How to stop wasting money on clothes
/If you ever feel like you’re spending too much of your disposable income on clothes, or have lots of items in your wardrobe that you never wear (or have never worn and still have the tags on), then you’re definitely in good company.
The average woman only wears 20% of her wardrobe - no shock there really, doesn’t everything fall under the 80/20 rule in some way? But we can do better than this! And we can stop wasting money on clothes that go unworn.
Here are 10 tips that will help you stop wasting money on clothes:
Spend time observing what you actually wear - in the first instance, you can simply observe (and preferably make a record of) exactly what you love wearing and wear most of. I’ve been doing daily videos in my private Facebook Group during November 2020 and - this is the good bit - have documented my outfits and used a clothes rail to put everything I wear during the month on the rail. This is a great exercise and one that I stole from author and fashion editor Erica Davies.
Develop your personal style - working with a stylist or working with online resources and books, as well as learning from your own wardrobe, I recommend taking time to research the styles you love. Consider your style personality as well as the colours and shapes that work best for you. A Style & Colour Consultation is a great place to start with this.
Know what you’ve got in your wardrobe so you know the gaps and don’t make mistakes by buying the same things over and again - again, point 1 will help, but organisation is also key so that you don’t keep buying repeats. This is a very common issue - you go shopping for clothes intentionally but don’t find anything you like, and in your frustration end up buying another [insert item you frequently buy here]. Black trousers and grey tops seems to be quite common go-to pieces!
Add pieces strategically - once you know what’s in your wardrobe, then focus on the gaps first - very often this is all about missing basics - before adding in the fun, personality pieces. Sometimes wardrobes are full of unworn, fun pieces, simply because the basics aren’t in place.
Style it 3 ways - for any new piece that comes into your wardrobe, it needs to earn its place. Can you style it 3 different ways with the items that are already in your wardrobe?
Buy colours that work together so your wardrobe becomes more versatile - this was a game changer for me. Once I understood what colours worked for me, I realised that the colours within my palette also worked with each other. Suddenly (ok not suddenly, because it took time to transition to my new palette, but in time) I had a lot more to play with!
Consider whether you are emotional shopping - I think this is an issue for lots of women (me certainly). Instead of browsing the shops or online shopping (it’s very hard when you get constantly retargeted by ads too), is there something else you could do with your time? Perhaps avoiding social media and the shops for a while or heading into nature instead of the Mall.
Don’t impulse buy online - when you do see something that you like, don’t buy it straight away. Pin it! Keep a Pinterest wish list and see if you still want it the following day/week. The overnight test is usually a good one, the one week later test is even better.
ALWAYS (yes, I am shouting) take or send things back that don’t fit or that you can’t style 3 ways - if you can’t resist a bargain, this is particularly important! There’s always a temptation to keep something because it was only £11 (and I mean, that’s only the price of 3 Starbucks coffees really) and the effort of taking it back is quite a big effort. MAKE THE EFFORT! And don’t keep anything that doesn’t fit you today - not something that will look great if you just lose a couple of pounds. Choose things that look great on you today.
Keep a tally of your budget - a bargain here or there can add up. Again, bargain hunters, I’m talking to you! I would call myself a recovering bargain hunter, although I do have the occasional relapse (see above for impulse buying online whilst emotionally shopping). Write down on the notes in your phone or on a Post-It note exactly what you’ve spent on clothes.
I hope that these tips have helped you see where you might be wasting your money and how to improve any bad habits. I feel like I wrote this article for my former self! If you’d like any help developing your personal style, then take a look at my services which are all available online (except the in person shopping trips of course).
