How did you end up with clothes you don’t like?

[Flomasterina]

I am curious to learn from others’ mistakes. What have you bought that you look at now and think - WTF was I thinking?

I am not talking about clothes that don’t fit you anymore or that have gone out of fashion like skinny jeans.

Over and after pandemic I had a bit of style reset and focussed on buying better, not chase sales and learning about good fit and composition. I have consumed a lot of content about capsule wardrobes and French women style rules, which appealed to my minimalist mindset, I get easily overwhelmed by variety.

Where I went wrong big time was buying too many expensive black items (worst colour on me), thinking they will be my forever pieces. I have kept my black coats (I can break up the colour with tops and scarves) and leather skirt, but sold on silk shirt, satin skirt and jumper. Same with camel / tan, it’s just not me.

My other mistake is compromising on something because I just loved the idea, or felt desperate to close the gap and kept it when I should have returned. This is mainly shoes too painful to wear, or a navy blazer that fitted perfectly but looked like something from 6th Form, or a great cropped jacket but in the wrong colour.

Shoes! I love them but they don’t love me!

I have very wide feet and most shoes and sandals rip my feet to pieces. I can really only wear trainers, boots and Birkenstocks. But somehow I still get drawn in by the lure of a shoe, only to find them full of blood and ripped skin within half an hour.

Unaffordable clothes bought in the dying final
embers of the sales. Convinced they would suit me but 😳

Consuming content about what you 'should' buy is one for a start. I do not suit white shirts or beige trenchcoats, so all that capsule wardrobe stuff didn't work.
Buying things for parties I never go to is another. Though I'm trying to be bolder and wear the things anyway.
And thinking I need to buy something, without properly considering what I already have.

The triumph of hope over experience.

Anything uncomfortable just doesn’t get worn or if I do wear it I don’t enjoy wearing it.
I have some knitwear that falls into this category which looks good but is too acrylic.
For shoes, if I can’t walk 10,000 steps on them they won’t get worn much at all.
I’ve dropped 3 dress sizes 12 months ago and had a change of style, sometimes I find my self shopping for the old me…

Similar to Trapziuss the only things in my wardrobe that I don’t wear are all things that I bought in sales.

Although I have quite strict rules for buying clothes as I try to “buy less wear more”, a good sale seems to override all my principles and I end up with something pretty but useless in my wardrobe.

I have now stopped going shopping during sales… 😆

@AdeleRochester snap on sales ! Also anything I buy on holiday is never worn again.
I now have a no buy list. 'Nothing with ties, no more trainers, no tops that can't be tucked in, no summer hats, no knitwear that is 3/4 length sleeves, no sale buys unless I already wanted it, no holiday buys'

Almost always sale buys, I'm lured in by the price drop. Also items that look great on friends, but then look shit on me 🤦‍♀️

Being honest the biggest trigger for me is my weight. I am short and carry weight very badly so at my heaviest I was reduced to just buying anything that fitted. I went through a phase of buying Lagenlook style clothing in the hope that would look more stylish but that style just doesn't work if you're short - I just looked even bigger.

I buy clothes for versions of me which are never going to manifest. The version who works in a city office (I’m retired in a country town). The version who has regular cocktail/lunch dates with the girls (you’ll find me down the pub with my OH on a Friday night). The version who dines at high-end restaurants on holiday in the South of France (pizza in a back alley). The version who delivers academic papers at international conferences (pub quiz anyone?). Like pp, the version who is regularly invited to glamorous parties (neighbourhood barbecue once a summer maybe). I just can’t stop styling all the lives I never have and never will live. Some sort of wish fulfilment I suppose.

I gotbsuckered in by really great marketing photos, especially for drapey style long cardigans etc for summer, which look shit on me. I've learned i suit much more structured pieces better. So I have a load of flowy white cover ups that I get out maybe once every 2 years on holiday.

Half my wardrobe is planned for a stroll to a taverna on a Greek island. Absolutely no use for my normal life but not even the holiday - I haven’t been on a plane in 5 years! 😆

Yes, another sale victim here. Currently confronting my last round of poor choices when I was buying things for autumn in the New Year sales. A double-breasted jacket with pockets, when I have a big chest? Madness.

And one that I insist isn't solely my own fault: the scourge of midi-length! Does absolutely nothing for the shorter woman and even when I think I'm getting away with it (i.e. careful shoe choices), I will catch myself in the mirror and think I look like a toddler trying on grown-up clothes.

I'm a bit on the tubby side with quite big boobs. It's really hard to find clothes that don't either cling to the tubby bits/booobs or just drape straight down from my boobs in a tent like fashion. Unsurprisingly, I don't really enjoy shopping for clothes. Most of my wardrobe is therefore made up of items that I bought because they would do, not because I actually like them or feel particularly good in them. I was gutted when pepperberry closed because, whilst it generally wasn't my "style", it's the only place I've ever shopped where that could actually be a consideration - I could see why people might actually enjoy trying on clothes! I'm aiming to learn to sew so I can start making my own wardrobe

Simple. Online shopping.

Dresses and tunic dresses. I look frumpy and although I'm a size 12, just under 9st, I have big boobs and a waist, at 5ft I look matronly. I keep them and occasionally try them on, sigh and put them back in the wardrobe.

Sales 🙄

I went through a phase of trying to buy classic 'forever' pieces as wardrobe staples instead of fast fashion. I spent quite a lot on some of them but then tbh I just got bored of them all. I seem to change taste every few years - not really following fashion but just wanting to try out a totally new style.

Panic buying to match something I’ve already got. Examples - yet another white top because the others aren’t the right style. Sparkly ‘somethings’ to look Christmassy. Summer dresses to look ‘romantic’ for an evening stroll on holiday.
All of which end up in the charity shop, but I know I’ll do it again!

Guilty for buying for a lifestyle that is not mine and not caring enough to buy nice/stylish things that are for my lifestyle so I've ended up with lovely things that never get worn and crap things that are always worn....I'm working on it!

My biggest mistakes have been panic buys for occasions like weddings, anniversary parties etc, never to be worn again.

Now I mostly make my own clothes and stick to variations of a tunic/pinafore dress with tights & boots or trainers, but have branched out into wide legged trousers lately. I've made one dress in a lovely crepe that does for occasions with a velvet jacket so don't have to panic any more!

I also don't care if anyone notices I've worn it before 😁

my approach, unless I’m buying basics, is if I like something, walk away and go to several other shops or have a coffee and see whether I’m still enticed by it. It means that things that are a little better than meh are filtered out for the things that are really comfortable or well fitting or capture your style.

Most things we’ll ever try on are forgettable, but there’s a couple of things - eg. A long wool coat from TK Maxx - that I’ll forever regret buying and I probably would have done had I followed my process above!

Exactly this. I guess it is wish fulfillment. 🤷‍♀️

I’ve got better about this because I now remind myself to buy clothes for someone who walks dogs and gardens, and I buy hard wearing, weather proof items (except for the white trousers from Cos). The exception is underwear, still searching for something comfortable and pretty that actually fits. I have so many bras, only one of them is even ok.

Great thread.

My mistakes are from the years when all you seemed to be able to buy was black and grey. I knew full well my season but I compromised on colour.

Also from not truly understanding my size and how little oversized clothing suits me and so buying clothes that were/are too big. I've been the same size my whole adult life so there's really no excuse.

My magpie tendencies, so I'll see lets say a 'distinctive' cardigan and fall in love when in fact it's too distinctive and I'll either get bored or feel conscious I'm wearing 'the cardigan' again. Just too much pattern generally as that's more likely to date or you go off it.

Buying cheap things which doesn't soothe the itch, so lots of cheap gold jewellery from Accessorize which you don't have to think through, rather than one expensive one that adds a finishing touch to lots of outfits and stops you buying the cheap ones because you already have the best in class.

Just buying stuff that isn't true to my style. Fits, goes with stuff but something is off.

I'm fickle though so sometimes I just go off stuff, particularly as fashions change around me. Doesn't mean I haven't had good wear for a season or two but not the foundation of a lasting wardrobe.