amazing, it likely is) and you’ll think about it for months (years?) after and wish you would have bought and it won’t make you destitute, buy it!! Um…I’m off track now. Maybe that leads me to…

Method? d:
Buy items that you are passionate about. Seriously. I’m talking about the moment you see it you are like, “!!!” It happens to me everyone once in a while. And TRY THINGS ON! But that doesn’t work so well if you are buying online…which I do all the time (as evidenced by the material in this blog.) If you can’t try it on, at least try to be familiar with the designer and know your size – go to a store and try the clothes on, take note, and then leave. Or guess. That sometimes works for me too. And sometimes not, as substantiated by the giant Y-3 dress hanging in my closet. Boo.

So there you have it – my jumbled, incoherent plea in attempting to save you some money. Did it work? I’m guessing not since you are here reading this blog and not shopping right now. So…yeah.

And what good is a blog without pictures? Here’s a few more (entirely unrelated) pretty pictures by the amazing Tim Walker.







Happy Wednesday!