Long post- apologies in advance! Inspired by Janet's post about closet editing, I did my own purchase analysis. I have been closely tracking what I have bought, worn, and retired starting January 1, 2014, using a database system with customizable queries that I designed (geekiness to the nth degree, I know). I looked at items I purchased (and kept- I had a lot of returns!)
I looked specifically at:
1- items purchased on/after 1/1/2014 that were retired for various reasons
2- items purchased between 1/1/2014 and 6/9/2015 that have not yet been worn (or in the case of tops/toppers/bottoms worn less than 2 times). I am giving myself 3 months from purchase to wear something before I call it a "fail".
I ended up with 76 purchases since 1/1/2014, 25 of which had "issues" , and here is the analysis:
The "successes" (12)
4 items (3 tops and a pair of shoes) will likely see wear come cooler weather, so I am giving them a pass (I am happy with fit and usefulness in my life which is either pretty casual or pretty dressy with not a lot of middle ground!)
3 items developed those pesky belt-line holes (which was too bad because these were comfortable cotton tees which I love wearing)
5 items got a lot of wear and were showing their age- these were not of the best quality (Gap, Loft) but were inexpensive- lesson: buy better quality even for workhorse items
The "problem children" (13)- most were poor style choices or problems with fit:
1 top shrank despite proper care by me
4 pants:
one too tight, one too loose (plus I wasn't crazy about the fabric in either)- lesson: fit is key in pants and pay attention to fabric and comfort
two pair I am on the fence about: a new pair of black pants from EF that still have tags on and a pair of unworn white jeans that I just can't get my head around (I may not live a white jeans lifestyle)
1 dress: the top was a little big and I thought tailoring would fix it, but it still didn't fit right- lesson: stick to simple tailoring (hems etc) and walk away from items that need bigger fixes
2 shoes:
one pair of metallic sandals that I compromised on fit and color thinking I needed them: lesson: I didn't need them
one pair of Clark's heels that I fell for advertising/blogs about comfort (ended up being less stylish and less comfortable than the Cole Haans I discovered on my own and have worn a lot): lesson: stick with Cole Haan (I have 13 pair of shoes, 5 of which are Cole Haan!)
5 tops: these were fit and/or style issues- lessons:
I don't like to have to wear a camisole or scarf (ie if too sheer or v-neck too low)
Extras like pleating need to look really classic or they bug me
Buy only one in the best color in a style because that's the one you will wear (I wear the teal version a lot, but the orange-coral one did me no favors)
One sweater I am still on the fence about (a bit formal for wear with jeans- we'll see what happens with cooler weather)
Fortunately only 5 of the problem items were purchased since January this year so maybe I am learning from my mistakes. However, I do make the same mistakes over and over- I need to concentrate on fit and fabric (I am doing much better a selecting items that play well with the rest of my closet and that suit my lifestyle, though those white jeans keep staring at me!)
What mistakes have you made, what lessons have you learned, and do you keep repeating the same mistakes?
