They were cute oh so cute! But I put my foot in them and they hurt. I didn’t get much wear out of those little shoes or the other cheap ones that I have bought over the years. After getting sick of having handbags wear out before I had even gotten a decent amount of use out of them I started researching my larger purchases. (I have a ton of you-tubers and bloggers to thank for their product reviews.) Buying clothing became a little bit of a study for a while more than random shopping trips. Learning about the brands I was purchasing from and checking their quality. It should be that when you buy a brand name you know you are getting a certain standard of quality. This is not true of all brands. It took a while to find the brands that were not only good quality but were also styles that I wanted to wear and styles that matched my lifestyle. In my process I tried Minimalism out.
Minimalist Wardrobe (Great for Building your collection)
If you are going to buy quality over quantity you will soon learn that quality cost. So do I go with the $300 dollar boots or the $45 boots in black, brown and gray. I’m going with the one pair because I am paying for quality. True with the $45 dollar ones I get more color options but I don’t get the quality that I wanted. So that meant going with a more basic wardrobe. That is when I discovered minimalism in my clothing. Basically living with the basics in your wardrobe. But I didn’t keep my wardrobe or my life style like this, I used it to get rid of things that I was not using. I sold a lot of stuff and other things I just donated to charity. I spent some time finding what worked for me. I would also like to point out that high price tags do not always equal better craftsmanship, sometime you are just paying for the brand name. This is why I had to research.
Even though i love being all practical and basic most of the time I also discovered I did still want to wear other colors and clothing every once in a while.. (and I do mean once in a while, most of the time all black is my happy zone.) I started incorporating things with colors (I’m not big on prints) , as long as it was something I really wanted and something that gave my mind warmth and my soul the feelings of comfort I bought it. I had learned how to shop with the minimalist principles of buying quality. I also took advantage of holding items in an online shopping cart or adding things to a wish list. Latter I would ask myself, did I still want that item a week latter? Did I want it a month later? What I found o u t by shopping this way was there were so many things I thought I wanted that I really didn’t. For the most part I don’t buy clothing because it is a trending item. I ask myself, “If tomorrow I wake up and this item of clothing is not in style will I still love it and want to wear it for the next few years or more? “ If I can’t say yes I have to tell myself don’t buy it because I’m buying a fad and not something I would really love for years to come. Now I have to tell you I don’t follow any of these rules perfectly all the time, in fact I learned that trying to make these things die hard rules does not work well. Instead they are guidelines to help you achieve a wardrobe that you will love for many years.
One of the other reasons I want items with a long life is to cut down on my own personal green footprint. If I buy lets say a poorly made dress. I can only get a few wears out of it before it starts to not look right, maybe it shrinks or fades. I can’t wear it, I can’t give it away or sell it. When I buy something I ask myself, “If I should outgrow this item, can I give it to someone and it still be in good condition? This type of shopping cuts down on the amount of items that end up in land fills.
If you have had an experience learning how to become a smarter consumer I would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment.
Planning your shopping like a pro.
Sarvatah LLC 