A great piece of shopping advice

I stumbled upon an old post about "eco" fashion in the Guardian, and it happened to include what might be some of the best shopping advice I've ever read (nothing to do with eco), so I thought I'd share:

"Do you know when you should buy a dress? When you try it on and start slightly flirting with yourself in the changing room mirror. I don’t mean full-on flirting: that would be a bit weird. I just mean that you look in the mirror and are pleased by what you see and find yourself, without thinking about what you are doing, giving a bit of a hair toss, smiling at your reflection. When that happens, you should definitely buy that dress.

But you know which dress you absolutely shouldn’t buy? The one you try on, then look in the mirror and think, this is a great dress and if I lost two kilos I’d look nice in it, I wish I hadn’t eaten cake. That dress is negging you. That dress is not your friend. Please promise me you will never, ever buy that dress."

Original article here: https://www.theguardian.com/fa.....ner-morley

4 years ago

slim cat

Veteran

So true - emotional shopping at it's best! Agree wholeheartedly. I'll read the article later too, thank you for posting.

Chris987

Great advice!

Kathie

Definitely!! Perfect clothes always bring a smile to my face. Thanks for sharing!

KikiG

My goal is to wait for the 10/10. If it isn't a 10, it is a zero. My donations are the hopeful 8s and the wistful 7s.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

NICE

fathenry

So true, the wardrobe orphans are the dresses that don't allow for any weight fluctuations, are unforgiving or too much work to wear. The winners are the ones you don't want to take off.

Anonymous

I get tripped up by the 7's, 8's and even the 9's . My mantra - and I need reminding - is not to buy anything that isn't excellent. There's so much to choose from out there, that we needn't settle for less.

Just finished reading the original article - very thoughtful and still easy read with great pictures. Love it.

Synne

Oh, love this! Thanks for sharing!

Sal

Absolutely!! We all know that feeling! My 10s I will wear even if they are too dressy or a bit out of fashion.....

And those 7s can be tricky- I have a few of them.

Yes! Unfortunately those dresses are few and far between- and some categories (ahem shorts-for me) will never be a 10!

always trying

Right on. If anything is not right exactly in the dressing room it is never going to be. Even if you loose weight it still may not be right.

Bonnie

Exactly. Great advice to shop by.

Vildy

Cartner-Morley is a favorite of mine and does a short article with photo almost every Friday. She talks about how the newest trend is different from the standard way of wearing the item and is relatable and funny.

I'll never forget how she warned of wearing a blazer in a certain way that signaled Off to a Meeting of the Disciplinary Board. Nailed it.

Janet

That’s a good piece, and it sent me a bit down the rabbit hole of reading some of her other columns. I’m a new fan.

Interesting to read some of her takes on thrift shopping, something I wish I did more successfully. I don’t know whether I’m just bad at it, or the stores near me are lacking, but I don’t have any luck with it anymore (I did when I was younger). If I see something interesting, it’s always too small or otherwise not right for me. I’ll spot a nice print or fabric, and the item ends up being a size 2 or a terrible cut. I don’t know how some of you find such great stuff!

Great advice. Thank you for posting the link.

rachylou

Fantastic advice.

I read the article and like it - she is a great writer.

My very favourite forum outfits (on Angie, myself and others) mix something new with something old..... that is where the magic happens. And the smallest tweaks sometimes don't include shopping - tucking tops, rolling sleeves etc

For people who love skinny jeans keep on wearing them but wear them with a different shoe or a new style of jacket.

Love blush and grey and not into earth tones - wear them and add some super modern earrings.

Love your fitted sheath dress - keep wearing it but try it with flats instead of heels.

Cardiff girl

How true!

Runcarla

This is a 5 star article!

Truer words...

nemosmom

Love this article! Timely... thank you!

UmmLila (Lisa)

this is great

Helena

This is a great article - thank you so much for sharing! It's a great antidote to the 'latest and greatest' pressure. I love the idea of "fallow season" - I think I purge stuff when really it just needs a fallow season (or month, or year, or 18 months) - I'll need to keep this in mind next time I get the declutter itch.

I keep re-reading it...

“Women feel they will never be good enough, that they must keep on striving for an ideal they will never achieve,” she says. “They medicate with clothes, using them to create the self they think they need to have – and when the dress doesn’t deliver they keep on disposing of clothes along the way.” In other words, there is a self-worth gap in our culture, and clothes dumped as landfill is the consequence.

Ugh, that hits home

Marilyn

Great read! Thanks for the share.

Windchime

Yes, that’s a great description of the kind of emotional reaction we should have toward our 10’s. If I can’t wait to wear an item, that’s a good indicator that it and I have a happy future together.

Jaime

Great article and wonderful description of finding a keeper. For Janet and others intersted in second hand but feeling frustrated I think you should peruse theRealReal or Poshmark. Easy to sort by size and label and there are real finds to be found.

RobinF

This made me chuckle, my clothes nagging me. So true.

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