How much do you plan your clothes buys?

[ReadyForSeason]

I always have a “need” list of items with very clear specifications and I find getting the most wear out of these sometimes boring, sometimes accent items. I spend a bit more on these, enjoy researchIng and generally do not regret the investment.

It’s rare for me to buy something on a whim, though it does happen occasionally - I have leant the hard way to mull over for too long, as things sell out. I have an only few of these love at first site items, that are hard-working in my wardrobe.

And then there is an occasional cringe impulse buy that hangs like a silent reproach and ends up donated to charity… This is where I am getting better at making less mistakes.

Please share your shopping strategies just for bants on a cold January night…

There’s been a similar-ish discussion on this thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/4993697-want-to-wear-more-dresses-have-no-idea-what-would-suit-me?reply=132572107

I don't plan at all . I see I like I buy

I have a plan, but it's not necessarily a helpful one. I decide I need want something, the item I want doesn't seem to exist and so I either go without or buy something that's close but wrong. I'm after a bag and gold hoops at the moment and have Very Specific ideas what they should be like so am failing.

I’m trying to be more like you op; I see thinks I like that I can afford and I buy them.
As a result I have a wardrobe full of clothes that I like, that fit me and the colour/style suits me. Unfortunately they often don’t go together so I have 10 tops with no bottoms to match.

I buy almost everything on a whim.

Me too! I went to collect a parcel from Oliver Bonas the other day and bought a cardigan because I liked it!!

Do you arrive at the dentist or surgery or concert hall or theatre with Very Specific ideas of what you want?

I love clothes but I am not a designer - so I go to a shop entirely open to the expectation that people with specific training and talent and insight into the Zeitgeist will have filled the space with new ideas, techniques, crafts and ways for me to see myself anew. I can’t imagine deciding that I would invent the entire world of dressing for myself.

I’m having a great time with 17yo DD at the moment. At school there’s no uniform but they’re all in hoodies and trousers anyway.
But outside school anything goes. Cargo pants and crop tops, blazers, Breton tops, cardigans and wide trousers, sequined dresses and clumpy sandals.

She doesn’t have a personal style yet, but with sales on at -70% she and I can afford to experiment.
She expressed an interest in the Dark Academia style. I spent an afternoon researching it, went to the nearest big shopping centre and came home with 4 things (€35) from the sales, all of which she appreciated.

For me? I know my style and have multiples of everything. I “could” go for years without buying new clothes. But I usually buy on opposite ends of the quality scale, keep the good and chuck out the bad after a couple of years. Two summers ago I bought a “prairie” dress which didn’t pass the storage cull this year.
But in a huge shop like M&S I can make a beeline for a random top that catches my eye, or go find one thing (“Right! Sienna jeans, short length, what size?”) and walk out if it’s not right.

Mixture of both. I look at my Wardrobe at beginning spring and autumn and think is there anything I need … ihavebeen doing this so long now that there usually isn’t! 😉
I do love finding a perfect thing though… that usually happens when I am just browsing… when I go out with he aim of buying something …a new coat for example… I usually fail… when I am not looking The Perfect Coat is just everywhere!

I'm like @Notevenslightlydamp and get an idea in my head, like a stripey thin rib jumper, and then search all over and if I find colours I like it's in a roll neck, or it's the size I want but wrong colours. I don't consider I am trying to invent the world of dressing for myself....

I have been buying on a whim, without any plan. I would try and think of what it would work with in my existing wardrobe, but sometimes I get home or it arrives and I'm wrong!

For 2024, I am allowing myself to buy 24 items. I've tried to figure out my style, and am only buying things that fit my slightly punky or granola girl leanings. I have a list and am working through it. If I get a new fixation, I will have to choose what on the list remove. (This is fun for me, I like rules/guidelines!) As I buy things, I am moving on items that are not getting worn. Interestingly it's usually items that I think are really nice, but don't actually fit into my style so don't get worn.

I am hoping by the end of this year putting an outfit together will be easier. And maybe I will even look like I want to in my head instead of just wearing jeans and hoodies.

@TheOriginalFrench Please share - where do you shop, I am genuinely interested in this approach.

If I see it, like it, can afford it and justify it, I buy it. Like others have said, things sell out quickly and don’t come back into stock, so I don’t like to hang about. Sometimes I’m on the look out for a particular item, but I very rarely have luck when searching for something specific.

I have got better though at stopping myself from disastrous sales purchases.

I don't buy anything that is not needed or that will go with at least 7 to 10 other items.

Mainly buy in a whim. I have a quirky taste in clothing, I don’t have work clothes but mainly work outside so often stick up in outdoor clothes. If I need something like a coat I will take my time finding one that suits my needs, maybe read reviews but with everyday clothes I tend to buy when I see something I like. I probably check my favourite online shops once a week incase new items have been released but I am quite picky in what I buy. I do use vinted a lot too and look on there most evenings.

Ha! I’m probably on any S&B thread over the past decade (or yesterday …) that includes A Very Long List of online shops / brands / resources.

I tend to always make sure I have a good selection of jeans and often browse selections to see what's available. Otherwise it's pretty random, when I see something I like. Yesterday I was browsing in the charity shops in my nearby city and a Max Mara 100% wool blazer caught my eye - £6 -bargain! Needless to say it's now reposing in my wardrobe!

Have to say as someone quite short and a size 16 I'm finding those jeans a bit of a challenge with the fashion for the wide leg ones, whereas narrower leg looks better on me.

I'm trying to be more disciplined and recycle clothes I no longer need otherwise it gets overwhelming and a bit disorganised. I do love clothes shopping though and always keep an eye on websites like Net A Porter etc. to see the best way of styling items.

I very, very rarely buy on a whim. I like my clothes to last years and hate it when I misjudge something so it ends up unworn, or it wears out / looks shabby too quickly. so I consider wardrobe gaps, or required updates / replacements, and go from there.

Instinctively, I know I like various things and have bought them in various iterations over the years (eg black cotton tops, khaki trousers, trainers). I rarely go into high street stores, unlike @TheOriginalFrench , I'm more influenced by street style and what I see others in that looks nice.

I also prefer discount shops like TK Maxx or the Max Mara in Bicester for example. Probably last season, but brands like Marant, Forte Forte, Majestic Filatures, Courreges.... lovely fabrics and classic cuts but prices I can afford.

I have a list of things I would like, which I add to and delete things from quite often.

It often includes items that are inspired from an outfit I’ve seen on someone (whether in real life/Instagram/tv etc). I shop a lot on Vinted so I tend to do search for things, and then either save the search and wait for something to come up or look at the ‘suggested for you’ bit. I’ll also keep an eye out for things if I’m browsing online and if I’m out/wandering around town.

I’m quite specific so I’ll often wait a while for the right thing to come up, and might not get it at all, but shopping/clothes are a bit of a hobby so I enjoy the hunting. At the moment I’m looking for a oversized/relaxed navy pinstripe blazer or jacket….

Ah, no - I must have given the wrong impression, @Graasspp! I shop almost exclusively online - as close to a source as possible. I like seeing what new and emerging designers are doing, and combining those things with items from established brands.

A bit of both. I plan for certain buys and I've been known to take several years to hunt them down. But I also buy a lot on instinct - things that call to me. Nearly all my favourite clothes are in the second category, but equally so are a lot of my mistakes. A lot of my buys are second hand from real shops where you don't have the luxury of time to think.

I'm on the no buy thread and am trying a different approach this year to try to curb my clothes shopping addiction.
So this year I do have a list of planned/approved items and am not allowed to deviate. There's a budget for each item. The problem for me is that it often feels like I find the things I've been looking for randomly, whilst browsing, which runs the risk of being tempted by other things. But I will be strong.

In previous years I have done a mixture of searching for specific items online but also buying stuff I didn't know I wanted until I saw it. I don't end up with stuff that doesn't go together as I have a certain style and colour palette.

I record everything I buy so I can track spending and also later review how successful a purchase was. Also to get a sense of where successful purchases came from and any other patterns.

I buy everything on a whim. I buy all my clothes online, it’s years since I browsed an actual clothes shop.

Yes, this is me.

I know what I want.
I know I would look amazing in it.
It doesn’t exist.
😖

I find this post really strange.

Hopefully you do arrive at a concert hall or theatre with specific ideas of what you're there for. Unless your concert hall and theatre has tickets available on the night all the time and you just drop by to see whatever, you're there to see something you've previously bought tickets to see. I only book things that I think I will like and I look at the information provided by the theatre, the plot summary (if it's not something I'm familiar with), song recordings if it's a musical, things like that. No point wasting my time and money on something I can see in advance I'm not going to enjoy. You can't predict all the directorial choices.

I also think that's fundamentally a different experience than that of buying/wearing clothes. The theatre is over in a few hours. The item will be with me for years.

I don't care about the Zeitgeist. Maybe the dissonance here is that you're very into 'what's fashionable/the look at the moment', down to frills, cutouts, styling of sleeves and length etc. I'm not. I want clothes that cover what I want them to cover, fit comfortably, and look good to me. I want to dress according to my own likes, not the likes of other people. It's not 'inventing the world of dressing'. I'm still going about in trousers, jumper and coat, not a combination of nun/clown/ancient Roman/Victorian outfit, all in clashing 1970s print.

Sometimes people have things made - either by a seamstress directly or through those online made-to-measure shops where you provide measurement - which typically includes an element of choice and design about the final outfit.