Every year, at the end of the Summer, I decide to stop spending masses of money in high street shops and start investing in designer items. For some reason, I fail every year. No matter how many lists I make with exactly what I need for the Fall and Winter, I always end up tripping and impulse buying the whole of Primark, 50% of H&M and 25% of Zara. And this, my friends, is not cool. Fast Fashion is dangerous. Very dangerous. It looks like High Fashion, it costs less than High Fashion, it is easily accessible BUT... it never lasts and unlike vintage garments, it doesn't sell when second hand either.
So how do I stick to this new fashion motto and stop myself from buying quick fix fashion?
❤ Quite simply, I try to stay away from the high street. If I feel a sudden urge to shop, I turn to Craft Fashion, or to vintage stores. At least, there is no risk of impulse buying in there, as it can be a real challenge to find the nice vintage piece you lust after.
❤ I go to department stores and LOOK very closely at all the designer items I'd like. I actually inspect the seams, feel the fabrics, try them on and admire the perfect cuts. Then I go and do the same in High Street shops. BOOM. Instant turn off.
❤ I do the math. Generally I buy about 4/5 new things a month. So I spend an average of £150 on clothes every month. Not enough to buy a Luella dress, indeed. BUT... hold off the crazy spree for a month AND THEN, the dress is mine. With a good conscience of having saved to buy something as well.
❤ If I really can't resist the urge, the dreaded call of the shops, I go for a walk. When I come back, I just have a quick look through my wardrobe to search for items I had forgotten that I could give a new life to (just today, I brought 3 pairs of shoes to be repaired - just like having 3 new pairs!)
❤ I try to think of the future, when Mila will be going through my old clothes searching for hidden gems, like I did in my mum's wardrobe. The High Street clothes won't last, High Fashion ones will.
This year, I PROMISE I will try. And if I can't resist, I will raid my local charity shop. No High Street for this cat this time!
How do you deal with impulse buying?
xxx
Reading list -
this article from the Guardian
this one from the BBC Blast website
Read this too from the Counterfeit Chic blog
and this from the Independant
I stopped impulse buying when I started working for a fairtrade fashion company and now even looking in a high street fashion store creates a pang of guilt.
ReplyDeleteShop vintage and shop wisely, is generally what I try to remind myself.
Also thinking 'do i really need it?'
brilliantly timed advice by the way! I'm getting fashion cravings...
❤ Sapphire Island - That's interesting... Which company do you work for? I'd quite like to talk to you about this to do a little focus on fairtrade fashion houses.
ReplyDeletex
GOOD INFO
ReplyDeleteooh, sounds exciting! i work for People Tree and they are doing what I want all fairtrade fashion to do which is become more fashionable, otherwise what's the point?
ReplyDeletedrop me an email if you like, sapphirelewis@hotmail.com. I'd be happy to help!
x
This has been my motto especially with shoes. My coworkers balk at what I spend on a pair of shoes (typically around $80-100 USD), but I always buy higher end brands on sale or save up when I can. I spend less time bitching about my feet hurting than they do, my shoes last long (and I'm hard on my shoes, so that does matter), and I'm not complaining every few weeks how I "Need New Shoes."
ReplyDeleteIt's hard not to want to fall in to buying Payless shoes or ones from Target, but when I feel the fabric on them or try them on.. they're just not comfortable.
thank you thank you thank you MR for this wonderful post! Just want i needed, since i'm going on a weekend trip to Hong Kong! Whenever I there, I just buy for the sake of buying and I end up with loads of unnecessary stuff! I'll try out your Fashion Mottos and maybe invest in a few quality items this time?! xxx :)
ReplyDeleteHi! Been reading for about a week but have yet to comment. I love your style :)
ReplyDeleteI've made a couple of mistakes from impulse buying, but I generally follow some of the guidelines that you wrote. I make clothes, along with jewelry, so the seams are the first thing I check. If it looks slapped together on the inside I generally wont buy. It's hard though, I usually leave the store to think about it, and because I'm lazy, lol, I wont go back. It's saved me A LOT of money!