Is anyone else an 'aspirational' shopper?

[InTheBox]

I tend to buy clothes with a view to fitting in them eventually one day. This 'one-day' invariably never comes so I'm left with a wardrobe full of nice clothes that I can't wear. I also buy clothes thinking it would look great on a night out for dinner or drinks with friends but again as I'm not a social butterfly so to speak this day never comes.

I know it's something I need to break away from but when something lovely catches my eye I just sort of tilt my head in a wistful way and vow to use it

Well i have bought things to go out in and then dont wear them on that night for some reason or another but i do stick to my guns diet wise.
I often buy things that are a bit too small. I do actually lose the weight and oh what pleasure i have then putting them on!!!!
I do the 5:2. Its great :)

i'm an aspirational sewer! I'll go to the fabric store and head for the most unlikely diaphanous fabrics , silks , velvets, lace, etc and then choose a highly unlikely pattern. pay for it all , spend loving hours making it , try it on and never ever wear the outfit . Then years later i'll remake it and maybe wear it a few times then donate to Salvation Army.

Yep. I have a wardrobe of clothes which are just right for visiting art galleries, lunching with friends, or spending cultured weekends in European cities.

But what I actually wear is fleece and leggings when not at work, and we go camping when we have holidays, so I wear my fleece and leggings again. Classy.

Not in the sense of sizes, but I buy clothes that are too "special" for my lifestyle and then struggle to find times to wear them. In reality I could manage perfectly well with maybe one summer and one winter party dress.

How about stopping going to shops?

It is strangely addictive and when you stop you stop wanting to buy things.

I don't, and I think Poocatcher's advice is good. My mum does this with coats and jackets. She has one for every conceivable occasion and buys a new one every season while never getting rid of old ones. She also sews dresses or suits for special occasions (Amarmai) and keeps everything she makes with the intention of wearing it again, but with each new special occasion she goes ahead and makes something new. My sister and I will have to go through it all one of these days. We have suggested to her that keeping wedding outfits isn't necessary now that the youngest of her nieces and nephews is now safely married but she says stuff she wore in the 80s is all coming back again and of course she will wear that pencil skirt, etc. But to where? She loves to browse through the shops and that is her downfall as clothes are therefore on her mind. She should dress up and go to see some nice exhibitions or museums, both of which she would greatly enjoy (I am sure she could get free admission as she is over 80) but shopping - or rather buying while browsing - is something you can just drift into without a plan.

I read lots of fashion blogs, and sometimes forget I'm a 48yo mum-of-three, working in a part-time local job with a low-key social life, and I'll go out and buy something very high-fashion or super trendy. Something I would never have the opportunity to wear without looking ridiculously out of place.

Luckily, I usually realise the error of my ways and return the item before I wear it.

I don't do this often, luckily, but I have a few items of clothes that are too nice to wear ever.

I go to maybe 3 parties a year. My DH does not like going out/eating out and as I live in the sticks, with 2 boys and a dog, I live in Wellies. skinnies and warm jumpers/rainproof coats, with my hair tied back or in a hat.

Still, I bought a beautiful pink silk top the other day. Which I'll never ever wear...

One of the most interesting parts of the House of colour "style type" day is when they make you fill in a pie chart of how you actually spend your time. So simple and really enlightening and for me helped me realise it's ok to spend a bit of money on nice things to wear to work as I spend more than half my week there.

I agree with that Gillybobs I'm going back to work soon after 6 years of SAHMing, and I'm planning on buying some really nice work shoes. Friends are horrified that I'd spend a lot on work shoes but hey, I'm spending 40 hours a week + in them, they may as well be lovely!!

Absolutely!

YES!! I've got loads of unworn clothes just one size too small, perimenopsuse has wreaked havoc, is my lame excuse, fact is too much overindulging. And I'm drawn like a magpie to anything sparkly/glittery. I've done the turning hangers around thing, trying to make positive healthy changes to get down a size. Anything that remains unworn this year will be chucked out.

One of the best bits of advice I saw on this board is to think about the activities you actually do on a daily basis and buy clothes for those occasions.

I am definitely shopping for the wrong lifestyle.

One of the advantages of a formal office job is that I don't have this problem; short of a full length ball gown nothing is ever too good for work. I do have a bit of a chocolate biscuit/perimenopause issue though.

Not size-wise, although I am hanging on to too-big clothes just in case.

But definitely for the lifestyle I don't have. I dropped two dress sizes last year and splurged on new clothes. But this winter I've realised that whilst I've got lots of lovely dresses and going out stuff, I've hardly got any jumpers and long sleeve tops suitable for work.

I'm a House of Colour stylist, and it's something I see all the time when I go to do wardrobe decluttering sessions. And something we talk about a lot in the personal style class, and tackle it in various ways. When I first went to HoC as a client it really made me realise I actually needed to buy clothes as a SAHM rather than looking at my wardrobe of workwear and going 'I have lots of clothes, I can't buy more.'

Hopefully What does your role entail? It sounds as if I'd need something like that because I just can't seem to throw anything away. The few times I have donated my clothes to a local charity I still think about how great I'd look in them .

I know it's a habit that I need to break out of and in the big scheme of things this isn't really an issue but thanks for responses.

I have absolutely loads of summer clothes that are lovely. If you looked in my wardrobe you guess that I spent 10 months of the year in the tropics.

Sadly I don't. i live in the north of England, where summer dresses are useful for about 3 days each year. I haven't even been on a hot holiday for 6 years.

My clothes are aspirational wrt climate!

You need to organise drinks at a place that is good enough for your clothes!

inthebox I do all parts of styling basically - wardrobe decluttering, shopping trips, colour and style analysis, mood/new season Pinterest boards etc etc. Different clients need different things, but quite a common starting point is a wardrobe review where we'll go through a wardrobe, do the lifestyle pie chart that Gillybobs mentioned up thread and work out what gaps/excesses there are. It's a fascinating bit of the job!