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.

mylady why not have them hemmed to a safe length?! I’m too tall for short length but too short for regular so have almost all trousers hemmed.

Ooh I have a good one. Fomo!

Seriously, I just have to see the words "viral" or "selling fast!" and I'll buy it. I don't even have any social media so I don't even know what it is which drives me to do this! I'm a marketer's dream.

Being influenced by content creators. Remember quite a few years ago now they were all pushing grey crew-neck sweaters. I took their advice - grey is a horrible colour on me. Same with a classic trench coat. Even recently, a content creator was raving about a pair of Mint Velvet jeans, they looked lovely on her so I ordered - I seldom buy anything from MV because don’t like the fabrics, the jeans were an awful colour in reality and the fabrics stiff and horrible.

Buying something that doesn’t quite fit but buy it thinking it will be fine when I drop the holiday pounds - in reality, it will never fit properly, if it doesn’t fit properly when you try it on, it never will. (Unless something like a hem that can be altered).

Listening to most sales assistants - some are genuinely helpful and will tell you if something isn’t the best but mostly, if you’re unsure about something and ask their advice, they will tell you it looks fabulous on you. You buy it, get home and realise your first instincts were correct.

What a very good idea! I will be copying that - 2 weeks is long enough to see if you reach for a garment or not.

My body shape has changed quite a bit in the last 15 years: I used to have a waist and have put on a few stone. It' s not just a question of wearing bigger clothes, I need different shapes. Waisted dresses just look terrible on me now, but for years ( all my adult life) a skater style dress of whatever length used to work, with or without a little cardigan or short jacket over the top.
I have a wardrobe full of waist-length cardigans that just look terrible with everything else. Also jersey fairly fitted dresses that look alright from the front but terrible from the side. And too many clothes that are too wide on the shoulder, but I thought they would be OK, or that I could adjust them. They're not OK, it's a tricky alteration to make and not possible on lots of garments, so they are just hanging there not fitting properly.

This has made me laugh so much and I can absolutely relate to it. Thank you!

Sadly I do the same thing with homeware. I imagine myself hosting dinner parties ‘Stepford Wife’ style and am in danger every time I get near the home section in Sainsbury’s.

Nightwear.

Buy a whole pile of pink pjs and nightshirts. No one will see them but your family and you will feed your need for pink.

Yes sadly we have reached a phase of life where we are going to more funerals so I have a standard “funeral” outfit.

I had to go out at buy daytime dress heels for a summer funeral last year. I no longer wear heels to work and all other funerals in recent memory had been in winter months so I could wear smart boots.

I felt quite sad to be buying “funeral shoes” that won’t get worn to anything else but are likely to be worn quite regularly over the next few years and burst into tears in the shoe shop - the assistant was terribly kind.

Another one here who buys for her fantasy life. With Vinted also it's too easy to get carried away, thinking what a bargain things are, whereas if they don't suit you and you don't wear them it's still a waste of money. Having said that, I have had some amazingly beautiful things from Vinted that I've been delighted with, particularly coats, jackets and handbags. I must step away from buying silk jackets and blouses - I really do not need any and they're definitely not appropriate for my lifestyle as I'm retired now.

Something positive I've started doing more lately, though. I bought a top and liked it so much, bought it in 3 other colours. That's me sorted for those for a while. 👍
I did it with some needlecord jeans I got last year. Practically lived in them all winter.

Or a party where you wear the clothes for the 'you' you wish you were. I could finally find a use for all those wonderful drapey Gothic clothes!

If you ever attend a similar party with a rosy-cheeked woman with short legs trying to pretend to be tall, consumptive and interesting, it will be me...

Uncomfortable shoes and cheap jumpers, and even not so cheap, which bobble easily, and look like rags before they have even been washed.

Most of my mistakes have been in fabric choices.
I see something I like, check the label and see it’s polyester or acrylic blend. What the hell, I’ll buy it…

There are exactly 2 weeks in spring and 2 in autumn when I can bear to wear that stuff, otherwise it needs a cotton vest between me and the plastic. And I have plenty of more comfortable clothes to choose from. So it goes back in the wardrobe for 48 weeks, then it goes to charity.

Last year I got taken in by some lovely corduroy trousers that fit me well and FELT like cotton. I bought them without checking and when I did… 100% polyester again. Argh!!

For goodness sake, don’t go into HomeSense. It’s lethal. If you looked at my collection of Mediterranean tableware, you’d assume I lived in a Tuscan mansion. I don’t 😉

I'm so enjoying this thread, mine is much similar to others, the fantasy life, Christmas for instance, always on the next clearance buying sequin clothing for the partys i don't go too, over the last 3 to 4 years i must of brought and sold new with tags 2 sequin skirts, a sequin jacket, another one I still have, with tags on from hush, a sequin midi dress from mint velvet ( bought from ebay) I still have, and I have 2 sequin tops to sell on ebay, this winter I'm determined too not buying any sequins.

Oh god yes, the party sequins. I have four unworn sequin tops and a virgin sequin jacket.

Mine is buying things in the sale that I think will be 'handy'. It's normally going out clothes but I rarely go out, and when I do, the clothes I thought would be suitable don't look right.

Our ballet leotard was sleeveless shiny black and I loathed it. Especially since I was growing fast and it wasn't particularly stretchy. I used to get bright red marks on my shoulders, and the delightful hungry bum effect at the back.

I can’t go past a Homesense. I have so many cushions I have to fight my way into the house.

1.I like to wear black best, because I think it’s flattering, hides dirt (I have toddlers and dogs) and hides lots of other issues, like sweatiness. The problem is I look ghastly in it.
2.I also buy a lot of stuff that looks great on size 6 women who have their hair and makeup and tan done, and forget I’m not a size 6, with my hair and makeup and tan done, then wonder why it looks awful on me.
3.I don’t know what looks nice that matches what I actually look like and my lifestyle, so then I just have a few things I wear on rotation, and a packed wardrobe of things that might look nice one day if I happen to do something different with my life suddenly one morning.

4.sometimes I forget I’m not a goth going out clubbing anymore, but a middle aged quite boring sahm mum

Buying things that look beautiful on skinny, tall, tanned models but not on a middle aged overweight not model . I bought a very very expensive beige trench coat on the basis I would look elegant and expensive but it made me look like Frank Spencer.

This is me too. I think I look at the model wearing it and think ‘that looks nice’, buy it and then realise my body is nothing like the models, I look awful in it. To be fair the models look good in anything and I don’t. Cardigans are bad for me too, I bought another one last week and I am unsure how often I will wear it. I wish they used models that are shorter with bigger shoulders and bigger waists.

Impulse buys.

I bought this at Gatwick Airport. Only wore it for about 20 minutes because (a) it's quite thick cotton so was very hot (I was in Greece) and (b) I'm generously proportioned with a short blonde bob. I looked like Grayson Perry 🤦‍♀️

@CharlotteStreetW1 don't put yourself down. Grayson Perry has cracking legs 😆

I have a few dresses bought for 'themed' parties that I will never wear again. I always wear black yet I have a maxi dress made of multicolour sequins in my wardrobe.
I also seem to like buying clothes with horizontal stripes but as I have larger hips and bum they just don't suit me.
I always think I need a denim jacket so I have a blue and a black one, I've never worn either of them!
I like the look of crossover bust dresses as I think they will look flattering on my shape, but they just gape open and I'm forever adjusting it all the time.