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I don't think that I've made that many shopping mistakes, I'm just in need of more opportunities to get dressed up to go out. Or a job where I only have to look nice and not have to haul heavy stuff about.
Ok, so this is my biggest mistake: I buy clothes for an imaginary life I don't have.
I used to attend gallery openings, as part of my job, on a monthly basis. I no longer do that. But I still buy fun, fanciful, artsy, dressy, clothes, "just in case". I am sooooo attracted to that stuff.
I also have a bunch of "sloppy" clothes. Sweats, work out gear, cargo shorts, etc for my athletic side.
The reality: I need more nice jeans, simple skirts, decent shorts and basic t-shirts for the real life I live. The "in-between" pieces.
I've started paring down my closet and adding some basics. I shop with a list now, and send stuff to the thrift stores on a regular basis.
Plaidmom, I am almost the same as you; the only difference? My clothes are the althetic side, with casual, and little to no "dress-up, fancy, professional" clothes.
I think I have one ball gown, one lil black dress, and one floral summery skirt with a cashmere light sweater to wear with it, and that is it.
I always buy clothes that I like, but do not love. I find that I wear them once, and then never again. This happens especially for items that are heavily discounted. Or, if I a NEED a specific item (especially pants), I will buy something that I don't love but I get it b/c I need it. A few months later, I will find that same item but in a style/fit/color that I like better and never wear the first one I bought. Its actually really depressing for me to realize how much money I waste on these items...
Let's talk about the mistakes we make buying clothes
Do we have to?
My mistakes are many and varied AND I've buried the evidence of most of them very well in storage boxes because...well...because I probably can't get real about breaking the emotional bond I seem have with the item.
I am improving though!
If the colour of the season is one that I love but doesn't really suit me (like that pastel blue that was around everywhere about 10 years back) instead of buying clothing in that colour which isn't very flattering for my figure I go with a scarf.
I love patterned and striped clothing ON OTHER PEOPLE and I'm guilty of seeing something in a shop that I think might actually be my one chance to wear a pattern or stripe and I buy it and then it sits in the cupboard and I shuffle past it for ages wondering what I was thinking on the day.
I want to know how it is that stuff actually looks good on you in the shop and then suddenly when you get it home it looks hideous! Is it some kind of special finish the manufacturers have? Makes you look good in the change room and crap when you get home?
If the new season cut is one that I love but I try it on and can't see me being comfortable wearing it (ie the sleeves will drive me nuts, or I love how it sits around the decolletage but around the hips not so much) then I'm getting much better at going through a mental checklist and being realistic about whether I'd actually get wear out of something or not.
Oh and now I shop for what I need! Not what will make me feel better! Although if I'm tired and emotional and just needing a pick me up I can still make mistakes, case in point the two pairs of wedgies I got on sale at Target earlier in the year. They were $3.87 AU a pair!! I couldn't walk past that! Now the red pair I bought are perfect, they fit well and I can walk in them and have worn them a few times now, but the black pair (which I had to buy because black sandals go with everything, right? ) suddenly seem to be too big and the heel strap keeps slipping off which is not great in shoes so high. AND the reality is I don't go out that often that I needed two pairs of heels. I should have just bought the red ones even though the price was amazing!
I want to know how it is that stuff actually looks good on you in the shop and then suddenly when you get it home it looks hideous! Is it some kind of special finish the manufacturers have? Makes you look good in the change room and crap when you get home?
I swear sometimes they have mirrors that make you look thinner than you actually are!
I swear sometimes they have mirrors that make you look thinner than you actually are!
YEP! Reckon they get their mirrors from the same bloke that does the House of Mirrors at Luna Park AND they've got some whiz bang lighting guy to design the change room lighting a la Lizzy Taylor!
Either that or they're pumping something hallucinogenic through the air conditioning into the change room outlets!
I see a connection between the special mirrors and the imaginary life. Add to that the music they play that you don't really notice, and there I go..."Well, they were playing "Born to be Wild" and I was shopping for something to wear to a PTA meeting and next thing you know..."
Got "tricked" into buying a pretty useless $470 jacket some years ago. It didn't even fit properly but the sales clerk was very persuasive. No return because it was on sale. That was a completely waste of money. Think I gave it away to the Salvation Army, or something.
Got "tricked" into buying a pretty useless $470 jacket some years ago. It didn't even fit properly but the sales clerk was very persuasive. No return because it was on sale. That was a completely waste of money. Think I gave it away to the Salvation Army, or something.
Ouch! That hurts!
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I am sooooo attracted to that stuff.
Let's talk about the mistakes we make buying clothes
Makes you look good in the change room and crap when you get home?
Although if I'm tired and emotional and just needing a pick me up I can still make mistakes, case in point the two pairs of wedgies I got on sale at Target earlier in the year. They were $3.87 AU a pair!! 
