Hi all, my adventures with a bad outfit last week (and all your helpful insights) got me thinking about why certain items do and don't work for me. I brainstormed as many items as I can remember that I have purged in the last year or so, and then listed the reason why they were purged, as well as the reason I bought them in the first place. I discovered a few important things:

- my biggest buying mistake is around fit. Either the fit is poor, or the silhouette is not one that I like. Correction: buy polished, tailored, classic cuts; avoid loose, oversized, overly drapey and overly casual cuts (even though my wardrobe is very casual)
- my second biggest buying mistake is around quality. In many cases, I buy an item that I really want in my wardrobe, then end up replacing it with something of higher quality (not high-end per se- just better, natural fabric and, again, better cut. I have some "good quality" Old Navy pieces even, because I got them in a decent quality of cotton with a good cut to them). Correction: Buy once and buy better!
- the biggest reason I buy items that turn out to be mistakes is because I went with an outside recommendation, either for a capsule wardrobe, or classic "must haves", etc. Correction: Really think critically about recommended items - are they really going to work for my style, my life, my needs?

What have you learned from assessing your mistakes? Thanks for reading!