How to sharply evaluate any new wardrobe purchase

Questions to consider other than “is it cute?”

Shopping and consuming have long been intermeshed with the daily movements of life, almost automatically and involuntarily. We buy out of need as much as we do out of idleness, social expectation, and the need for stimulation.

I often browse online as a sort of mindless, end-of-the-day ritual to see what’s new and what I can pin to Pinterest. About 5% of the time, I see something that I just love and feel the urge to make mine, rather than appreciate but readily pass on.

Unfortunately, I’m not working full-time and don’t have tons of disposable income, so I have to be smart and plan ahead for any purchase over $50.

That sort of discipline is hard to develop solely out of a desire to spend less. For me it’s a necessity, one that has been painful at times but also allowed me to really hone my incisiveness with potential purchases.

More often than not, I walk away from near-purchases (now less begrudgingly) and realize later that I never gave them another thought. As I wrote in December, there will always be something appealing to choose from. No acquisition is truly urgent in the way sellers would like you to believe.