With our economy hanging on by a thread of desperate measures and the most important election in our history only a month away, it seems almost frivolous to be wasting time writing about fashion and design. I supose writing about it is better than going broke buying it all up, right?
For myself and many others, retail therapy has always been a way to decompress, get out of the house, browse, get inspired by new things and usually come home with a treat. Now, through technology, we don’t even have to leave our homes to get a shopping fix! For me, this past year has been full of changes and revelations in regards to the person I want to be for the rest of my life, as I’m about to leave my 20s. This includes restraint in shopping. One of my first blog entries was about cleaning out my closets and admitting to myself that I simply need to stop buying things that just weren’t ME. I find all kinds of things attractive and cute but that doesn’t mean I will ever feel comfortable with those things on my body. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I accept who I am. I can’t embrace every little shiny new thing that comes out. I can appreciate these things but I now feel empowered to say NO to a lot of things out there, even if they’re on sale!
For the most part, I avoid purchasing loud items. An amazing decadent party dress is one thing but daily wear should be able to blend seamlessly with the rest of your wardrobe, in my opinion. Some things are so undeniably trendy though, no matter how well it blends into your existing wardrobe, it’s going to eventually become one of those over saturated items of clothing where everyone will be sick of it after one season. (Square scarves anyone?) I now somewhat regret purchasing the AA leather-look leggings. They’re EVERYWHERE! They’re no longer subversive… they’re a wardrobe staple in all the magazines and street style sites. I waited too long to get them and thankfully, I didn’t spend a fortune on them but; I would rather save up and buy a quality pair of rock-star-leather pants that will last me a lifetime one of these days.
How about the completely impractical 5″ heel platforms that normally would be relegated to red carpet events and exotic dancers? They’re in all the editorials, touted as daily wear shoes now! Gorgeous? Yes! The type of shoe to make you stop dead in your tracks and vow to wear them with everything to justify the cost? Yes! When will these shoes ever really be worn? Do we not already have plenty of special occassion shoes in our closets? How often do we wear our purchases and does our wear justify the price? Hey, I’m just trying to get honest here.
Patterns are especially tricky since they are so susceptible to trends. There are indeed classic prints but, for example, Ikat was huge this summer and it’s now fading out (to be replaced with absurd florals in the winter). What are you going to do with all that Ikat hanging around in your closet? Was it worth the money to wear it a few times before it didn’t feel current any longer? What are you going to do with all that blue and white floral that’s going to be big next spring when everyone says, “Oh there she goes looking like a piece of Chinese porcelain again”?
I’m not saying that I think there’s anything wrong with staying current and picking up a trendy piece for a bit of fun in your wardrobe. I’m simply posing the issue of cost justification that only you as an individual can figure out. I think a lot of us have gotten a wee bit carried away with our credit cards and that $100 shirt will end up costing us $500 after making minimum payments for a few years. As much fun as it’s been trying to pretend… we are not Carrie Bradshaw!
There has to be a give and take in life. One can’t just take take take and expect to feel balanced. Shopping to fill a void is also a futile endeavor. A major achievement of mine this year was quitting smoking which has resulted in me pretty much not drinking socially anymore. I’ve lost all desire and I’m saving a TON of money! So, I don’t feel so bad spending the same amount on a pair of boots that I would’ve spent on drinks with friends that week. (I also had no business spending money on both drinks and boots before I made some changes but, I did anyways and I’m now trying to rectify my bad spending habits.)
It’s time to grow up a little bit, to start putting some money away for a rainy day. Things are very unstable right now and not to sound like Chicken Little, but we all do need to be more aware about our wasteful spending and take a little bit of pride in saying no to a bunch of things we never really needed in the first place (instead of pouting and feeling denied) and put that money in a safe place, for our future, for our children, for more meaningful goals than a new pair of shoes.
(I still plan on blogging about beautiful things and we all still need to treat ourselves on occassion! It’s good for our souls!)
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