2 Tips for Smart Clothes Shopping (it’s time to buy what you’ll actually wear)

Building a wardrobe you love starts with the clothes you bring into your closet. If you fill your closet with clothes you don’t love, you’ll have an uphill battle building a wardrobe you love. With that in mind, here are two tips for smart clothes shopping to help you shop smart instead of hard.

Two tips for smart clothes shopping

These two tips are two of the 27 personal style keys from Personal Style Fundamentals, which includes 27 keys to building and keeping a wardrobe you love. Sign up and download your free copy here. When you sign up, you’ll also get more personal style articles and tips like these. Shall we dive in?

Personal Style Fundamental Key #26. Buy with the end in mind.

Decide on a garment’s end of life before you buy it.

Before you buy, ask yourself: “what will I do with this garment when I’m done wearing it?” Will I wear it for many years until it becomes threadbare and goes to be recycled? Or is it something I only want to wear a couple times before reselling? Or do I have a different plan? Whatever the plan is, have a plan when you buy (even if the plan changes).

This is one of the most effective ways to cut down on impulse clothing purchases you never wear. Asking these questions snaps you out of impulse mode and back into the long- term vision you have of yourself, your life and your style.

When it comes to building a closet you love and feels 100% your style, shop smart by playing the long game.

Personal Style Fundamental Key #7. Wear the clothes you have first.

I say this for a couple reasons. One, it’s the fastest way to get a good sense of what you enjoy wearing. What pieces do you come back to again and again? Which put a smile on your face? What can’t you wait to get back from the wash or out of storage?

Two, it’s the fastest way to figure out what gaps you have in your wardrobe. What do you keep wishing you could grab? Do you reach for clothes you don’t have? What do you already have that you want to alter, tailor, remake or otherwise change?

If you think you have nothing to wear, think again, and check out 5 Days of Style. Trust me when I say, you have gems already hanging in your closet. More often than not you just need to look at them in a new light.

Smart clothes shopping often looks like clear and intentional clothing purchases that you can immediately wear with many other clothes in your closet. That means if you want to shop smart for clothing, start with what’s already hanging in your closet. (Leaning on your wardrobe inventory can be really helpful here. If you’re interested, I walk you through my favorite wardrobe inventorying method in The Wardrobe Inventory Workbook, check it out here.)