Outfits |

Second-guessing purchases and learning from my mistakes

Seasons-and-salt-photo-32015-05-29_0002[u-neck tee, Everlane / skirt, J.Crew (similar) / bag, Madewell / sandals, Madewell / lips, Nars in Rita ]

Do you ever second guess yourself? My husband will tell you, I am the absolute WORST at second-guessing myself when it comes to purchases I’ve made. The more expensive, the harder I hem-and-haw. I still remember when I bought my new-to-me five door Mazda3 several years ago. The next day I sat in a coffee shop staring at my car in the parking lot asking myself in a gut-wrenching way if I had made the right purchase. I do not make clothing purchases frequently and especially not big ones, but when I do I re-think them endlessly! I may be determined, but decisive I am not. Thankfully, my husband will also tell you, despite my remorseful ways, saying “yes” to him was the one of the few decisions I didn’t hem and haw over.

I don’t buy ‘dressy’ shoes very often, so when I do, it’s important to me that I love them and can get lots of use out of them. These shoes however, I just don’t love and I am very much second-guessing them. :( I spent a fair amount, so all the more why I want to get maximum bang for buck. However, I never find myself naturally gravitating toward them in my closet. Most of the times I have worn them it’s because I felt like “I should” and I prompt myself to.

Sadly, I think this could have been avoided. Here’s what I did wrong:

1) Although I knew I wanted new heels for the spring, these were still an impulse purchase. My husband and I were in the store for something else, and I came out with these. I think part of me bought them because I wanted to feel ‘cool’. (Ugh, blogs are so humbling and exposing!)  I should have went home, and imposed the 24-hour rule on myself, and thought about it for awhile.

2) I was in a rushed, harried state because my children were with me. I know, totally breaking my own rules here! To be fair, this took place before I wrote the blog post about not shopping with your children in tow. I never think clearly when trying to shop with (understandably) whiny children by my side. Period.

3) Even after the purchase I still had to talk myself into them. I didn’t immediately love them. That should have sent off warning bells in my head. Actually, it did, but I’m a very stubborn girl and I was determined to love these cool shoes. I texted pics to a handful of advisers (even my mom!) until I got enough of the answer I was looking for, “yes, keep them. They look good on you.”

I’ll give myself through the rest of the summer to fall in love with them. Hopefully I will. If not, I’ll sell them and cross my fingers that it won’t be too expensive of a mistake. Next week, I’ll dive into the rest of my spring capsule mistakes (and victories!) and share them all with you before unveiling my summer capsule.

Cheers,
andrea

 

7 thoughts on “Second-guessing purchases and learning from my mistakes

  1. Been there, done that, many times! :-) Thank goodness for eBay so I can recoup some of what I spent. I am getting better now as I get older and more comfortable with my own style. But even so….I just did it again last Saturday while finishing up the last of my summer capsule shopping! I picked up a top in pink, which I already owned/loved in gray, so obviously that should work, right? Not so much…..while the gray looks cool and modern, the pink looked childish and messy, not appropriate for a woman approaching 40! Fortunately, I came to my senses before removing the tags, so back it will go. Besides, I really didn’t need it anyway. :-) I love this outfit! Have a great week!

  2. Great post, Andrea! I totally know what you mean about having buyer’s remorse. It’s something I’ve struggled with as well, and I think that the points you outlined to prevent the feeling are spot on! I certainly love those Madewell sandals (I was eyeing them the other day, actually), so if you find yourself at the end of summer with only luke-warm feelings, something tells me that there will be a good amount of demand for them! And I also forgot to comment, but I really enjoyed your last post. Thrifting takes more time but is so well worth it when you score new and oh so beautiful birks!

  3. This is the story of my life! I have much anxiety (and then frequently regret) over most purchases. Case and point, I’ve had your Etsy kite necklace open on my laptop for at least 5 days and just finally pulled the trigger. This is one of the biggest reasons I love to thrift and buy second-hand; if I change my mind or realize it’s not perfect, at least I haven’t wasted much money.

  4. Buyer’s remorse is the worst thing ever. I always impose at least a 24 hour rule on myself and if I keep thinking about it, I know. I also use Rack it Up and keep a list of things I love so I can check back and see how I feel (also I’ll know when they go on sale).

    Thanks for the comment on my blog. The Pilcro line is so good and I always tell my friends to try them on before spending twice as much!
    -Becky
    The Pumpkin Spot

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