After starting the year with a goal to limit my fashion purchases to 3-4 a month, I fell off the rails around September. I’ve done a fair bit of damage with shopping this fall, and have taken a break for nearly a month now. Admittedly we have been in TX where I typically don’t do any clothes shopping unless it’s for a cheap replacement for worn out ranch jeans — I did get new muck boots because we gave my old ones to our ranch manager’s wife, and I got my first ever pair of flannel lined jeans (OMG what a game changer on cold mornings!). I don’t count ranch wear in my “real clothes” shopping because it’s strictly utilitarian and does not get worn off the ranch — it’s like gear or a work uniform.

I think August-September is the danger time for me because the impending fall (fall and winter style is my favorite!) is too much temptation for me. I’ll have to come up with some strategy for next year. I have to remember that sometimes my purchases that end up being favorites are not the pre-season purchases but those I find once the season has begun. But there are exceptions — NAS has provided some great additions to my wardrobe, if I am thoughtful about my purchases.

i got a couple of things at the beginning of November before I put on the brakes. I decided to make notes on this to make a bit of a record of my activity and help myself be more accountable and disciplined in the future. I bought the navy jumpsuit at the beginning of the month, and that fantastic blue sweater as well. Plus I have a package waiting at home with a Mc Queen red/black/white print scarf that I ordered on Nov 1. And when my husband and I went into Dallas for a day to shop for him (got him some great sweaters and shirts!), he got me this gorgeous blue lightweight velvet bomber jacket at Scotch & Soda (on 50% off sale).

I have little interest in Black Friday shopping, so not much temptation there. However, I got one BF weekend sale email that I did not immediately delete — one from Sarah Pacini. When I was in NYC a couple of months ago, I stopped in their store and tried on a few of their unique pieces. It’s not a brand that encapsulates my style, but there are certain individual pieces I really like. This light grey drawstring sweater was my favorite thing there, and it’s stuck in my mind ever since. Their stuff is $$$ so the only way I’d consider it is on sale, so when I saw their sale email, I immediately thought of that sweater.

They do not have an online store, so I called the store in NYC to see if the sweater was in stock and could be purchased on the phone. The SA told me it was sold out in grey, but they still had the black — it’s been a very popular item, apparently. But she said she would do some checking to see if she could track one down for me. It didn’t sound promising, so as I hung up, I thought, well, if it wasn’t meant to be, so be it. I didn’t really want to buy another black sweater right now, so the thought of the black one didn’t appeal to me.

Five minutes later, she called back and said she had found one for me — it was a consignment sale that had been returned so it had not yet been added back to their stock. So it’s on it’s way to me now!

Back to some semblance of discipline for December.

How do you keep yourself on track during your favorite shopping seasons? Any good strategies?