Wardrobe Review: October 2015

Believe it or not, I am actually still alive.  :)  Somehow I manged to have computer trouble that kept me from blogging since March, but I think that's finally, finally over with! So here I am again. Despite the blog not being active, I have continued to track my purchases, and follow the wardrobe plan I'd set for myself. Below is what I purchased in October:

Obviously, I added a lot. I won't go through the items one by one, because that would be unnecessary. Rather, I'll discuss why they were bought as a whole.

I really felt I didn't have enough items  going into to fall/winter to be as happy with my wardrobe as I could be. For one, I wanted to make sure I had some warmer clothing for the upcoming cold weather - hence, the purchase of the cardigan - and for another, I honestly just wanted some more variety in what I had to wear. I didn't put away many summer clothes, but even so, once they were out of my wardrobe, I felt I was wearing the exact same outfits every week.  So, I followed the wardrobe plan I made for myself, and added the items shown above based on it, and now I'm happy to report that, although I have not bought everything I planned, I feel like my wardrobe for F/W is complete (with maybe one exception). To phrase it in numbers, I originally planned for 44 items, and ended up with 37-38. (I don't include jewelry in either count, fwiw.) I honestly don't want any more.

This is  new feeling for me. I have never thought about my wardrobe and then come up with, "If I added anything else, that would be more than I needed." Usually, my thought process has been along the lines of,

"LET ME BUY ALL THE THINGS TO ADD TO ALL THE OTHER THINGS."

In all caps. Because I really do like to buy things. In fact, I know I still have a problem with overspending. I am not in debt, I almost no longer buy things which aren't useful, and I hardly make impulse purchases now, but I simply cannot stick to a budget that is realistically within my financial goals. It's really frustrating - it seems like once I give myself permission to buy something, I give myself permission to buy everything I think I need.

I think part of buying a bunch at once came from not having enough clothing I actually wanted to wear to make me feel comfortable for quite a while. I always rationalize that because I can really use an item, it's fine to buy it, even if it makes me go over what I've budged for that shopping trip.  I'm hoping now that I've basically completed this part of my wardrobe, I won't feel like I really "need" something because I won't feel like I have anything to wear without it, and thus spend more at once than I'm really comfortable with to fill legitimate wardrobe holes. But I've never really practiced self control with my shopping to the extent that I really need to, so it's a matter of building good habits, too.

Source: Buzzfeed / The Genius of Gene Belcher

Anyway! I'm still happy with my overall progress. I've gone from buying most of my clothes because I wanted them that second to pretty strictly following the practical wardrobe plan I've made for myself, as far as what I do buy. It's great to have it, because it makes it so easy for myself to say 'no' to things which aren't on it. It lets me know they'll be superfluous. And the more I say no, the easier it gets. So I think there's hope for me yet. :)