It's amazing how hard it is to break old habits. I'm really struggling to stop buying things that do not fit my goals. It's a variation on "falling in love with items that don't fit your wardrobe" that I posted a while ago.

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....r-wardrobe

Here's the story. Have any of you been through this and do you have any suggestions for dealing with this? I know, it's a first world problem, but I think it may be a metaphor for something else so I'm putting some focus on it.

I was in a mall. I wanted basic solid colored t-shirts to wear at home this summer. <FULL STOP NEEDED> I went into Talbots and immediately focused on how well their clothes fit me, the good quality, and the huge sale. I looked at t-shirts and focused on which styles and colors I liked. I brought home 4 different colors, in 2 styles, and one white duplicate. I thought the styles were a little nicer than "basic", good quality and not sheer. The finds below show the exact items.

The next day I had a huge case of buyer's remorse. It took me 48 hours to figure out why. During that time I was obsessing off and on about 5 t-shirts (including creating finds for them) instead of doing more interesting and useful things in my life

The issue is that these tops do NOT meet my wardrobe goals. I should have stopped at <FULL STOP> above!! I'm going to write the goals again and maybe eventually "light will dawn over Marblehead." (A little self-deprecating humor based on the east-facing MA coastal town of Marblehead. I can't claim credit for it but it's one of my favorites.)

1) do not buy any more summer clothing that will be worn primarily at home, in my old casual style. I have plenty, and have an inventory spreadsheet to prove it. It's not a good use of my time or $$, and it's a backward step on meeting my style goals.

2) when I do buy new things, make sure they fill a real wardrobe hole. These tops did NOT fit a wardrobe hoe

3) make sure new things are SMART casual, not REGULAR casual. These tops are regular casual, not smart, which is a transition with which I seem to be having difficulty.

I do need to give myself credit in a few categories; I did choose well on fit, quality, color, and value.

I will be returning all five. It will be another opportunity to practice NOT doing this again while I'm in the mall.