So many things resonated with me in this newsletter!
First, thank you for sharing your discovery of 'impulse vs spontaneous purchase'! It makes so much sense to me, and I'm going to use it while analyzing my own shopping for the year, as well as while going forward.
You did so well with your shopping this year! Climate and size changes are the types of things that will force us to buy more, no matter how sustainable and careful we try to be. It's just a part of life. I'm struggling with my size situation, because I keep fluctuating constantly (literally one day something fits and the next day it doesn't) and it's so hard for me to figure out what to keep and when to move on. I had my Dries khaki trousers widened at the waist so that they fit better, but there's probably two dozen items in my closet that I can't figure out what to do with. Oh well! Maybe time will bring clarity at some point.
I have goals for next year re: shopping, and it's mostly the same as always: buy less, buy better. The divide between impulse / spontaneous buying will be a big one in the coming year, I suspect.
The "spontaneous vs impulse" thing was so clarifying for me too...kudos to the Sustain This podcast folks for being able to discuss these things so well. I was in a thrift store today and was seriously tempted by a pair of corduroy trousers because they were so nice, but I realised I was just in the mood to buy something, and being able to tell that they were more of an impulse buy made it a lot easier to say no.
Overall, the guilt was real for sure but I've made my peace with it and I think I'm going into the new year feeling a lot better and happier about the foundations of my wardrobe. I don't really think numbers are the only indicator of whether we're shopping thoughtfully, but I like having something to aim for!
echoing this! confession: i bought double what lin did in 2023 (face palm). i was coming to grips with needing to size up in almost everything after having needed to size down just a few years earlier. i sold/donated much of my wardrobe and as a result still have about the same # as i did last december, which gives me a tiny bit of relief, although i would definitely like to have less. like you, tiia, i now see my size is going up and down periodically (thank you, mid-40s!) and i have to be careful about not setting myself up for failure every two years. now, i will only buy items that would still fit if i gain a few pounds (seems stupidly obvious but it hasn't been to me).it goes beyond size though. i simply love the thrill of buying and recognize it's not great. so, i would like to genuinely give a 5-10 item shopping goal in 2024 a try. i need to play in my own closet and continue to sell things on poshmark, which takes time and energy. i think mapping out what to allow yourself is a great approach! gonna give it some thought...
I used to think it was pointless to plan my buys but I think it really needs to be done if the overall goal is to do a low/no-buy, because I'm the kind of person that needs some guardrails to help me process what I'm doing. I like being to pick up say, a really nice dress and be able to compare it against what's on my to-buy list, and say 'no, I would rather buy the thing on my list.'
Body size is a tough one! It's why I sometimes purchase things a little too big...I make tiny (and reversible) alterations to make it fit better and then I can let it out if I do go up a size. I'll be 40 next year and I expect to be on even more of a size rollercoaster in the years to come so I guess all we can do is to be kind to ourselves...
i also think it could be a useful exercise when feeling the urge to buy something to ask oneself: “if i was only allowing myself 5(ish) items this year, could i fathom this being worthy of one slot?”
even without a predetermined list, i think this question can evoke a meaningful gut response, and perhaps even help us to determine what it is we truly need, if anything, in our wardrobes...
I'm with you Amy, in almost doubling Lin's numbers for the year. (face palm, here, too.) It was a challenging year for me, for sure. Size issues, mood shopping, the usual story. I'm trying to not beat myself up though, and hopefully I'll do better next year.
Lin, I always love your newsletters and like to take a thoughtful minute to reply. So appreciated the deep dive into why the Needles trousers were such a good fit for you. I'm in the midst of reading The Creative Pragmatist (I can see you are an Amy fan too) and it sounds like those trousers were the epitome of how Amy talks about finding clothes that just fit you.
I LOVED your first lesson of dressing for your real-self and not your fantasy-self. This is something I struggled with a lot when I was still on Instagram because I was buying items that influencers recommended and I think most influencers are a fantasy-self even to THEMSELVES. But it was really Lesson Three that stuck with me, specifically when you wrote, "What I don’t love about online shopping is how it can sneakily take over my life—it is too easy to spend hours online, obsessing over pictures of a coveted item, researching sizes, pricing and shipping options." This really pegged one of my most unhealthy habits with shopping. I have Pinterest boards with my wishlist (I do think wishlists can be helpful) but then I just revisit the boards over and over and become obsessive about the items on them.
Bravo to you on becoming a mindful consumer and inspiring me to perhaps only buying a certain number of items on the quest to being thoughtful myself! I am very interested in those Studio Nicholson pants you posted ;)
Thank you so much, I'm glad that my experiences have been helpful to you, and it's really helped to see that other people run into the same roadblocks that I have-sometimes I wonder whether I'm the only one with a shopping a problem because my friends and my partner don't seem to struggle the same way! So true that even influencers are living out a "fantasy self"-it's so easy to forget that. For example, I have never been able to keep a sweater over my shoulder for more then 5 minutes unless I'm sitting down, and I really do not know how people do the super-long trousers without tripping over themselves...
This post inspired me to look into the 5 fashion items a year movement. Having now learned more about it, I’ve decided to go for it in 2024. Thanks for the inspiration! Happy New Year!
This was really illuminating! Like a few others have commented, I loved the introduction you gave to the idea of "impulsivity vs spontaneity" - something I will keep in mind when I'm shopping in future!
Even though my style is a world away from yours (I really like your style and the silhouettes you create, but it's not for me), your advice and suggestions are transferable enough that I can consider them when looking at my own wardrobe.
I've never been as articulate as you about why I like the things I like, sometimes it comes down to pure laziness but what you said about wanting clothes to embody certain qualities made me think about what I want out of mine, as in the clothes I actually wear in my day-to-day. It's easy to think about 'what I want' from an outfit where I've actually made an effort and had to think things through; not so much in an outfit that's the kind I just snatch up every day to put on without thinking at all, barring the obvious (physical comfort).
(I'm another one who shopped well over that 5-items threshold this year, even if everything barring lingerie was actually secondhand - I haven't bought a single clothing item firsthand in 2023, which is a first)
That point about impulse vs spontaneity is so good, I like to think I'm good at ruthlessly tamping down on impulse buys and honing what I call my 'bullshit radar' but that point about spontaneity feeling like something clicks into place is almost exactly how I feel on encountering such pieces, too.
So many things resonated with me in this newsletter!
First, thank you for sharing your discovery of 'impulse vs spontaneous purchase'! It makes so much sense to me, and I'm going to use it while analyzing my own shopping for the year, as well as while going forward.
You did so well with your shopping this year! Climate and size changes are the types of things that will force us to buy more, no matter how sustainable and careful we try to be. It's just a part of life. I'm struggling with my size situation, because I keep fluctuating constantly (literally one day something fits and the next day it doesn't) and it's so hard for me to figure out what to keep and when to move on. I had my Dries khaki trousers widened at the waist so that they fit better, but there's probably two dozen items in my closet that I can't figure out what to do with. Oh well! Maybe time will bring clarity at some point.
I have goals for next year re: shopping, and it's mostly the same as always: buy less, buy better. The divide between impulse / spontaneous buying will be a big one in the coming year, I suspect.
The "spontaneous vs impulse" thing was so clarifying for me too...kudos to the Sustain This podcast folks for being able to discuss these things so well. I was in a thrift store today and was seriously tempted by a pair of corduroy trousers because they were so nice, but I realised I was just in the mood to buy something, and being able to tell that they were more of an impulse buy made it a lot easier to say no.
Overall, the guilt was real for sure but I've made my peace with it and I think I'm going into the new year feeling a lot better and happier about the foundations of my wardrobe. I don't really think numbers are the only indicator of whether we're shopping thoughtfully, but I like having something to aim for!
echoing this! confession: i bought double what lin did in 2023 (face palm). i was coming to grips with needing to size up in almost everything after having needed to size down just a few years earlier. i sold/donated much of my wardrobe and as a result still have about the same # as i did last december, which gives me a tiny bit of relief, although i would definitely like to have less. like you, tiia, i now see my size is going up and down periodically (thank you, mid-40s!) and i have to be careful about not setting myself up for failure every two years. now, i will only buy items that would still fit if i gain a few pounds (seems stupidly obvious but it hasn't been to me).it goes beyond size though. i simply love the thrill of buying and recognize it's not great. so, i would like to genuinely give a 5-10 item shopping goal in 2024 a try. i need to play in my own closet and continue to sell things on poshmark, which takes time and energy. i think mapping out what to allow yourself is a great approach! gonna give it some thought...
thanks, lin, for writing this.
I used to think it was pointless to plan my buys but I think it really needs to be done if the overall goal is to do a low/no-buy, because I'm the kind of person that needs some guardrails to help me process what I'm doing. I like being to pick up say, a really nice dress and be able to compare it against what's on my to-buy list, and say 'no, I would rather buy the thing on my list.'
Body size is a tough one! It's why I sometimes purchase things a little too big...I make tiny (and reversible) alterations to make it fit better and then I can let it out if I do go up a size. I'll be 40 next year and I expect to be on even more of a size rollercoaster in the years to come so I guess all we can do is to be kind to ourselves...
i also think it could be a useful exercise when feeling the urge to buy something to ask oneself: “if i was only allowing myself 5(ish) items this year, could i fathom this being worthy of one slot?”
even without a predetermined list, i think this question can evoke a meaningful gut response, and perhaps even help us to determine what it is we truly need, if anything, in our wardrobes...
I'm with you Amy, in almost doubling Lin's numbers for the year. (face palm, here, too.) It was a challenging year for me, for sure. Size issues, mood shopping, the usual story. I'm trying to not beat myself up though, and hopefully I'll do better next year.
Lin, I always love your newsletters and like to take a thoughtful minute to reply. So appreciated the deep dive into why the Needles trousers were such a good fit for you. I'm in the midst of reading The Creative Pragmatist (I can see you are an Amy fan too) and it sounds like those trousers were the epitome of how Amy talks about finding clothes that just fit you.
I LOVED your first lesson of dressing for your real-self and not your fantasy-self. This is something I struggled with a lot when I was still on Instagram because I was buying items that influencers recommended and I think most influencers are a fantasy-self even to THEMSELVES. But it was really Lesson Three that stuck with me, specifically when you wrote, "What I don’t love about online shopping is how it can sneakily take over my life—it is too easy to spend hours online, obsessing over pictures of a coveted item, researching sizes, pricing and shipping options." This really pegged one of my most unhealthy habits with shopping. I have Pinterest boards with my wishlist (I do think wishlists can be helpful) but then I just revisit the boards over and over and become obsessive about the items on them.
Bravo to you on becoming a mindful consumer and inspiring me to perhaps only buying a certain number of items on the quest to being thoughtful myself! I am very interested in those Studio Nicholson pants you posted ;)
Thank you so much, I'm glad that my experiences have been helpful to you, and it's really helped to see that other people run into the same roadblocks that I have-sometimes I wonder whether I'm the only one with a shopping a problem because my friends and my partner don't seem to struggle the same way! So true that even influencers are living out a "fantasy self"-it's so easy to forget that. For example, I have never been able to keep a sweater over my shoulder for more then 5 minutes unless I'm sitting down, and I really do not know how people do the super-long trousers without tripping over themselves...
Haha YES!! I have never been able to pull off a sweater over the shoulders!
Thank you for the mention! I think you did admirably and I always think we learn as much from our mistake purchases as we do from the winners!
You're very welcome and I'm such a big fan of how you talk about personal style and getting dressed, so thank you for popping up here!
I have had the most fun shopping my own closet and putting things together in new ways, recommend it!
Yes! I like to do it when I need a break from my work..sometimes I just change outfits halfway through the day. The joys of working from home!
This post inspired me to look into the 5 fashion items a year movement. Having now learned more about it, I’ve decided to go for it in 2024. Thanks for the inspiration! Happy New Year!
This was really illuminating! Like a few others have commented, I loved the introduction you gave to the idea of "impulsivity vs spontaneity" - something I will keep in mind when I'm shopping in future!
Even though my style is a world away from yours (I really like your style and the silhouettes you create, but it's not for me), your advice and suggestions are transferable enough that I can consider them when looking at my own wardrobe.
I've never been as articulate as you about why I like the things I like, sometimes it comes down to pure laziness but what you said about wanting clothes to embody certain qualities made me think about what I want out of mine, as in the clothes I actually wear in my day-to-day. It's easy to think about 'what I want' from an outfit where I've actually made an effort and had to think things through; not so much in an outfit that's the kind I just snatch up every day to put on without thinking at all, barring the obvious (physical comfort).
(I'm another one who shopped well over that 5-items threshold this year, even if everything barring lingerie was actually secondhand - I haven't bought a single clothing item firsthand in 2023, which is a first)
That point about impulse vs spontaneity is so good, I like to think I'm good at ruthlessly tamping down on impulse buys and honing what I call my 'bullshit radar' but that point about spontaneity feeling like something clicks into place is almost exactly how I feel on encountering such pieces, too.