Topics - When fashion hurts...

We would all agree that a little shopping is great. In fact, a lot of shopping is even more fabulous.
It's amazing to have all the trends within reach and it feels freaking bananas even when you spend all of your hard-saved cash. It's pretty common, but in the end, you'll maybe discover that fashion sometimes hurts. Yeah, that's right. Sometimes the beautiful flower printed tank top you just bought isn't really working with your style... Sometimes the glossy heels don't feel that comfy after an hour walking in them... And sometimes you just wonder : What the hell was I thinking ? Well, my bet is that you weren't thinking so much at the time. Don't worry, it happens to everyone, really. I found out that spending money is like a drug. You exchange money for a rush. Yeah, not kidding, when you hand that money over to the shop assistant, you're getting your fix of adrenalin and your heartbeat is going faster... and then nothing. Except a new shopping bag and an empty wallet. If you think you should stop making those impulsive buys, or if you just want to learn some ways to save up money, here's your how-to ! Hope it will help ;-)

Think & Make Lists

You can't avoid boutiques and malls forever. Even if it's just for your groceries, you have to enter a shop, so it's always good to sit down before a shopping session and really think about what you need, what you love and what you want. Make some lists, sometimes mine are tagged as Urgent, Later, Dream List, Not Sure... Don't forget to bring the list to your shopping and if you don't find what you need, don't buy.

Take Your Time

Sometimes while shopping, it tends to feel like a stressful moment because there are a lot of people, lots of clothes and not so many time. Okay, but seriously, don't rush. If you rush into it, that's when you'll turn into this scary shopping-addicted-zombie mode and your brain will be overwhelmed. Instead, if you don't get over excited and just look at clothes with a new side of view, this will help you keep focus on your list. If you don't find exactly what you need and it's not urgent, don't buy just because you feel you have to. Nobody's forcing you. It's your time, take it.

Question Yourself

If you can't stop yourself from holding that pretty dress that you don't really need, stop and ask yourself if it's really what you need. I know it's cheesy but the more you try to question your needs, the more natural it will become in the future.

Quality ? Quantity ? Trends ? Basics ?

Of course, everyone has an opinion. I would tend to agree with the fact that crafted clothes are better quality than mass-market clothes but I have a lot of cool pieces from high street shops that are really reliable. Also, about trends, I guess it's fifty/fifty. I think that if you have your trend, say stripes shirts or Liberty print, and that means it's kinda turned into a basic for you, I would try to stock a lot of different types of it. But also, keep an eye open for new trends or designs, you never know what will become your new staples so take some time to try new things. I gravitate towards basic stuff because I need it the most to layer my clothes and it never comes out of style.

Saving Tip

When I needed to save up, I came up with a little saving rule : let's say I'm going shopping with 100$ to spend (either it's absolutely needed or just impulse need to shop), and I restrained myself by questioning my true needs and came home empty-handed, I would always put at least half of my money into a jar. Believe me, if you're serious about it, you'll save up a lot. I began the jar swearing I would use my saved money to buy something that would make me happy... So it was a dream to see the money pile up.