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Buy what you like or what looks good?

rachylou

Veteran

Ok. I owe y'all some pics of my puffy possibilities... and Una for providing one! But I'm a disaster. (You are so patient, Una, thank you!)

Right this moment, I have run out of dog food and snackies. So am squeezing a dog store run in before work. Of course, while I don't have time to do dishes, this somehow doesn't mean I couldn't pop into Ross next to the pet shop and buy this medium small lightweight crossbody. My Target one has died, and while I'm not a purse person, a schlep-around errand bag comes in handy a few times a week...

Anyways, where I'm going with this is, there was a black/white buffalo check one I really loved in and of itself. I actually saw it first, because I like that sort of thing. It caught my eye. But I bought this one because I thought it would look better. There was something draining about the bag I liked. Am hoping the little flowers won't discourage me from actually using it.

My question is, do y'all think it's better to go with what looks good and fits in with overall scheme, or do you go with the love of an item in isolation?

Ok. Running off to work now... back at break

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Shopping

35 replies

Latest reply was from jill58

Staysfit

Veteran

Hmm, are the two mutually exclusive? My goal is to find items that have both qualities. I clearly fall far from the mark, but it's an ideal to strive for. In its absence, I have to like an item, or I will never wear it. It will sit unused in my closet.

Traci

Veteran

I struggle with this. I've learned just because I love one item over another on it's own doesn't necessarily mean I'll love it the best as a part of my whole wardrobe. Sometimes the flash that draws me to the item is the exact thing that makes it stand out garishly in an outfit. Other times I wonder if I just like punishing myself by always taking the second best over the one that makes me swoon.

One example of this for me is in dresses. I'm so bored by the idea of little black dresses, I always want to buy the one in color. But I've learned that I really like the outfits I can put together over the base layer of a simple black dress. On it's own a black dress is just the most boring thing ever to me, but as a backdrop it can be just the perfect thing. I have to remind myself of that when I shop for boring layers.

Thistle

Veteran

I buy what fits and is practical for my lief and climate . . .

catgirl

Veteran

I'm at the point where it has to be both - isn't that what personal style is about?

So what did you decide on the puffy?

RobinF

Veteran

Interesting question! I would like to think both, but I have actually bought things I loved that didn't work with my lifestyle or existing wardrobe, or I felt like it didn't look very good on me and, as much as I loved it, it didn't get worn. Likewise, I have bought things that seemed boring but ended up working so well for me that I loved them. Sometimes I just don't know until I start using it.

Aida

Veteran

Rachy I think a lot of us electrics have this issue. Depends on how cohesive your final look is and your inclination towards actually mixing your style varieties. In answer to your question I do both with a strong tendency to look in isolation. But I do have a very good "overarching" style statement (or three) to help guide me and I do enjoy a hectic mix.

FWIW to me a buffalo check bag seems like it would jive with more of your style personas esp. Prep and Punk.

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

If I'm spending money, it needs to be both. If I don't love it or it doesn't look good, it's not coming home with me. Same if I'm not spending money too - you couldn't give me something I don't love or that doesn't look good (to my eye). Much like a car with a hole in the roof (I don't care if it has a fancy-schmancy name like moonroof or sunroof. It's a hole in the roof. I don't want it.).

milehighstyle (Linda)

Veteran

I struggle with this too. I'm so attracted to colors and prints that I have to be careful not to buy EVERYTHING in a bright color or colorful print. I've found, for instance, that printed shoes and bags don't get worn as much because more often than not I'm wearing a print in my blouse, dress, skirt, jacket, or pants. Not that you can't mix prints, but there has to be some cohesion to it. If I'm looking for a workhorse I have to force myself to go for a solid neutral or near-neutral (still something I love, though). This is why I ended up selling my purple trench coat and replacing it with an olive one. Olive looks a little less crazy with orange or red pants.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Our fabulous Folksy Quirky Waif with the green hair needs a floral errand bag. MAXIMAL outfits are the new fashion direction, so don't worry about matching things, Rachy. Clashing to the extent that it creates a harmonious calm is one way to do it.

(Wear what you like AND what looks good).

Diana

Veteran

Both. Because if you don't like it you won't wear it, but ditto for if it doesn't look good/work with your outfits.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Both! If it's only one or the other, it won't get worn.

Mochi

Veteran

For better or worse, I often fall hard for beautiful things in complete isolation and irrelevance to what I already own or would perform a great public wardrobe service.

Sally

Veteran

I'm such a boring dresser...and boring shopper....I never have this problem but I think the odd statement item is good to liven things up a bit.

DonnaF

Veteran

Well, sometimes things I think will go with everything DON'T; and the *odd* things actually do.

I'm a sucker for black and white, not to mention plaid. . .Will have to check out Ross tomorrow. Too bad Ross selection varies so much from location to location. Not that I *need* another bag.

Anonymous

It has to be both for me, too; but I'm not hard to fit. I'm sure I'd feel differently if I had a hard time with fit. In that case, fit would trump loved unless I could get the item altered to fit--something I do with my pants all the time.

Roxanna

Veteran

I'm with Mochi. I'm usually drawn to unique wardrobe pieces but I find a way to make them work. Do they work as well as what 'fits' better with my wardrobe? Probably not, but I'm an impulse buyer (something I am trying to change!)

Dee

Veteran

Ideally both, but sometimes I'll go for one or the other. If I'm trying to change something about my style or fill a wardrobe hole or part of a capsule, I'll go with the piece that does so best. But some of my wild cards are things I love that don't go with other parts of my style - or at least, didn't at the time but might now.

lpr200

Veteran

Both of course is ideal but if you buy what you love , more and more over time I found that things start to go together, because it gets united by your aesthetic

Brooklyn

Veteran

Ideally both. But these days I am trying to be more practical and find things that I like but that fit with my lots of other things in my wardrobe. I find that I can tire of statement pieces that I initially love, especially if they don't work with lots of outfits. The floral bag is super cute, but I am not sure why the check version would not work for you?

Anonymous

I always err on the side of things that match the best, and I think it takes some of the joy out of shopping.
If you love colour and pattern, having everything "go" would be "soul sucking" I would imagine.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Both but I err toward what I like.

JAileen

Veteran

Both, but I err a lot.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

I buy what I like, because eventually it will usually look good with everything else, too.

AJ

Veteran

I vote buy both bags!

Gigi

Veteran

If I have an immediate *need* (that's not just a want), I will buy what looks best, as long as it doesn't cost big bucks. But over time, if you buy only what is "safe" in this way, you will end up with a wardrobe that doesn't make you as happy as it could. So, once I had a core wardrobe created, I tried to buy only those items that made me really happy *and* would work with my existing wardrobe items.

For me to buy something "in isolation" would require me to really, really love the item, and the price tag couldn't be too high. It also depends what "in isolation" means: If something doesn't look good on me because it overwhelms my stature, I won't buy it no matter how much I like it; but if it's just a matter of matching the item with other wardrobe pieces, I may buy it if I can justify the cost.

rachylou

Veteran

Ok, well if Angie says I need a floral errand bag... Lol, love for the bag suddenly blooms.

The thing about the other bag - I liked looking at it on the rack. But when I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror, I didn't like me with it at all. Maybe it was the nature of the white and the black... the white was bluish and the black not deep enough. And it wasn't jiving with my folksy nature...honestly, good style word for me, Angie...In fact, I tried on another crossbody that had the right functional design and some metal stud detailing that appealed for its punky nature - and I can't tell you how wrong that looked either. Both probably had too much urbanity for me. But I do worry about little flowers being tepid...

ps: Una, I have yet to try on either puffy... I have built up this event in my head as being special and not to be rushed... I am terrible...

Astrid

Veteran

I did buy what I liked in the past and ended up with a wardrobe that was a mess. I find buying what looks good (on me and with the rest of my wardrobe) is the better strategy to reach a point where getting dressed in the morning isn't a chore. Sometimes I'm overly cautious I think, but most of the time this works for me. I usually start to appreciate those items more each time I wear them because they simply work, even if they seemd a bit boring to start with compared to the flashier option.

rachylou

Veteran

More on the folksy and the prep and the punk. You know, I may have just had a revelation about the importance of folksiness to my style. I'm preppy, but the part that really has its grip on
me is probably the prep in the country part of preppy. I motor around in a station wagon with a fake corgi, and my cousin tells me this is how I am anyways...in search of some sheep and mud. And my byword for my punk side is 'country' punk. My icon is Penny Rimbaud...

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I think floral on black is very country punk.

Maybe even the definition of?

It also makes me think of 90s Betsy Johnson and for me that is not a bad thing.

I aim for both (what I love and what looks good) but of course you do sometimes have to compromise. Sometimes "like" is as strong as it gets for certain items. But the loved ones get more...well...love!!

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