Laurel Kinney
"When I shop I always....get overwhelmed! Buy the same thing every time! Leave empty-handed!" Yep, these struggles are real, people. Shopping habits are hard to break, and can have a huge effect on your closet. You know that feeling of having nothing to wear in the morning? It can probably be traced to some type of shopping misfire or malady.
This week, I'm sharing three shopping behavioral traits, how they effect your wardrobe, and some tips to prevent them next time you hit the mall.
Main symptoms include a large surplus of clothes that are all the same color (usually black), a majority of clothes purchased from the same 2 or 3 stores, or clothes that all have a similar cut or shape. This malady is caused by a lack of time (you have an hour to shop so you just go to the store and select the pieces you know will work), laziness: "Well, here I am at Target, so I guess I'll just grab another v-neck," or overwhelm/fear of trying something new. The end result is a closet that ends up boring you or feels incomplete.
TIP: Schedule a 2-hour chunk of time to shop without pressure and try on 3 things you NEVER buy. Bonus points for going into a store you've never visited.
The "Look! Shiny!" shopper is easily wooed by anything different. You walk into a store and zero in on the one item that strikes you as not boring. You tend to purchase one-off pieces that feel super special and are typically colorful, patterned, or have some kind of embellishment. You want your clothes to be fun and unique and they are! But then you get home and realize you don't have anything that goes with your new plaid pants because all you own are printed tops.
TIP: Next time you shop, take along one of your awesome statement piece and only try on pieces that will go with it.
This is a particularly tricky disorder because it's easy to live with, and difficult to diagnose for yourself. You love to shop and do it often enough that it's pretty easy to get dressed in the morning. Sometimes, though, you try on a piece of clothing that just doesn't work, or put an outfit on and feel there's something missing. Then one day you realize, "holy moly I own NO necklaces!" and you don't even know where to start.
TIP: Start slow by shopping with that particular item in mind. Purchase a few, take them home to try on with what you have, and return the ones that don't feel right.
Shopping ailments are best diagnosed by an objective outsider. Consider the Sort, Shop, and Style, and get on the road to recovery this fall.