What lockdown taught me about how I shop. [and mistakes to avoid!] One of my lovely subscribers, Cheryl and I got into an email correspondence about her wardrobe.

And what came out of that conversation was a realisation, that to really understand your wardrobe we need to understand who we dress for and why we buy clothes.

If 2020 has given us anything, it has given us time to get reacquainted with our taste without distraction. When no-one is watching [except from the Zoom grid] we are getting dressed purely for ourselves.

What lockdown taught me about how I shop

So who are you when no-one is watching?

Making an effort for ourselves is liberating and what we start to discover is those pieces we have in our wardrobes that really reflect who we are, that make us feel like the best version of ourselves.

Dressing for ourselves lifts the spirits…

… and if I’m honest has afforded me some much needed optimism and creative expression!

But we don’t dress only for ourselves.

Getting dressed is both a private and public act.

It might be unwitting but when we put on clothes we are choosing to be seen in a certain way depending on our audience.

And this is part of the joy of getting dressed, showing different personas and shining a light on certain aspects of our personalities.

But what all of this really had me thinking about is how this influences our motivations for what we buy.

Our reasons for shopping are multi faceted…but you should put away your credit card if your motivations for shopping are NOT listed below…

1. You are buying because there’s a real need for it. (i.e. previous item is too worn out)

2. Because the item works with lots of things you already own and it will help you dress with more ease.

3. Because you are crazy in love with it and it will help you to evolve your style and to become more you in the long run

4. Because it meets your expectations for quality and it will help you build a wardrobe with quality pieces instead of focusing on quantity.

5. It helps get you in the mindset for work, make the right impressions and get the job done.

Why are you shopping?

If you are shopping because of boredom, fear of missing out, to get the approval of someone else or because someone else told you to buy without your best intentions in mind, stop.

Wait.

It’s amazing what you can discover about yourself and your style if you take your time and get curious instead of using shopping as a solution.

And at the moment, time is definitely something we have!

What have you discovered about your style during lockdown?

Penny x

P.S. Stuck for gift ideas this Christmas? Gifting a transformational wardrobe experience, is something the recipient will never forget… or why not treat yourself this Christmas! Get in touch to find out about my gift vouchers.

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If you struggle to put outfits together with your existing items then start with colour… here’s how on my blog