Has anyone else dealt with a designer clothes addiction?

[LLCNYC]

Originally Posted by ponytrekker

I lost 55 pounds recently and wear a suit to work every day. So my new hobby is buying clothes and donating them as soon as I get them back from being tailored. TBH though, before this, I was still wearing suits from 2005.

You're buying clothes, tailoring them and then donating them???

[Murk]

I actually don't think this has anything to do with clothes. It's the same problem any person with self-worth issues gets into when they get addicted to external validation. The clothes make you (temporarily) feel good, so you keep chasing that feeling.

I'd recommend counseling and finding some other way to recognize your internal value. What does a $5k jacket give you that doing some good deed for another or mastering a new skill etc. not? Would you feel as good if you spent that $25k on a water filtration system for a 3rd world village? Or as a grant to bright but economically depressed students? Or...? I'm not saying DO those things per se. Rhetorical questions for self-reflection.

[lubby]

$25,000 on clothes?! That's crazy! That being said I buy most of my clothes at either Chicos or Kohl's. I shop for clothes 2 times year. My mom buys me gift certificates to Chicos for my Birthday and since my birthday is in January I wait until Spring to buy any new spring fashions. I look at the sale racks first and usually find a few things there. There is always some sort of sale at this store. I go to the one in an outlet mall by me. I always try to buy sale items. I am due for another round of shopping there soon. I have to try on clothes I can't use one of those sites where you give them your size/style and they pick out the clothes and mail them to you. It's not for me. When September comes I'll shop again for fall/winter stuff. I still have a few items in my closet with tags that I did not wear last summer because I forgot about them LOL. I also go through my closet and see what's old, and either donate them or throw them out. (had 2 shirts with stains that I forgot about so I tossed them in the trash) my husband wear t-shirts and jeans to his job so I just order his stuff online. He's not into fashion.

[HomeIsWhere...]

Originally Posted by basehead617

I’m now at the point where I’m considering putting stuff on credit cards and/or taking out some savings to pay for even more stuff. I haven’t carried a CC balance in 13 years. I tell myself that once I have a wide range of pieces in different styles/colors etc. I’ll be less likely to buy things since they will be too similar to things I already have, and that I’m starting from scratch. It may be true but feels like lies I’m telling myself.

Has anybody else gone through something like this? I really think I’m going to have a hard time stopping because the feedback loop of want something -> get it -> feel/look good -> positive reinforcement from others .. is really strong.

Sorry, just no to the putting stuff on credit cards and/or taking out savings to pay for more stuff.

No, I have never gone through something like this...and I'm a woman.

Your "feedback loop" is truly the addiction which is fueling and feeding your need to purchase. So...what is the goal here (?) to wear a new piece/outfit every single day for a year and not repeat anything already worn? Now...you're a potential hoarder and have at least 2 problems going on.

High end or designer clothes? No way, no how. Over the years I have bought very nice pieces that are classics and I have taken good care of them as well.

Originally Posted by JerseyGirl415

I agree with those saying to seek treatment for this addiction and other things you may be grappling with (sounds like insecurity or self-esteem issues). It can ruin you financially if you don't stop - which you won't, because you can't. You say eventually you stop with these obsessions, but it sounds like you'll just move onto something else, so you really don't have actual control over the impulse to buy. You sound like a gambler, willing to start putting things on credit cards and taking from savings. Not good.

It's fine to like designer clothes, but it's not fine when it consumes you like this.

Pearls of wisdom in many of these replies OP, please take them to heart before you hurt yourself.

In the end, I say you end it as you began it. Cold turkey.