Shopping Mistakes to Avoid When Curating Your Wardrobe

Knowing how to shop is key to elevating your personal style and building a curated wardrobe. When it comes to shopping, it is important to be intentional about what makes it into your closet, and what can be left on the rack. Just because a piece is cute, trendy, or on sale, doesn’t mean it fits into your wardrobe.  Shopping without the right guidelines can often leave you with a closet full of clothes that you don’t get particularly excited to wear.  Following a few simple guidelines of shopping can help take the stress away from shopping and help you discover new pieces for your wardrobe. So, here are three shopping mistakes to avoid when curating your wardrobe. 

Shopping Only for Trends and Not for Personal Style 

Trends are trends for a reason. I for one can’t resist wearing high-waisted jeans, claw clips, and flare yoga pants. I mean c’mon, who doesn’t love watching “what I wear in a week” Tiktok videos? The mistake isn’t following fashion trends but totally abandoning your own personal style for clothing that doesn’t feel authentic to you.

Finding clothing that feels authentic to you is much more difficult said than done. Browsing the Instagram discover page or creating Pinterest boards built on finding your personal style is a game-changer. Aesthetics based on colors, decades, and lifestyles may lead you to find your personal style. Building a vision board can allow for to physically picture what your dream aesthetic is like. Cutting, gluing, and designing a physical vision board can help fine-tune your personal style and visualize your aesthetic. 

Another strategy for finding personal style is through evaluating your closet. Take a look at your closet and select all items that spark immediate joy. Once you select all clothes that spark joy, evaluate why the pieces give you joy. Does your neutral-colored blazer inspire you to attend a new women’s conference? How about your two-piece athleisure set, does it inspire you to hit the gym? What about your floral printed sundress, does it excite you to set up spring brunch with your girlfriends?

Picking Only One Occasion to Dress For 

Landing a dream job interview or booking your next luxury getaway might inspire you to shop for a special occasion. However, you must be cautious to not shop for only one area in your life. Whether shopping for a date, work, brunch, travel, athletic, or church, you must not go overboard. 

Creating a well-rounded wardrobe is preferred for customizing new outfits and getting creative with your style. Adopting a “will I wear it again?” mindset when shopping reduces the chance of having too many clothes that are for only one area in your life. Taking extra time shopping or browsing online shopping sites allows for selecting less of the same clothing style. Given more time to shop, you are able to be deliberate with your purchases. 

Buying Clothes That Will Fit “Eventually” 

Believe it or not, many women purchase clothing that is not true to size. According to a Daily Mail article, forty-eight percent of women admit to buying clothes that are too small as an incentive to lose weight. Those who purchase too small clothing end up returning or never wearing clothes that they buy because they are in size denial. Not only does being in size denial waste time and money, but the clothes look awkward and forced. 

Be sure to remind yourself that it is not practical to purchase clothes that do not fit you in the now. No matter if you are hitting the gym every day or on a new trendy diet, you cannot guarantee weight loss results. Be real with yourself and avoid size denial at all costs. 

It is important to try on clothes in the dressing room before purchasing. The fit of clothing varies at every store. Retailers are ridiculously inconsistent when it comes down to sizing. Fitting into a size small at one store and a large at another is completely normal. It is easy to fall trap to becoming self-conscious when shopping at stores with significant size discrepancies. Remind yourself that this happens to every woman. Sizes are different according to the brand across the board, so don’t bog yourself down. 

Listen to Your Intuition 

Finding your personal style, choosing well-rounded outfits, and purchasing only true-to-size clothing will guide you when you shop. Listen to your intuition when shopping to avoid common shopping mistakes. You never know what you will find. For more advice on how to find your personal style and build your wardrobe, check out our online Feminine Fashion course.