SANE wardrobe principles

[Hereallweek]

Related to the fairly inflammatory Guardian article in a thread further down, what are your more sensible wardrobe 'rules' or principles? I'll go first:

• Buy a dark winter coat, or it will spend more time in the wash / at the dry cleaners than on your body.
• Unless you're a fashion genius, or blessed with a skin tone that goes with everything, work out which colours suit you and go well together and mainly buy/wear them. Do the colour me beautiful quiz for a starting point if you're not sure. It saves time in the mornings and simplifies shopping, makes packing for hols easier, plus you'll look healthier/better in colours that really suit your skin.
• Dry Clean Only should be reserved for posh winter coats and wedding guest / black tie dresses only, for everyday clothes the price you're paying will be nowhere near the price it will cost you in cleaning.
• If you buy something and love it, go back and see if they have it in another colour that looks good on you.
• If you buy something, love it, but can't buy it anymore, put a saved search on eBay and Vinted to track down a replacement for when it wears out.
• You need more tops than bottoms, obviously.

A dear older friend once said to me always buy top and bottom in sets. So if you are looking for just a top, also get the bottom even if you don't need it as you will spend less time trying to combine it from your current wardrobe where in the end you just stop wearing it as you struggle to combine it.

If I try something on and don't want to do a little dance in it, it's a no! I've bought too much 'That'll do' over the years and it always ends up being worn once then I revert to my favourites.

I def agree with buying something in more then one colour if you love it. Ive always kicked myself when I havent done this and the item has gone out of stock.

Also ignore the fashion rules if they dont work for your lifestyle and figure.
Similarly ignore the rules that say when you can wear things. For instance you dont need 6 wedding guest outfits if you never go to any weddings.....
but if you want them because you enjoy wearing them to Tesco or to walk the dog then you do you!

Yes! I should have put that too, I'm a big fan of 'does it make me want to do a little dance in the mirror?' as a test of whether to keep it.

Thought SANE was an acronym so here’s my contribution:
S - suitable. Does it fit in with your lifestyle, work patterns, responsibilities, hobbies and climate where you live?
A - affordable. Is it worth the money? Will you get enough wear out of it?
N - nice. Do you look and feel good in it and want to do a little dance? Is it good enough quality? Is it flattering? (Colour/style/fit)
E - ethical. Is it made from organic, fair trade, sustainable fabrics? Preloved? Was child labour used in its production? Are toxic dyes used? Etc