Don’t save it for best! A thread to encourage each other to wear our good stuff

[MakemineaGandT]

Following up on the ‘style goals for 2026’ thread, I thought it was interesting how many of us plan to stop saving things for ‘best’ and just enjoy our wardrobes as much as possible. I definitely want to ‘shop my wardrobe’ and wear what I have.

So, perhaps here we can share our successes and spur each other on?!

Today I wore a top I’ve had for 17 years….it looks like new, which shows how much time it has clearly spent sitting in my wardrobe rather than on my body! It’s only a black polo neck - why on earth have I been ‘saving’ it?!

I finally wore a new nightdress when I spent 2 nights at my sister's house. It was more expensive and fussy than I generally wear. It felt too good to wear at home. It's ridiculous to think that way. Now I've worn it once I'll keep wearing it. I've had it over 6 months but been wearing out older ones first.

I’ve realised that most of the clothes I already own are much nicer than what’s in the shops nowadays. Time to enjoy wearing them!

I have this goal for this year, however it’s been minus six the last few mornings so any outfit I wear is covered up by my floor length puffer coat and wellies so I’m postponing until the weather improves!

I’ve a friend with a lovely wardrobe of expensive clothes she’d worn to weddings and events. Then she promoted them to what she called her ‘down the pub’ range. She has great confidence, and we are always dying to see what she’ll wear next. One Saturday she wore a fascinator with a maxi dress 🤩 some things look a bit dated in their original style so she mixes it up

I love this, for me it started in the pandemic. It's when I truly started dressing for me. It wasn't quite what I would have chosen as a little girl with regard to that absolute abandon and freedom of expression, but it was the start of being comfortable with looking fancier than the occasion called for. Even my loungewear and nightwear have been improved, and I've got rid of everything else, so if I'm cleaning the car or house or gardening or whatever I am still wearing things I love.

Thanks for starting this thread. Ive also been thinking about using nice things. Only thing is, I don’t really go anywhere. I work from home and do the school run. It’s so rare I go anywhere else. I therefore tend to wear old clothes. And if I’m not leaving the house, I wear very worn out old clothes. Do you/would you still wear ‘nice’ stuff if you’re not going anywhere?

Yes definitely! If you imagine your clothes in, say, 3 or 4 tiers of ‘specialness’ maybe try upgrading by a tier even for yourself at home and take it from there! So, nobody’s saying wear tier 1 evening wear, but maybe wear a tier 2 cashmere jumper just for your own enjoyment, instead of a bobbly old one. Invest in yourself for your own pleasure - it’s not about how you look to others. I promise you that making an effort for yourself brings a mental shift which has a positive knock-on effect in other areas of life too.

usual advice I once received was to get rid of those comfy old clothes you might put on every morning you weren't leaving the house

liking the idea of 'tiers', thanks! 🌹

I was one of the posters with that goal on the other thread. It's funny because I had some gorgeous things that had never even had an outing, and then I lost some weight and they became too big. I have bought a couple of them from ebay in my size now, and I am absolutely determined to wear them this time, and soon!!

Today’s ’wear the good stuff’ for me was to break open a perfume I got for Christmas 2024 and just start using it before I’d finished up a current one (which I don’t like as much but have been using up). So today I decided - sod it - I’m going to start the new one anyway. Not quite clothes, but similar enough to mention I think!

I love this. I have a mint velvet jumper I haven’t worn since last Christmas because I didn’t have a reason to. I’m going to wear it tomorrow!

Thanks OP. That was helpful. I’ve got some nice clothes and I need to start wearing them.

How’s everyone doing with ‘don’t save things for best’? I had a few days in a row reaching for boring/safe/tried and tested stuff but today I wore a beautiful silk shirt to work which has spent most of its life so far hanging forlorn in my wardrobe. But this morning I figured if Trump is hell bent on turning the world into a smoking ruin it would be a shame not to have had some use out of this beautiful shirt first! I always worry about damaging lovely things, but I guess it’s just as much of a ‘waste’ to leave them unworn. In fact more so. So I wore the shirt and felt good in it all day.

My dad started wearing his best shirts about a month before he died. He knew he didn't have long left. He made some comment about not saving them for best anymore.

Wear the glad rags now. There's a war going on. There's always a war going on whether personal or world.

I am wearing all the good stuff now and that includes expensive products i own and had not opened and not entirely sure what I was waiting for. When all you do is work, parent and run a household it is rather exciting to wear things that look good, make you feel good and make you feel confident.

Saw this Tweet and thought of our thread!

I wore beautiful suede ankle boots today to go for a walk with my husband in the misty drizzle. I haven’t worn them at all this winter (all that rain……) and figured this morning that soon it’ll be spring/summer and a whole winter will have gone by without me wearing them. So today they had an outing and it felt great 😊

I’ve been feeling & doing this for a little while. I’m carer for my child & most days only get out for a dog walk & see no-one or at a distance so there’s never a need to make an effort. After years of wearing make up daily for work it was an odd thing to even accept a bear face but now I embrace that. I’ve been buying better, nicer quality clothes that are a little update to my wardrobe but are still suitable for my lifestyle. Vinted has also been great as it allows me to add a touch of fashion without it being an expensive purchase & then gets put in a wardrobe for best, at the price I pay I’m happy to wear on a daily basis. I’ve also developed a little obsession with preloved handbags, but again if I buy at £200 when it was £1200 new then I’m more likely to use it & not be stressed about ruining it 😊

It’s been a while…..how’s everyone getting on with not saving things for best?! I think this is particularly true about summer clothes as the window of opportunity to wear them is so short! Especially with this miserable weather we’re having this year. So, with this in mind I’m planning to break out all the beautiful sandals and dresses, linen waistcoats and silky trousers, white trousers etc as soon as the weather improves!

I'm trying to do this, I worn a whistles short sleeved black shimmer short dress that I only wear for special occasions normally, I put a black plain polo under with black thick tights to dress it down, I did feel a bit glam walking round tescos.

I am wearing everything I can that makes me feel good, weather permitting. I even invested in other bits to 'glam up' somewhat too and have changed my skin /facial routine. I have been complimented a lot recently and I think it is more how I feel and the confidence I exude rather than anything else.

I’m pretty good at just-bloody-wear-it, but do have a bit of a block about wearing things to work and then them becoming “tainted”
so I tend to wear the same things to work over and over. I recently bought some very expensive Citizens of Humanity jeans and wore them for a tricky WFH day earlier this week even though I was sitting doing endless Teams meetings and no-one could see them.

In 2010 I bought a gorgeous, thin knit, see through, pale pink, waterfall cardigan. It was dry clean only so I wore it barely a handful of times at christenings/weddings/church occasions.

A few years ago, I realised it was out of style, but still gorgeous so it could either sit in my wardrobe forever unused or I could wear it and wash it, but risk ruining it. It's lost its silkiness, but still looks good. To think it was wasting away in my wardrobe for years just because of the wash label!

So now, I've started wearing dry clean only/hand wash only clothes and risking washing them. It might be a waste of they get ruined in the wash, but they'll definitely be a waste if they just sit in my wardrobe!

I have to admit, I still have tags on about 20% of clothes that I am 'saving for something special'.

I may take the plunge at the weekend!

I read a good tip; turn all your hangers the opposite way and when you wear a garment hang it the correct way. In 6 months, any that you haven't worn could be donated to charity.

I also have a penchant for underwear. My friends joke about it.

Then there's dresses I've worn once and can't part with them as they hold such good memories!

We are odd beings aren't we!

I’m another one who’s pretty good about not saving things for best, not just clothing but in all aspects of my life.
Seen too many friends and sadly children in my life not make old bones to realise anything could happen to me any day - what’s the point in saving things?
I did the hanger thing in my wardrobe this year, I’ve given myself a full 12 months and anything that’s not been worn will be gone.