Keeping things for "best", holding on to things

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I just wondered whether anyone can relate to this.

You know how some people get a great dress or jacket and wear them to death?
Well, I am not one of those people!!!

I have always loves clothes. In recent years I have had enough money to buy nice things and have a wadrobe I am happy with. BUT I always feel that I have to save stuff in case I have no money in the future to buy new things. I am getting better at this, and tell myself that this is silly, and that in any case I might as wear things now as in 10 years time or whatever they will look dated. I am not a hoarder by any means - I hate clutter - and regularly get rid of clothes I don't wear. But there is always this little voice saying - don't wear those nice boots today, you are not going anywhere special, and you may never be able to afford a pair like that again...

I have analysed this, and I think I have this fear of being poor, which is reflected in my reluctance to "use up" clothes...

Ooooh yes

the cashmere jumper (as yet unworn)
the beaded tops, worn once, carefully washed and put away for the snazzy event that I won't ever go to

I have a double wardrobe plus an extra single bit. My naice clothes get put there.
Winter coats go into those vacuum bags in the loft.

DD is hankering after a NorthFace jacket and I'll bet she'll wear it to death. She doesn't do 'Save For Best'

I am the same.I think it stems from my upbringing, we always had our 'best' clothes and our 'every day' clothes. i think it was that my parents at that time couldnt afford to keep buying me and my sister new clothes. (no primark,or other 'cheap' clothes shops around then.)

I now have 'work' clothes and 'home'/'good' clothes.I cannot afford risking 'spoiling' my good clothes as i wouldnt always have the £ to replace them with like for like quality.

I'm terrible for saving things for 'best'.
I've got clothes that I have worn once or twice as I was saving them for special occasions and am now too fat to wear - what a waste!
Now, I try and ask myself 'if not now, then when' when I'm debating whether to wear one of my nice items!

So glad it's not just me then!!!

Littlediamond - I also have clothes for wearing around the house! Like most people I like to be comfortable at home, but it's more than that - I feel it's a waste to be "using up" nice clothes, even if they are casual, if I am just slobbing around the house!

Without being too morbid, if you were to die tomorrow your clothes would probably be mostly bagged up and sent to a charity shop - the good and special ones amongst the rest.

Why not wear them out now, rather than giving someone else a bargain!!

Me too. So I wear crappy old stuff and look crappy. Instead of my nice stuff that makes me look nice. Like baggy old maternity jeans when I'm back to pre- pregnancy size, instead of nice new skinnies that are really flattering.

I used to do this, but now I don't:)

I tried everything on in front of a mirror, where I could see the back of me too. Everything tatty, out of shape, scuffed- out!

It took a while to get used to it, but I think it was because I was too used to being invisible... And a little voice saying " what are you getting dressed up for, want people to look at you?" I am quite shy and don't like attention.

It took me a while to realise I was dressing down to meet my own assumption I wasn't worth it. Now I wear nice things, enjoy them and I hardly ever replace my wardrobe. And you can't take them with you when you are gone.

But that just me - I don't wear nice things to ruin them painting or anything.

I'm kind of the opposite. In fact, I could do with being a bit more like you OP! If I buy something and love it, especially shoes, I'll wear it to death even on days when I don't 'need' to look nice, then be sad that said item now looks all worn out and I have nothing smart to wear to events!

No, I have never done this. I grew up with nothing and had make do with hand me downs. I wear the clothes and jewellery I love and take very good care of them.

My mum saves things for best, I used to buy her gold when I worked in the Middle East but she wore it twice a year at the most, I now buy her flowers and perfume.

I try not to. When I buy things, I have to be able to work out how I'm going to wear it, and the "perfect" piece will be something I can wear for work and at home. It's something I've got better at as the children have got older and less likely to ruin decent clothes. But things that are obviously "smart going out" type clothes do get saved for appropriate occasions (of which there are v few...).

God yes, I do this all the time. I have several friends who work for high-end/luxury retailers and so have been lucky enought to get quite a few bits heavily discounted. However, I have a tendency to stash them away in my wardrobe and think 'one day I will wear that and be so grateful that I bought it.' When will that one day come?!

The other night I was going out for dinner for DH and put on a gorgeous silk Ralph Lauren dress that I bought at an outlet mall. I then went and changed out of it because I didn't want to 'waste' it on a week-night dinner. DH was very and said 'so why did you buy it if you are never going to wear it?'

I'm another one, lots of nice clothes I've never worn. At the moment I'm trying very hard to wear good clothes at home, instead of my years old dossing outfit of old trackie bottoms and sweatshirt. I always feel vaguely irritated for no good reason when DS2 goes clothes shopping and comes straight home and puts his new clothes on.

I do this too - I buy nice clothes then perceive that they are too good to wear for my everyday life, and then I have nothing to wear - vicious circle!

I don't know why I am like that, it is not as if I buy really expensive clothes. I am going to make an effort to just wear them as it is unlikely my lifestyle is suddenly going to become glamorous..

I do this too. It comes from my upbringing. We had home clothes and I still do. I don't see the point of wearing nice clothes at home as it just gets ruined. I am quite happy to get changed a few times a day - eg get up, wear home clothes, shower, stepping out clothes, come back say from school run, back into home clothes and then back into stepping out clothes for school run and then back into home clothes.

Sounds exhausting just reading it, but it takes less than a minute to get changed. However, if I am in and out all day, then I just wear my stepping out clothes.

I also have a tiny section of very best clothes, for a rare night out. I also have a small section of Asian clothes for weddings.

I do have clothes that I have never worn, which I despair about because its such a waste of money. I try to calculate how much something cost by working out how many times I have worn them.

Yes.

I was brought up with

• school clothes
• play clothes
• Sunday dress (only to be worn to church)
• going out clothes

I now have

• work clothes (now limited after weight loss and not working in the office much)
• slobbing clothes
• normal clothes
• posh stuff; which in reality I haven't worn for about 6 months and can't ever see me wearing again.

I need a makeover!

This is a problem I have been trying to tackle with my own wardrobe so I have evolved a system.
Start by not buying clothes for occasions that will never occur.
Spend most money on items that I know will get lots of wear ( jeans, hoodies, walking shoes, Chelsea type boots etc).

Then try to follow this progression.
Going out to events
Going out generally
Smart indoors
Generally indoors
Doing housework / cleaning
Gardening
Painting and decorating
Cleaning rags

I started this because I was giving good items to the charity shop and buying crappy itchy clothes to wear indoors. Oh and also because I remember my dad wearing an old suit to garden in and he looked really smart.

Same problem here, but I am trying to change. I've had to completely change my wardrobe as I've lost weight. I'm buying most of my new stuff from e-bay as I can't afford new, but I'm buying good quality.

So I'm trying to wear my new nice stuff every day, and I'm wear much more in the way of skirts and dresses and less jeans/tracksuit bottoms. And do you know what, skirts and dresses are really comfortable. Currently wearing a fat-fat skirt and a lovely whistles jumper to do the ironing.

I guess I used to do this, but as I've got older I have a feeling my invites to The Palace may never happen, so have started wearing some of my best clothes everyday. A few very expensive Brora Cashmere items no longer wait to be worn, actually the moths got one cardi........sob........I wear everything, whenever I fancy. Sadly my job requires a kind of uniform so can only wear nice things on days off or holidays. All my good Jewellery gets worn. I have a few expensive pieces, and I am going to wear them as much as possible. Maybe if you are 20 something you are right to keep some things for best.... who knows what might come up...
Wrong side of 45...Wear it all

elliptic5 love the vision of your dad gardening in his suit. I think I shall take inspiration from him and aim for the persona of "that mad lady down the road who gardens in her evening gown and tiara". (right, am off to purchase a tiara...)

I also do this, even today I was thinking I need to buy a pair of ballet pumps for work and then came home and looked in wardrobe and have 2 unworn pairs but I don't want to wear these as want to keep for best crazy I know.

I am the same with clothes and I know that its because at times I have struggled to find clothes in shops that I like/fit right so I worry that if I wear everything I will have nothing left if they get ripped or damaged.

No. Purely because I have a very humdrum life and I KNOW there will never be an occasion when I really need to dress up. So I wear nice things every day, even if I'm just grocery shopping or picking the DCs up from school (disclaimer: by "nice" I do not mean ballgowns or the like - just nice as in good natural fabrics, well-fitting, well-made). I wore cashmere pretty much every day through the winter. I buy it because it's warm, soft, light and comfortable, and wearing it makes me feel happy. So it would be really daft not to wear it.

I grew up in hand-me-downs and charity shop tat, but I think that just makes me want a bit of luxury every day, really.

Wow thought this was just me. Always saving things for best but the best never comes and if it ever does I will have to buy something else

I know what you mean OP. I have some good, expensive clothes but for work I wear smart but cheaper clothes. Nature of the job - they get ruined quickly. I see on here that women wear beautiful dresses and flowers in their hair in the daytime and think I need a makeover too.

I have got better at not buying cheap make up and have realised it is better value for money to wear Urban Decay eyeshadow.. lasts a year or two. I have also tried to get rid of cheaper jewellery in an effort to wear nice sets that are in boxes unused incase something happens to them .

I never go anywhere so if I saved my best clothes for 'best' I'd never wear them. The way I see it is I am worth the best of everything, so saving 'the best' is like saying I'm not good enough.

I think I have this fear of being poor, which is reflected in my reluctance to "use up" clothes
Great thread! This is me, I do recognise that reluctance!. And I really need to de-clutter! Have finally realised that I now have so many clothes that even if I never bought any more I really do still have lifetimes-worth here. I also have a tendency if I find something great to buy three of them - fine if I actually wore them, but...
Have decided now to start wearing all the stuff I have, and , if it is too tight , frumpy etc will take immediately to recycling (not charity shop - I might be tempted to buy it back ...).