My first purchase of the year was these few pairs of Toms. A neighbor had a Toms party at her house and these were on a really good discount! It was awesome.
Before we go into this year's rules and that best advice the title promised, let's review last year's rules:
First, I have resolved to not buy anything in the month of January.
I did great. I didn't buy any clothes until March! I did splurge on some makeup (to make up for it?), but I am still using the UD Primer Potion I bought a year ago and love it.
Second, I need to think about wants and needs. Of course there is not a single clothing item in the world that I NEED. But I mean more like what does my wardrobe need. What items do I need to allow me to wear something I already own or what "key" things am I missing?
Right now my "need" list looks like this:
-black pencil skirt
-white 3/4 sleeve cardigan
-white classic button up
I got a black pencil skirt about 2 weeks ago, a bought the cardigan several months ago and it still has the tags on it, and didn't get a button up. Didn't work out so well.
Third, I can only buy things I really love. I can't buy something because it is on sale or a good deal. I can't buy something because I am shopping with a friend and it is what she is looking for. I can't even buy anything just because it's only $1.
I think I did better at this than I did in 2010. But just because I love something doesn't mean that I will wear it a lot or that it works in my wardrobe. So that brings me to my 2012 "rules".....
Only buy something that is from your dream closet!
So many times we see a woman who who has an amazing wardrobe and we wonder why we don't have a closet like that. Well, if we would purchase pieces that are out of our dream wardrobe we would! So just buying something I "need" or that I really really really love isn't going to work. Sometimes I find a piece that in that moment I am in love with, but that doesn't mean that I will like it later, it matches the rest of my closet, or that it is worth the investment. This year I am going to work on building my dream wardrobe! (I heard this advice from Sally first.)
Source: rayandjen.com via Aubree on Pinterest
And finally, another thing I am trying this year is this idea from Pinterest. A day or so after Christmas I hung all the clothes in my closet backwards. Every time I wear something I will turn its hanger around so that I can see what I don't wear much. This has helped me already! The pin says to toss anything that isn't worn by June 1st, but since it's likely to be chilly here until June 1 I will wait until July 1 to reevaluate any clothes still backwards.
Do you try to build your dream closet? Any Advice?