Sharon, I know what you mean. I might have taken a stab at that sentiment awhile back.
I will also sometimes mix and match things to show what a good steward I am--and then not like the result. Of course, some of that is okay as a way to be creative and find things you didn't expect. Don't want to squelch all of my experimentation.
But I also need to not "save" my favorite combos just so as to not repeat. i don't really care if I repeat but somehow I seem to forget, wow, I didn't wear this all last week, why don't I give another go this week.
The more important thing for me has been to use this idea as a benchmark for a new purchase.
The most important thing is does an item make a really great outfit of some kind--even one. Not "just one" as the endpoint, but more, I don't need something that's just useful and "goes" with everything if the resulting outfits are ho-hum.
Next, if I love one look, then I'll see if it's a one-horse wonder or can I make several just as great. So, I want a new item both to work great with something and also be versatile enough so I won't be lost if say the pants are at the cleaners and also that I'm just more likely to grab something and get more wear out of it if it's "easy" to mix with several things and still work well. I have returned some items that by themselves were really pretty great, but it turned out they just did not go with enough things to make me happy. Often this can be a color that I like but turns out to be harder to match or blend than I thought; sometimes it's a top length that is just too tricky.
For true re-mixing, where an item might get a new life, I'm getting more picky--I want the remix to be good and not just to make me feel like I can't pass along the item because I ought to still be able to make it work. The holding zone can be good for that--the item's "outfit family" is not currently available, so I'll wear other favorites until then, or toss later.
