Fall 2013 Purchases and Analysis (long)

Hi,

I have really enjoyed reading and learning from other members fall purchases recaps (Suz here, MaryK here, Anna here)

Here is mine. Sorry no photos to show. A quick summary, I shopped at NAS expecting that to be my only shopping for the fall/winter, and then it kept on going, two more times! Ack!

2013 fall/winter shopping

NAS shopping

I ended up doing a lot of purchasing and returning but here is the final tally of items I kept (22 items).

Jackets as outerwear (1 black leather moto)

Blazers/jackets as indoor wear (2; black jacquard print bomber, white/grey bomber)

Bottoms (4; 1 grey metallic skinny jean, 1 BF jean, 1 camo printed jean, 1 glen plaid printed trouser)

Tops for layering (4 LSTs [two black, two blue], 2 knits [one striped, one geo prints], and one watercolor printed short sleeve top)

Shirts/blouses (3; black/white stripe, black bow blouse, glen plaid peplum)

Sweaters/Jumpers (2; tan chunky, black/multi colored)

Sweatercoat (1 in wine color)

Footwear (0 at NAS itself, but 1 pair of buckle flats and 1 pair of black suede wedge sneakers that were purchased at the same time)

Scarves (0)

Reflections

At the time, I thought I had overhauled my fall/winter wardrobe. And I was even able to stick very close to one-in/one-out for my wardrobe when adding my new purchases to my closet.

Then a few weeks later I went shopping with my sister, and fell off the wagon. I was not able to stick to one-in/one-out with my new purchases anymore. We shop together every fall, but she shops for the year and I always will have shopped NAS 2 months earlier, so I end up double shopping for the season everytime!

Sister shopping

I ended up with 25 additional items, yikes!

Jackets as outerwear (1 brown suede)

Blazers/jackets as indoor wear (1 white pleather moto)

Bottoms (1 black skinny jean, 1 blue leopard print jean)

Tops for layering (5 knits and 1 LS T; 3 knits are solids [black, grey and white], 1 knit is grey stripes with mint, 1 knit is blue tiger print and the LS T is grey and black stripes)

Shirts/blouses (1 blouse-tiger head print)

Sweaters/Jumpers (3; white chunky, white lacey front, coral hoodie)

Sweatercoat (0)

Footwear (1 wedge sneaker, 1 camel bootie, 1 black pump for the suits)

Scarves (2)

Poncho (1 black cable knit)

Suits (2 + a top for each suit; the suits were the only thing on my shopping list that day)

Cardigans (1-white/coral stripes)

Reflections

Unfortunately, I had awakened the shopping beast and sort of just kept on going! Forget falling off the wagon, now I am chasing behind after it!

Hence why DH gave me the closet challenge. Some of the third round of purchases were for gear, but it’s still time to tame the shopping beast! And I’m starting to create new wardrobe categories that I previously did not HAVE in my wardrobe.

Additional shopping

I ended up with 17 additional items, double yikes!

Jackets as outerwear (1 tan wool coat, 1 brown gear)

Blazers/jackets as indoor wear (1 fleece for gear, 1 fleece that should be gear but now I want to wear as non gear because I like it too much)

Bottoms (1 blue skinny jeans with zippers near the ankles)

Tops for layering (4 thermals)

Shirts/blouses (0)

Sweaters/Jumpers (4-brown horse print, red cable, grey cashmere, black tunic turtleneck)

Sweatercoat (0)

Footwear (1-gear [winter riding boots])

Scarves (0)

Poncho (1 tan printed that I’ve worn almost every week since purchasing)

Suits (0)

Cardigans (0)

Vests (1 blue for gear, 1 brown crochet; I haven’t worn a vest in years and all of a sudden I’m interested in them)

Reflections

It’s funny, some items I still haven’t worn and are not interested in wearing even though they are new. Some items I’ve only worn once or twice and already don’t like them. And a couple of items I’ve worn a few times and already donated! Total cost, too high to list but more than I should have spent for the entire year. I really need to reign it in next year.

Thanks for reading!

12 years ago

Anonymous

Lisa, we've probably all done this. Don't be too hard on yourself. I had to reign in this year, but am glad for the fab things I have and wish some other pieces were better quality.

I'm following your response to your DH's challenge with admiration.

El Cee

Veteran

Lisa --Thanks for sharing. I can very much relate to what just happened to you. For a lot of us, shopping fills some kind of emotional need or void whether we are aware of that or not. It is really good that you are having this moment of honest reflection. [I certainly have needed that moment in my own life from time to time.] The closet challenge is an interesting exercise. I will be watching to see what revelations you may have upon its completion. I am on my own "no shop (except for holiday presents) -- explore my own closet" adventure through the end of the year as my wardrobe needs some reigning in.

Suz

(website)

Lisa, first off, if the tags are still on any of those items you don't like anymore, just take them back! Save yourself a bit of guilt.

Secondly...and I hope you won't mind my saying this -- if you haven't seriously hurt your financial situation, then I think this was money well spent -- at least for the most part (barring the items you don't really like.) And here is why.

Your WIWs have been an enormous amount of fun and I see a slight style shift and development. It seems to me you are enjoying your clothes in a new way.

You are adding in different shapes and a few trendier items while still staying true to your jeans-and-jacket loving soul. You probably needed the footwear, and the other items were well-chosen upgrades or replacements for the most part ----- at least in the first round, the NAS -- while in the second round you were picking up needed business related and casual wear.

It does give me insight into why your DH suggested the closet challenge, though, I must say! But you know...I think that every five years or so maybe we all need an "overhaul" vs. an "update." And this was your year for overhaul.

I get what El Cee is saying -- shopping can and does fill some emotional needs, for sure....but a certain amount of that is harmless, I think. As long as we remain conscious of it. Which is why your reflections are helpful not only to yourself but to others.

I think shopping with Sveta was my best defence against going insane at the NAS. She is so reasonable and demands that her clothes work hard for her so anything that was not 150% great got rejected even if it fit and looked really good. We subjected all items to some crucial conversations, e.g. "How often am I going to wear you in my real life? What do I have to get rid of to make room for you? Can I get something similar for a lot less money? Will you advance my style? Do you fill a number of roles simultaneously? And so on.

I still ended up with a few items that I subsequently returned....and one pair of booties that I will rarely wear -- but those will have high happiness factor so I am okay with it.

kkards

lisa, i was just looking at a couple of things i bought this fall, and was suprised that 5 of them still had the tags on....so i'm taking them back this weekend. ...why did i love them enough to buy them, but not enought to wear them? i did realize that 1 was for my fantasy life, but the others, still not sure.

Lisa

Joy-Thanks! It's nice to know I'm not the only one.

El Cee-Thanks! I hope you will let us know how your shop your closet works through the end of the year.

Suz-Thanks! This year at NAS was the first time I was so objective with my purchases and asked many of the same questions you and Sveta did. Now I just need to stop the ball from continuing to roll down the hill. I think part of what happened is, I did purchase lots of items in new styles and colors for me. Especially prints. I've purchased a LOT of prints this year. For the longest time I was trying to shop to be like my style inspirations, who are really classic dressers (Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston, etc). But I think I was trying to dress for them, and not for me. I like more colors than say 3 (Angelina) or more styles of jeans than just blue (Jennifer). And this year has been about branching out. DH thinks I've gone off the deep end. But he's a classic dresser and not much for change in any area. If I have $20, sometimes I go into a dollar store and think "wow I can get 20 things and I have $20 so that's ok." It's harder to say "just because I have $20 doesn't mean I have to spend the entire $20." That is a tough habit to break.

KKards-That's great that you are returning unworn items. It's no fun to look inside a closet and see past purchasing mistakes.

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