Fall Shopping Essentials

I wanted to talk about my shopping plans for this fall, don't get mad, ok? It's just that I still get so excited when I see ads for back-to-school shopping. I know it's sick, but it's the result of having a Mom who's a teacher. She even loves this commercial:

This time of year brings back memories of how much I used to love to go back-to-school shopping with my mom and sister for sweaters, plaid, and tights. Every year around this time, we would spend a day at the mall buying shiny new shoes and crisp sweaters and jeans. After, I would excitedly run up the stairs to my room, dump out all my bags, and re-try on all the clothes we had just bought.

 

My best friend through elementary school, Lauren, would always have her first day of school outfit picked out by July. It always gave me such anxiety since I was never even close to having mine picked out yet. Picking out your first day of school outfit was so stressful- it was the first impression you got to show your new classmates how cool you'd become over the summer. I clearly always nailed it- especially since our mom had this peculiar thing of always liking us wear plaid the first day of school. On the first day of third grade I insisted on wearing a Batman hat to match my plaid skirt. I was always pushing the envelope when it came to grade-school fashion.

I still intend to nail it this fall, and these are the items I think will help do it. It all goes with my Hustle & Shine Strategy of shopping smarter too, because I've been taking mental stock of the items I need to round out and fill certain gaps in my wardrobe.

1. Chunky gold necklace

gold-plated chainlink necklace





Helga Necklace

Adison Necklace

2. Classic Pencil Skirts



Cotton Pencil Skirt





J.Crew No. 2 pencil skirt

 

 





Express Studio Stretch Welt Pocket Pencil Skirt



3. Smart Blouses

 

 



Contrast Trim Portofino Shirt







Racing Stripe Portofino Shirt



Striped Convertible Sleeve Portofino Shirt



4. Flattering Pants





Gap Perfect Trouser Pant





 

 

Studio Stretch Barely Boot Editor Pant



5. Black Pumps

 *And you'll notice I only buy shoes from Target-- I love them!



Target Merona Meg Chunky Heel Pump











Target Mossimo Vivian Pointy Heel





Merona Maye Core Heel - Black

 



 





 

Shopping Smarter

On a recent impulsive shopping trip to Old Navy, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try out my new strategy.

The impulsive shopping trips are always the ones that cause me to make the worst shopping decisions. On these types of shopping trips, I'm not out shopping for anything specific, I'm simply in the mood to spend (which is bad!) Here's a recap of how this shopping trip went, using my new strategy:

 

Item #1: Printed Tunic (this color is out of stock online)

 

 

 

I loved this tunic (and it was on sale for $14!) but it definitely broke a lot of my rules. First of all, I don't think I would have paid full price of $29.94 for it. Secondly, It's unquestionably a summer or vacation top which would look very odd worn in any other season. Also, I just couldn't think of several occasions to wear it.  I did think it would look equally cute with white skinny jeans, white shorts, and denim jeans.

 

The decision: I followed my rule to sleep on it, and put it on hold.

 

 

 Item #2: Tie-Dye Chiffon Cover-Up

The second item was this cute tie-dye beach cover up. I loved it and it was on sale for $20 (from $24.94), and would have still paid full price for it.

 

I loved this, but besides possibly on a few boat trips - I wasn't sure how much I would wear it. If I owned a pool or was planning a beach vacation soon, I probably would have grabbed it, but sadly neither of those is true.  

 

The decision: put on hold

 

Item #3: Sleeveless Chambray Dress

 

 

 

 

This dress I was unsure about, and was shopping for only one occasion in mind, the cookout I was attending that day. Other than that, I wasn't sure where else I would wear it, to work with a cardigan maybe? It was a really sweet dress, but I also wasn't sure how flattering it was. It was not on sale, so I knew I didn't just like it because it was on sale, and it could also be worn in three seasons I thought.

 

The decision: I was definitely unsure on this one, so on hold it went.

 

Actually, I was definitely unsure of all three items I selected, which should be the golden rule of my entire strategy: if you don't immediately love something, don't get it! You either know, or you don't.

 

So, I put them all on hold and decided to think about it for a day. I never went back, and feel ok about it , knowing that these three items don't really have a place in my closet.

 

 That same night out to dinner, I saw a woman wearing a similar style top to the tunic, and I felt a small pang of "should I have gotten that!?" but it quickly passed.

Hustle & Shine Strategy- Shop Smarter- In Action

One of my favorite things to do is fill up an online shopping cart on with everything I would ever want, then slowly go back and trim it down to something more fiscally-sane. I usually never end up buying anything, but it's still fun and my version of virtual window-shopping. SO I thought I would do just that on J.Crew Factory, but this time following my new Hustle & Shine Strategy to Shop Smarter.

 

Here's a recap of the strategy:

 

 

Following the strategy, here's what I ended up with: 

 

1    2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9

 

I could imagine mixing a bunch of these items, and the dress would work well for special occasions and I could even wear it to work with the cardigan.  Though the pants (1) and skirt (3) are both in fun prints, the neutral colors would allow me to mix them with all four of the sweaters and tops.  

 

 

Here are some of the pieces I loved, but broke several rules in my new strategy so I forced myself to "put back" from my cart:

 

 

I'll be applying these rules whenever I shop, now that the No Shop July is over. (I'll give my update on how I did with that.. I broke a few rules but still did OK...) It was definitely the shopping-detox I needed and now that I have cleansed my over-spending, I need to be smarter on what I do choose to buy.

 

Hustle & Shine Strategy #2: Shop Smarter

 

 

I'm self-admittedly, a horrible shopper - I don't make smart clothing choices, I buy on impulse, and I never consider my overall wardrobe. They say the first step of solving a problem is recognizing you have one, right? I definitely recognize I have a problem - it's coming up with the solution that's the hard part.  This led me to the creation my next Hustle & Shine Strategy: Shop Smarter.

I want to start applying the habit of buying clothing pieces I absolutely love and are practical and contributory to my overall wardrobe. I've heard once you should shop for the climate you live in. Since I live in New England, it is absolutely absurd the amount of shorts I own. I am definitely drawn towards summer clothing more - I love flowy tanks and breezy sundresses. This just isn't practical though, since I can only enjoy these items for 3 months out of the year. It would make a lot more sense to invest more heavily in transitional pieces to wear throughout my locale's climate.

Another good rule of thumb comes from Michael Kors:

"70 percent of the clothes you own should be meat and potatoes. 30 percent should be icing and fluff — that’s colour, pattern, shine, accessories. Too many women get the proportions the other way round, then can’t figure out why they can’t get dressed."

This quote resonates so much with me,  I buy stuff on impulse and because it's fun and pretty. I'm way more likely to buy the black, sequined shorts (that I might wear once, or not ever) than smart, black trousers (that I would wear weekly to work). See?! There I go again wanting to buy shorts!

 

Often while I'm in the hyped-up state of browsing through perfectly displayed racks of clothing- wanting everything in sight/being a retail marketer's dream - it's hard for me to make rational decisions. I've been in a dressing room for more than 30 minutes trying to decide if I should purchase something or not. I'll often unabashedly send pictures from a dressing room to my sister for reinforcement, always unintentionally making the most ridiculous wannabe-model face which she makes fun of every time.

 

So the moral of the story is, I need to learn how to shop smarter so I've come up with a strategy to do so:

 

 

Don't buy something if you don't already own other clothes to match it. You'll just have to buy even more-- buy items to fit into your current wardrobe. 

 

Don't buy crazy amounts of shorts if you live in New England, and don't buy a ton of wool sweaters if you live in Florida.

If I am even a little bit unsure if I should buy something- I put it on hold, sleep on it, and if I think about it again I go back and buy it. If I never go back and get it the next day, clearly I can live without it. This is  a good tactic for someone who is as indecisive as I am.

 

 Follow Michael Kors'  30/70 rule

 I love striped shirts- I own at least 10 already, yet I can't stop buying more. Know what specific  type of clothing you already have a ton of, and stop buying so many more that you don't need.

 ...buy it only if you would have paid full price for it. I do this ALL THE TIME. I'll buy a shirt for the sole reason that it was on sale for $10(!!!) but would never have paid full price for it, so I never wear it-- so it's not a good deal! My uncle says: "A deal is not a good deal unless you need it." so true.

 I bought a dress once and said to my Aunt "I'll wear this when we go shopping for my wedding dress!" a. That's ONE occasion I could think I would wear this dress and b. I wasn't even engaged yet. That's psychotic, and my Aunt thankfully told me it was (but I still bought the dress.) 

Don't buy stuff for occasions or events you might go to. If you wouldn't wear it today, don't buy it.

 

 

 Do you have any tips to shopping smarter and avoiding buyer's remorse? I'd love to hear!