Shopping binge vs. shopping fast? - YouLookFab Forum

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Shopping binge vs. shopping fast?

Molly L-R

How much and how often do you shop?

I've noticed that I can shop for what seems almost continously for a few weeks and then not want to go into a shop for ages. Or, in this case, not want to go on to eBay for ages. The bricks and mortar shops around me have not been inspiring for a while. But I have a small wardrobe with holes that need to be plugged, so I've been hitting up eBay with a vengeance since the beginning of the year. I think I've bought 10 things since the first week in January. **self-edit - no, checking my eBay purcahse history it's actually 13 items. Holy hell**

Not only has this left me feeling "meh" about the whole process of buying things, I'm actually almost sick when a new thing arrives in the post. The last thing I ordered finally arrived today and, to this end, I am imposing a clothes and shoes shopping fast on myself for the next 8 weeks. Not only will this theoretically save me money, but will give me some time to work up some enthusiasm for spring/summer clothes.

How about you? Do you go in for periods of shopping bingeing/fasting, or is your shopping pattern more regular?

Shopping

18 replies

Latest reply was from Aziraphale

Kalli

Shopping Fast! . Since I used to hawk these fashionable goods it kind of made me sick to be in a mall/store all the time! I'm not a big fan of shopping unless I know I need something. I like to browse online though, but I get sick of that fast too.

I love seeing what other people buy though and comment on that. I follow trends through reading magazines and looking at images but that doesn't tempt me.

I'm pretty much a seasonal shopper. Twice a year (like I shopped 2 weeks in dec/jan and I'll probably shop june/july) - not quite the end of the season but nearing the end of the season. I like to contemplate my decisions for a while. Sometimes I'll pay full price but prefer not to. I also like to have a lot of money to play with because it's friendlier to my budget to save up then spend without guilt.

Thistle

Veteran

I used to only shop twice a year, once at the winter sales and once at the summer sales.

However, I find that I get more wear out of and like my clothes better when I shop earlier in a season.

I am putting things I like into my wish lists on various sites, and trying to only buy items on sale if they were originally in my basket. This is to help prevent sale goggles. A lot of clothes I have donated were bought on sale. Ones I have worn to shreds were almost all purchased full price.

One caveat here is I find my size sells out before sales often (I am the average size of a US woman). ASOS is out of my size in skirts for the ones I like, and they never went on sale. Nordies has sold out of several dresses in my size after only two weeks on the shelves. Perhaps if you are a less common size, shopping sales is easier.

bj1111

Veteran

i've been fasting, then i've been binging. mostly because everything i love is currently on sale.

i've bought and returned about 35 items and have kept another 12-15 since early feb. still more coming.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I'm still restocking my wardrobe from the ground up, which has turned out to be a long process. I had to buy some "stopgap" clothes because my budget couldn't stretch to all the essentials I needed in the quality I wished, so I am slowly replacing some of the lesser quality items and buying better quality. I don't live near very many good brick and mortar stores.

So I tend to: Browse online a LOT. But not buy very often except to replace essentials such as jeans.

Buy about 3 or 4 times a year, mostly on trips to city.

That means I will regularly go for several months without making a purchase. But then I will buy three or four things at once or close to the same time.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I neither fast nor binge. I am very calculated, shop frequently, but only a few items at a time.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I am a bit of a binge/fast shopper myself. I'll go weeks without even looking in a store, and then I'll have a day or two of it and feel satiated. When I do this, I'll often buy multiple things, get them home and try them on, and end up returning about half.

Day Vies

Veteran

I'm constantly browsing online. The process is where I get a lot of ideas and inspiration. I like to see what's new and how people are wearing trends first. I don't go into the stores usually and even when I do it's mostly to browse. I like to get a feel for the trends before I commit. By the time I get to the store with the intent to shop I already know what I want and it's just a matter of finding it.

Anonymous

I browse online everyday. I have NO time to shop in B/M stores, so I end up ordering quite a bit, trying on and returning. It's exhausting. For example, our last CC bill was $1,400 ... only $254 of that was actually stuff I'd kept. The rest of the charges were returns that hadn't been credited back yet. Pretty crazy. I'll happily stop shopping when my wardrobe holes are filled. It just takes forever when I have more "misses" than "hits" with my orders.

qfbrenda

Veteran

I'm neither. I tend to shop regularly and buy something at least once a month. I may be taking a break from that since I have everything I need, but I don't have the budget to buy tons of things at once. I like spacing purchases out as I find things here and there.

Sarah A

Veteran

I feel like I have been on a major binge since just before Christmas after not buying any clothes for a few months. Pre-YLF i would not shop for clothes except maybe a few times a year so going to shopping frequently has meant buying frequently. And like Suz I have stogaps clothes i want to upgrade and .... well the reasons for binging go on and on! I feel like my closet is pretty complete now though and look forward to focusing on just finding a few specific items left on my list.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I have always been a pretty regular shopper. Mostly window shopping, but often resulting in picking up an item or two. I never shopped seasonally for many items at once. It's usually a search for x, y, or z item at any one time. I do find I go in runs, though. Sometimes 6 items in a month and then nothing for several weeks.
This year I am trying to limit to just one item a month. The last 2 months I bought 2 of each item (sweater for Feb., jeans for March) and I have already gotten a shirt for April. So, that means I am on a fast for a few weeks until I 'catch up' to my getting ahead of myself. No shopping at least until mid April for me.
All in all, I find shopping every month the best way for me to keep current and within budget.

Louise

Veteran

I'm generally a grazer, shopping little and often. However over the last year or so I've not really had the enthusiasm I've put a few pounds on so several things have been relegated to the back of the wardrobe and I suddenly realised last month that I didn't have enough clothes to get me through a work week, eeeeep! I've managed to add a couple of dresses and a pair of trousers and it seems to have kick started my shopping mojo but it'll still be grazing for me x

rachylou

Veteran

I don't really know. It feels like I do some serious buying once a quarter, killing off a couple of Saturdays and a few evenings, but it could be I buy more often than that on mini Saturday morning forays.

It's a little tough since Saturday is my only day off and most of the serious shops are a big driving/parking ordeal.

I do a lot of looking online, but I debate doing so. I don't buy online because it's a lot of hassle for me, and the difference between what's in the stores and what I can see online is pretty vast. I have a lot of unfulfilled fantasies...

Raisin

Veteran

I'm very much like Suz. Rebuilding my wardrobe, browsing online but not often buying, and shopping a few times per year when I visit big cities. It seems to work pretty well for me.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

I browse online & in shops - I try on a lot of things before I find pieces that work.

Charmian

Veteran

I used to browse a lot (both online and in person), and then make calculated purchases throughout the year.

I dunno what it was about last season, but I went nutso (in relative Charmian terms, that is) on shopping and as a result have been completely off shopping since the new year. I still half-heartedly browse -- mostly out of boredom and habit -- but the idea of buying even replacement items is so repugnant right now, I doubt I'll be buying anything for at least another month.

I am ABSOLUTELY not a binge/fast person in other aspects of my life; I'm not really sure what happened this winter. Honestly, I'm more perplexed that I continue to shop; I don't understand why I continue to subject myself to this kind of nausea.

Buttercream

Interesting way to frame the question. Perhaps the shopping fast can lead to a shopping binge that includes poorly-considered purchases generated by pent up demand?

I admit, I like the idea of a shopping fast, or at least cutting out the dribs and drabs purchases that might not fit into a grand plan. To go along with that, shopping once a season or twice a year might impose dicipline and facilitate a more ambitious wardrobe vision, right?

Lately I've been making regular purchases to fill wardrobe holes, even if what I find is less than perfect. I find I'm surprisingly satisfied with the results. I have good-enough clothes to wear: they fit fine (not beautufully) and are presentable and reasonably flattering. There have been fewer fashion crisis mornings, which is very much a good thing!

But these recent buys don't make my heart sing, and that won't do forever.

Maybe filling the holes will take the edge off my wardrobe frustration and give me the wiggle room to carefully plan and shop for the next 'generation' of purchases. I'll have to evaluate. . .

So my conclusion (after some meandering) is:

- a shopping fast is a great way to pause and take a deep breath before taking your wardrobe in a new direction;

- BUT, if you really don't have much to wear, it might be counter-productive and lead to poor impulse buys.

Aziraphale

Veteran

I'm pretty tightly controlled in all things -- not just shopping. As in, I don't binge eat, but I (carefully) eat whatever I want. I don't binge drink, but I have a glass of wine nearly every day. I exercise, but usually not more than two or three times a week. You get the idea. I'm a woman of moderation.

Not including undergarments, which are necessary but bore the pants off me (haha, pun), I probably buy one or maybe two items a month. Right now I don't need much, but could replace a few worn tee shirts, so that's probably what it'll be this month. Last month it was one Brooks Brothers fitted shirt. The month before that it was two J. Crew merino sweaters.

I'm not including gifts here. Often I'll get a gift card or money for Christmas, and those things are bonus.

I generally don't shop the sales, because (a) I'm always suspicious that "if it's on sale, something must be wrong with it", and (b) they never have my size anyway.