The Two-Second Rule - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

The Two-Second Rule

Summer

Veteran

Angie's post, yesterday, on organised emotional shopping really struck a chord with me. I think I have a reasonable balance between head and heart, but I would like to have more memorable pieces in my wardrobe to supplement the "support acts".

Now, I realize that those great "know-it-when-you -see-it " items don't come along every day, but I would like to get, at least, close to perfect at other times. So I've imposed a new rule to apply when I'm about to make a purchase: The Two-Second Rule: From now on, every time I try something on, I am going to decide immediately whether or not it is right. If I don't love it (or, at least, really like it) it's going straight back on the rack. No more standing there with my head on one side trying to talk myself into making it work. No more turning this way and that trying to convince myself - it's going back!

Of course, if some minor alterations will make my new love-interest even better, then that's fine; but I won't consider altering something in the vain hope of turning a frog into a prince.

I'm sure many of you will be laughing behind your screens by now, because, after all, " doesn't everyone do that?" Well, no, it has taken me several decades to reach this light-bulb moment, but not to worry!

I'd love to know if any of you have had a similar epiphany. Do you have other decision-making strategies to share?.

General

22 replies

Latest reply was from Summer

shipskitty

Veteran

I think I know where you are coming from. But I wonder what it is about this new rule that will change things? Do you feel you have been settling for something that is ok and have stopped looking too early?

If not then do you also have to look for pieces that might be slightly outside your comfort zone (e.g. Angie's 'wildcard' items)? Or is it that you have passed some items up in the past that you loved but felt you couldn't justify or weren't 'practical' enough?

I might be completely off base though. If so feel free to ignore me

Mona

Veteran

Great insight. The two second rule would not work for me at all. I take a lot of time before making my final decision. It has to feel right to both my mind and my heart. Every once in a while, something comes along and as soon as I try it on, I fall in love with the item but it happens rarely. I also start thinking if the item will fit in my wardrobe, what other items will go with it and etc.

crutcher

Veteran

That is my current philosophy...If I don't fall in love immediately, I will not be saying.."Well..I could.... or I could...or maybe...No Lucy, if I don't want to run out of the store and hope to encounter my former boyfriend who dumped me...then no go for that one and move on to the next...I hear you and raise you...Great idea...

trekkiegirl

Veteran

I used to fall too fast too easily, so I'm at the complete opposite end of the spectrum: Working on taking more time to evaluate items before making a decision lol

Anonymous

I too am one of those people that has to be take some time to make the final decision. I'm not saying taking time to "make" something work, I mean bring it home, try it on with clothes already in my closet. Sit in it. Stand in it.

I am not opposed to falling in love though. If I see something in the store that "says my name." I bring it home immediately. Those things have always been successes. I never regretted them, but those pieces seem to be rare. Perhaps that is why it is so easy to decide to buy them within 2 seconds or less. It is the pieces that agonize over that tend to be failures.

Helena

Veteran

That's an excellent insight ... "if in doubt, leave it out!!" (ok I was stretching for a rhyme there ... too much time with kids already today )

approprio

(website)

Veteran

I do this. I call it The Jolt. Anything that doesn't provoke it rarely gets a second glance.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I think it depends on each person and what our tendencies are. Do we tend to talk ourselves into something or out of it? Our mindset going into the dressing room is part of this equation, so I really can't impose a two-second rule on myself.

For instance, sometimes I am enamored at first glance, and then as I look longer, I become more critical. I fall in love with colors and patterns and unusual cuts, and sometimes my first glance in the mirror overlooks how the item actually looks ON ME.

Other times I've been overly critical at first glance, but the item grows on me as I envision how it can play with other items in my wardrobe, or how it can stretch my style in an unexpected way.

I definitely seek for a balance of head and heart in my shopping habits, and a rushed fitting room experience doesn't contribute to that *for me.* If it works for you, that's awesome!

Anonymous

I am following this with interest. I wish I had a good decision-making strategy, but alas. Lately I have been in a buy and return cycle, that I can't seem to get out of. I am keeping track of everything I buy, keep and return since beginning of this month. I hope to see a pattern that will help me in making good decisions instore....

Susie

Veteran

I understand that feeling. If something isn't love at first sight, I might go through a mental exercise, "well, it would work with this; I could use this for whatever...."

I'm not sure that 2 seconds is enough to decide that something is right and should come home with me, but it IS enough to decide that it's NOT right.

Joyce B

Veteran

Sounds good to me, I will consider that as well.

Author Linda

Veteran

My strategy can be summed up as The Fit and Grin. I've gotten pretty quick at it --my husband says I "shop like a man," whatever that means-- but I never timed it. I put something on and take note of the fit. If it doesn't feel good, off it comes and back it goes. If it fits, I take a look in the mirror and if I get a big silly grin on my face, do some turns and twists and basically high five myself, that means it's a keeper. Any other response is a no go. Sometimes an item is Perfect, with a capital P, but I can't justify the expense.

Experience has taught me to pass on items that don't get the big silly grin.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Your strategy is a good starting point.

Summer

Veteran

I really appreciate your comments, Ladies. Thank you.

Shipskitty - I think It might be that I have just settled in the past. I'm aiming to avoid those so-so items, the type my mother would have referred to as "quite nice, Dear"! I definitely know when something is wrong, but want to use my gut feeling for what is right
.
Mona , Sterling, Susie - I agree, it's worth taking time to evaluate. I will still do this after I've made that first intuitive decision, trying with other items at home, for instance , but I will need to like/love it enough in the first place.

crutcher , torontogirl, JoyceB - Nice to know you feel the same.

tr3kkie - It' a real balancing act, isn't it?

approprio - The Jolt is a good term for it.

Janet - You're right, it's possible to fall out of love, too. If that's the case, it will go back later. And IKWYM about something growing on you, too. An item like that might make the cut.

Jessicaknows - the buy/return cycle can seem never-ending, can't it?

Author Linda - I love "the big silly grin" What a great way to sum it up! Having to pass because of the expense is so frustrating. I look at the price-tag first.

Angie - But not the one I'd use?

unfrumped

Veteran

I like your approach but I'm also in Janet's camp.

I am very drawn in by color. I swear I might consider wearing a tablecloth in the right color. So I'll flutter over like a butterfly and then have to say, it's a great color but the fit is off, it's itchy, it sheds or whatever. I end up taking more than 2 seconds for that!

But as you said, I can identify several items that were just immediately great and that have stood the test of time.

So, I like the idea of getting more in tune with the 2-second wowser effect and having more patience in awaiting those moments rather than just adding more "okay" items. I think that is easier with a reasonably functioning wardrobe than if one is really building from a low point and feeling not many things to wear.

The sticky point is that there's the perfection pressure to become dissatisfied with "okay" items and upgrade to "love". The trick is that those items may not appear very often and so I need to be realistic for some items, true "needs" but not get rushed into adding the next new but still not-wow item when it's not even necessary. These are Angie's true PPP criteria, which do not include "perfect".

Dee

Veteran

I am a big fan of this. If I love an item as soon as I try it on, there is a good chance it'll become a favorite/workhorse for me. If I debate and talk myself into it, it sometimes turns out fine, but I find those pieces are more likely to end up in the orphans pile.

gradfashionista

(website)

Veteran

Your rule reminds me of Kondo's advice about sparking joy, which struck me as an immediate or intuitive response. I don't think that rule would work for me because the more expensive an item is, the more I expect out of it, whereas if it's cheap, I might settle for just flattering enough. It takes me time to quantify how much I like something.

rachylou

Veteran

That would be a good rule for me, if I could commit. I am definitely of the make-it-work mindset.

kkards

Veteran

i'm actually thinking about going the other direction.....walking away and then do i love it enough to go back for it.

Windchime

Veteran

I think too slowly for a two-second rule, unless the fit is bad, and then I only need half a second!

Maybe it's where I am in my fashion education process, but I sometimes bring things home while still unsure and only later fall in love with the item. Occasionally I am smitten with something right away, but more often I need to try it with other pieces in my closet before I'm excited about it. And I have erred more than once on the side of leaving something in the store that I should have bought.

Generally, if I have to talk myself into buying an item, it's a mistake.

Marilyn

Veteran

I generally know right away when I try something in the fitting room if it's coming home or not. But, I need a step two and that is to try it at home with other items I already have. Sometimes what looks great in the fitting room doesn't work as well in reality.

Summer

Veteran

Thank you for your very thoughtful replies, everyone.