Your Most Valuable Fashion/Style Lesson of 2016 - YouLookFab Forum

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Your Most Valuable Fashion/Style Lesson of 2016

gradfashionista

(website)

Veteran

What was the most important lesson you learned from any fashion/style mistakes in 2016?

Mine was that if I buy clothes in-store, they are more likely to turn into orphan or neglected items than if I purchase online. I really need the luxury of time in deciding whether to keep an item, and I need to try it on at home. Keeping the item for a few days allows some of the excitement to wear off, and enables me to make a more informed decision.

General

47 replies

Latest reply was from Jane

Joy

Veteran

My biggest lesson is one that needed reinforcing. Stay away from sales as I get a bad case of sales goggles. Save for what I really want and not to settle for place holders.
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Joyce B

Veteran

I am like you, I also need to sit with them at home for a little bit so I can see if they work or not.
My most important lesson of 2016 was not to waste my money and to wear what I have before buying more.

Aziraphale

Veteran

My most important lesson wasn't so much a mistake as something I learned by accident: my wardrobe functions better with Doc Martens.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Just because I love it on others does not mean I'll ever love it on myself, and I should trust previous fails. Tunics-with-leggings are never going to work on me, or at least for me. Period.

Greyscale

Veteran

I think my biggest lesson was to avoid consignment stores at this point in my style journey. Now that I know what I want, I rarely find true winners. Of course there have been huge exceptions (my first two pairs of R13 jeans, starting a years-long obsession). But there are so many things I bought only to re-donate immediately.

MovingFashionForward

More a shopping lesson than a style lesson, but the lesson I have finally learnt in 2016 is that because I am so particular about colours and quality (fabric, the leather if it is shoes, etc) ordering online without having seen and tried on the item in a shop is a very bad idea. Colours, quality and fit can so often be a great disappointment when ordering online. So no more for me!

Sarah

cindysmith

Veteran

I'm learning that the items I order online are the ones that work, and that I wind up loving. The stuff I buy in stores is hit or miss, and at least half of it winds up in the donate bin. I'm hoping to stick to a small list of items on a wish list this year, and really up my accessories game by ordering some unique pieces through etsy.

Anonymous

There's that expression when you dish out more food than you can eat, that your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Well, I learned that my eyes are bigger than my closet. I love to shop but I'm happier (and better dressed) with a smaller wardrobe.

Style Fan

Veteran

I learnt the importance of having a plan. I have not done a lot of online shopping but I find B & M shopping is much more successful. Unless I buy an Angie top pick.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I am actually happier with a little more, and I need to learn how to organize better.

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

If I'm not excited enough to wear something in the first three days after I've bought it, I should return it.

Bonnie

Veteran

My wardrobe is sorted by item type and when I look in my closet, I think I have nothing to wear and I need to go shopping. But when I look at the photos of outfits I've put together with what I have in my closet, I find that I have lots to wear.

Penny

Veteran

Fun thread! My lesson - learned after months in a small capsule of maternity dresses that took some time to assemble - is that I'm happiest with a relatively narrow set of clothes in classic silhouettes and solid colors that I can dress up or down with accessories and footwear. That is, I'll aim to hold out for, say, a basic navy wrap dress that I can wear for almost any occasion rather than spring for a formal patterned dress with limited versatility.

shedev

Veteran

Less is more. Or hold out what I really want even when it is the more expensive option and means passing on something else.

DonnaF

Veteran

Be more discerning about the scarves, jewelry, and footwear I keep. I have a lot. A LOT. Especially after you add in the jewelry and scarves I inherited from my mother. But I probably wear only 20% about 80% of the time. Same with footwear. Clogs are about the only thing I can wear all day without being in pain later in bed. I don't really want to give up the rest because clogs are well, clogs.

But I know I need to think long and hard about what scarves, jewelry, and footwear stay and get their tags cut. Like the two scarves that are to be delivered later this week.

BrieN

Veteran

In 2016, my first year on YLF, I learned that I do best when I think in "outfits" and not capsules. Outfit shopping keeps me very focused and I'm happier with the result. If I try to shop for a capsule, I end up with very non-descript things that "go with everything" and somehow I don't have anything to wear. I think it's because I don't make decisions easily, and therefore get overwhelmed.

That said, often something purchased with an exact function in one outfit will go nicely with something from another outfit, but that's just an unintended outcome of having a fairly cohesive color palette.

rachylou

Veteran

I learned better timing, for when seasonal things arrive on the sales floor. I spent a lot less time this year stalking the new season

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

My second hand shopping skills are in a constant state of refinement. This year I think I came to understand better how to a look at a garment apart from the label and what a designer label does or does not tell me.

Gigi

Veteran

I learned that to expand my style and not just buy more of the same, I really need to sit down and plan before I shop--what items will really make a difference in my wardrobe? And then I stick to that list, even if I see other cute things that I would otherwise buy.

Emily K

(website)

Veteran

I learned (ahem....am learning...) not to buy items for the same wardrobe niche. There are some things I just love--like black or black+pattern d'orsay flats or slides and I just keep buying every pretty one that comes along. They steal wears from each other and only one can be my very, very favorite anyway.

Sisi

Veteran

Avoid emergency purchases. But I know I will make this mistake again and again ... The emergency purchase is a trap from which it is impossible to escape.

Anonymous

Shop for my climate. If I shop for my climate, there are entire categories (coats, heavy sweaters, flannel, boots) that I need not shop or buy because I will never wear them (at least not more than once or twice). The boots were a surprise. I love the look of Uggs. I bought not one pair, but two. They are so warm (bordering on hot, hot, hot). I haven't worn the first pair (black); I make myself wear the second pair (grey). Yet I see them everywhere. I do see people in my city wearing them.

merwoman

Veteran

These little nuggets of wisdom are wonderful to read.
I have a hard time being patient for the 'perfect' item, and perhaps just as important, how to know when I've found 'the one'.
So my lesson has been,to ask myself the following question: if I buy this, will I stop seaching for various iterations of the same item?
I am also guilty of buying items similar to what I already have. Again, another question: is there something I will stop wearing in order to wear the new purchase?
I feel I am getting better at resisting impulse purchase, but sadly the Canadian retail economy is having to suffer

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I'm a quick study in many ways, but I can be slow to adopt new habits. 2016 was a year of slipping up in many ways -- my workout routine suffered and my weight went up as a result. I'm dealing with the aftermath of that now and trying to get back on track. It was a year that got consumed by a lot of stuff I didn't anticipate (for one: cleaning up a rental house vacated after 15 years and then deciding to sell it, resulting in more work). It hit home to me last year that my hardest working wardrobe items are CASUAL. Even with the house project done (but renovations planned on our home this year), my life is messy, unpredictable, and active. My shopping habits need to better reflect my needs. No more dressy skirts. No more blazers (I have four and they are rarely worn). No more high heels that I can't stand for more than a couple of hours.

Part of me *wants* another pair of beautiful embellished booties or another long jacket, but the truth is I have to work to find reasons to wear the nice things I already have. Pretty much any event or occasion that might pop up in my life, I can pull together an outfit from what I have in my closet.

So it hit home to me last year how much I don't want to rely on shopping for entertainment. I'm tired of closet churn, of taking bags to the Goodwill every so often. A couple of years ago, I got pretty good at "one-in, one-out" but now when things go, I don't want to fill those empty hangers so much. I like having plenty of choice in my wardrobe, but there is such a thing as having too much of a good thing.

Anonymous

Actually I take my earlier one back, I learned a more important lesson about authenticity last year. I always feel like I have to dress in a certain way for certain occasions (like if I go to a concert, I have to dress "cool," even though that's not my usual style). Of course I end up feeling really uncomfortable and even more self-conscious. Last year I had a milestone class reunion. I agonized about what to wear. I tried on all kinds of stuff I don't normally consider, like jumpsuits and maxi dresses. I ended up spending far too much on a new dress and accessories. I went to the reunion and... people looked like themselves. My alternative friends were wearing Chucks with their dresses. The women who always dressed to the nines were dressed to the nines. Others were in jeans or slacks. And no one cared. Or actually, it was so much better than if we all put on what we thought a generic person "should" wear to such an event.

So that was a lesson learned far too late for me, but it landed pretty firmly, and now I'm officially over this idea of putting on a "fashionable woman" costume instead of dressing like myself.

Gail

Veteran

Shop for the life I lead ! I rarely need dressy clothes and dressy shoes. I also need to shop for comfort, I've purchased way too many things that look good but then are totally uncomfortable after an hour of wearing.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

I think mostly I learned to relax and enjoy my clothes. I have a decent handle on what I like at this point (for my lifestyle) and have a good selection of things in my favorite colors - neutrals are a big part of that. I learned that sorting my closet by color is my best option as that's how I usually choose what I want to wear on a given day. I also learned that I need to routinely check my closet for things I may have forgotten about so I will wear them - it's not the largest space and lighting is less than optimal so I may change that this year if possible.

LaPed

Veteran

1. That I don't like tight pants, even if they fit. I'm happiest when my pants have some slouch and volume.

2. That solid colored garments (especially tops) aren't inherently boring. Solid colors can be versatile and add interest. I paid a lot more attention to texture than to patterns/prints in 2016.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Well the biggest lesson was to read 2 websites and learn! You Look Fab, of course, and also Recovering Shopaholic. Hours of reading and of insight. One example- "splitting my wears". Why did I always buy things that were essentially the same? My fave black Capri pants from 2014 have just died, got those tiny loose bits of elastane coming through on the black, so annoying as still good otherwise but it looks really bad so out they've gone. So now wearing the 2012 black Capri pants which are still fine. But honestly, why had I bought the 2014 ones in the first place? They were on sale, doh! They are so similar that no-one but me could have told they were different I reckon. These insights have all helped slow the pace of my shopping. Thank you all!

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