Saving stuff for best

[Osc70]

Do any other people save clothes for best ?
I wear all my old scruffy stuff and have loads of lovely clothes I’m saving for best ?

Any ideas on how to break this pointless habit .?

Yes, mad isn't it? I don't know why I do it. I'm all ears if anyone can suggest how to change it.

I used to do this.

Then, I had a clear out and had to get rid of clothes that had become dated and toiletries that had gone off.

Now, I regularly use my nice stuff. I don't use them everyday, but a couple of times s month so it still feels like a treat. I do try and take care of my nice stuff though - bags and shoes are spray protected and polished, nice clothing is worn with a base layer as I'm really sweaty.

There was a thread about this a while ago that really helped me - I never used to use fancy toiletries I got for Christmas but would save them for something (what?!) and keep buying the cheap stuff with my supermarket shop to use. Now I use the posh stuff up. And it's lovely! And I've started planning my outfits the night before which means I'm more likely to wear nice clothes. As I never used to plan to wear a faded hoodie and tatty leggings, they were just what I chucked on in a hurry in the mornings as I didn't have time to decide on something else.

You could die tomorrow. Life is WAY too short. Every day is your best day. Use the “stuff”!

If you're a similar age to me (late 40s), you were probably brought up by parents whose own parents had lived through WW2. Rationing didn't end till the mid-50s, and that grandparent generation had to cope with very little. The habits of 'make do & mend' and 'saving for best' were deeply ingrained and passed on to their DC - our parents, who passed them on to us. They are hard to break. I am pretty good at using nice toiletries/make up, but have to work really hard not to save clothes for best.

XX I think you've just hit the nail on the head, for me anyway. I'm exactly that demographic, with very frugal parents & grandparents. Thank you, it explains a lot about why I think that way about nice stuff.

Right. This morning I am going to dig through my wardrobe, find something nice & force myself to wear it

Tryingtogetitright I saw that one as well. I'm not brill at it as yet, but definitely wear and use the nice things far more often than 'just for best'.

Slightly different, but I’ve recently taken 6 bin bags of clothes that are too small for me to the charity shop. I’ve held onto them thinking I will get back into them. In the meantime I only have 4 pairs of pants that actually fit.
My DD follows a famous makeup artist who was given a basket of expensive products, she kept it for ages waiting for the right time to use them; when she eventually did they had gone off and smelled terrible.
We deserve to feel as if every day is our best.
I use my favourite perfume every day and wearing nice underwear makes me feel good about myself after feeling crap for the last year.
Hold your head high and enjoy your nice things. One day our best is going to be the shroud they bury us in!

tryingtogetitright I guess you can’t remember the title of the thread can you ?

XX that’s where I’m sure mine stems from !

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3386841-To-think-we-deserve-to-use-our-nice-stuff
I think this is the previous thread

Oooh yes that's the one! Well found Genuine!

I’m another guilty of this crazy habit.
My only solution so far, is to buy two of the things I like. Weirdly I buy less this way, as I don’t have a whole load of good clothes taking up space but never worn, AND the grotty things I actually wear, including things bought specially to wear for the grubby jobs at work, and dog walking etc. Generally I have one to wear and one is still ‘for best’, but by the time the first is shabby, I’ve got a new favourite anyway.

Well done GenuineKlatchianPottery!

I found doing a big clear out helped, and also making an effort to buy suitable things that are still 'best'. So today I'm in an ebay found whistles pencil skirt with a sweatshirt and trainers. Still practical with DC but a bit more special than jeans. Then tomorrow I'll wear jeans with chunky black boots and a leopard print blouse. Again, easy to wear and comfortable as a SAHM to a toddler but out of the jeans and a hoodie rut of last year.

It's a habit I need to break too, I'll enjoy reading that linked thread

Thankyou for finding the original thread GenuineKlatchianPottery 😊

When my mum died and I was clearing out her clothes there were quite a few things that she clearly saved/was saving "for best" even stuff with the tags still on. It cured me instantly of saving stuff for best. I decided there and then I wasn't having a wardrobe full of stuff I only wear twice a year.

I did it for years and then realised that best never comes or only comes infrequently. Then my friend died - she was much younger than me and I realised that you have to live your life now and use your nice china, wear your good clothes, light the posh candle and enjoy your life.

I agree that it's bonkers to have lovely things that are saved for best and therefore hardly ever get worn. But, it's such a hard habit to break!
I've got several lovely cashmere jumpers that I hardly ever never wear as, in my head, they are 'too good' for everyday wear. But, I looked at them the other day and there were moth holes in 3 of them! It made me realise what a pointless idea having things for best is - I've repaired the holes and the jumpers are now in general circulation.
I've decided that every week I'm going to choose 5 different items out of my wardrobe and make sure that I incorporate them into my outfits that week. My only rule is that they have to be things that I love!

It's about what you've got planned surely? Today I'm going to a music group with my baby and then to see SIL at their house for a coffee, and it's chucking it down. I'm not going to put on a lovely cocktail dress and heels, I'll wear jeans, flat boots and a top/jumper. I do use my nice toiletries on a regular basis though, and if things get tatty I get rid (salvation army rag bank bin)

Absolutely a NO from me. I want to look and feel my best every day. Why wouldn't you, if you already have the nice things? As Nora Ephron said, "Use the good bath oil".

I do agree with your point, whybirdstop that it needs to be occasion appropriate. I don't have things like heels or cocktail dresses though, which makes it easier! I tend to buy things which I'll wear for not-work, then transition them to work once I'm fed up of them, but I'm quite lucky that I'm not restricted by dress code.

I used to do this & then I read an article about not saving for best - it was written by a lady whose friend had died unexpectedly & in her mid 30's - when she helped clear out her things she found lots of stuff saved for occasions inc lots of beauty stuff that had gone off. Now I pretty much use stuff regardless of what im dong especially beauty products - if I died tomorrow I have the bottom of my wardrobe filled with Jo Malone etc etc. Today im at home doing odds & sods & am burning my Jo Malone Pom Noir candle to scent the house together with my lovely cashmere jumper over my pj's !

It was my New Years resolution about 5 years ago to stop saving for best. Not clothes necessarily but wine, glasses, crockery, handbags etc.
Use things, wear things, enjoy them while you can.

I agree that it's got to be occasion appropriate. But, I think the danger, especially if you're a SAHM or work from home (which covers the last several years for me), is that you never end up wearing your lovely things as the occasion always feels too casual. I'm not sitting working in a ballgown although I love the utter eccentricity of that idea , but I have started to wear my 'good' jumpers, skirts etc.. And, in turn, that makes me feel more like putting on my 'best' lipstick and my 'good' jewellery.

I totally get that, hounds, although I love the idea of you sitting working in a ballgown! If I am at home I tend to be in "loungewear", which is essentially glorified pyjamas. I made a conscious decision a few years ago to upgrade my home clothes to much nicer versions instead of ratty old things that were no longer fit to be worn outside the house. I was off work sick a couple of weeks ago with tonsillitis and while I felt like death, at least I didn't look like I'd just rolled in a charity shop bag.

I've been thinking about this thread all morning, and I think the crux of this whole debate is to be mindful of what you buy, and how you will use it. So shopping for the person you are, and the life you have, rather than the person/life you want. I never go out to really fancy dressy-uppy type places, so I don't have that sort of clothes mocking me from my wardobe, but I was happy to splash a load of cash on a beautiful leather skirt, because I knew I would wear it absolutely loads. I tend not to go out lots in the evenings, but I spend money on nice candles and fresh flowers to make sure our home is a lovely space to be in. I love a bath, and like dirt cheap Imperial Leather bath foam which gives LOADS of bubbles - but my spending on perfume and lipstick more than makes up for it!