Angie's recent post on end-of-season buying got me thinking. In my response on the blog I said I rarely buy things at the end of season since joining YLF, because in the past that has usually been a mistake for me.

But there are exceptions, or near exceptions. For example, I bought two VC tube skirts late last summer. Granted, when I bought them, I believed they would be all-year round purchases for me. Once I got them and realized I'd only be wearing them in the late spring/ summer/ early fall period, I felt a bit guilty and worried that I had wasted my money. Well, it turns out they have been my absolute top summer workhorses! So much so that...you guessed it...I bought another.

Firmly and decidedly on Team Wear, I have since worn the new VC skirt 4 times in 5 days!

That's what I'd call a "wardrobe refresher." It wasn't a "need." I could have lived the entire summer without owning this skirt. But I'm clearly enjoying it and it has given my wardrobe a new lease on life. I'm wearing tops I wasn't otherwise wearing all summer, and enjoying the new combinations.

This has led me to the following reflection. If it's usually a mistake (for me) to buy items at the end of season for next year, it is not necessarily a mistake to buy them close to the end of season for this year.

Which makes me wonder: maybe I should budget and shop with this idea explicitly in my mind. Buy most of my newer items as close to the beginning of a new season as is practical. But reserve a bit of mad money for one or two key (possibly statement) items that I allow myself to buy mid-season.

How about you? Do you plan with refreshers in mind or are they always impulse purchases? Do your mid-season purchases get a lot of love?

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