How to shop smarter and have less overwhelm
You know how you’re not supposed to go to the grocery hungry, lest you end up with a cartful of Ben & Jerry’s and nothing to make for dinner? I’m here to tell you: Never shop for clothes bored/stressed/time crunched. At this point you're prooobably thinking, “But Daniella, THOSE ARE LITERALLY THE ONLY TIMES I SHOP.”
First, please stop yelling at me. Second, those emotions are exactly why you need to keep a closet wishlist. Whether you typically shop under deadline (e.g. Ughhh that wedding is tomorrow and all my dresses look like they're from 1892) or under stress (e.g. Ughhh it's been a rough day. I deserve a treat), a thoughtfully kept wishlist can save you some serious stress and buyer's remorse.
The 30 Wear Rule
While putting together your wishlist, keep in mind the 30 Wear Rule. This rule, coined by sustainability consultant and producer of the fast-fashion documentary The True Cost, Lucy Siegle, is the idea that anything that comes into our closet should last at least 30 wears.
It makes us stop before each purchase and ask ourselves, Do I really need this piece of clothing? Will I wear it a minimum of 30 times? Will it even last 30 wears?
It makes us slow down our rate of consumption and buys us some time to think about what our true need is. PS by the way, it’s pretty hard to determine what your closet is truly missing until you make a plan. As my Eagle Scout husband says, failing to plan is planning to fail. Or, more accurately, failing to plan is planning to accidentally spend $100 at H&M on crap you don’t need.
SO LET’S MAKE AN AMAZING FAIL-PROOF PLAN. OK? Ok :)
Clean. Out. Your. Freaking. Closet. When you finished your closet detox you should have started to identify some key pieces that are missing from your wardrobe. (Wait, you did this right?? Go sign up for my free mini course #TheFoxDetox not now but right now.) And in this process, you might have discovered that you literally hate all your sweaters because all your sweaters are crewneck or turtleneck but you are pretty petite so you should be elongating yourself with V-necks and scoop necks instead of turtlenecks so now you have nothing to wear in the winter. THEREFORE and in conclusion, you now know that V-neck and scoop neck sweaters are prime candidates for your shopping list. Boom.
Define your style. When you don’t have a grasp on your personal style, how easy is it to wander into a Forever 21 and, in some sort of chaos-and-rayon-induced haze, walk out with a bag full of clothes you might wear twice? SO FREAKING EASY. When you don’t know your own style, you trust what’s on the mannequin or the models. But what you see in the windows and in the ads isn’t what’s necessarily right for you. But you’ll never know that until you are armed with the confidence that can only come from owning your style. Luckily, I wrote a blog post to help you do just that.
Make a Pinterest board and name it something amazingly motivating. Whenever I find something online that I want to buy like right this second, I pin it instead (follow me for my personal inspiration!). This does several things. One, it mitigates my impulse to hit the purchase button and, like I said about the 30 wear rule, buys me time to think. This is the most important benefit. Two, it’s a ridiculously easy way to keep your wishlist in one place AND with visuals. So when you do save up or find some extra cash, you can go straight to your Pinterest board. Three, it becomes your go-to around birthdays and holidays when you have no idea what to tell people when they ask what you want (this is a serious problem of mine!!!).
Now, get your own shopping list! I hope it helps you shop with more intention and less overwhelm and fills your closet only with what brings you joy.