How To Edit and Build Your Wardrobe Step IV: Shopping Smart

Step #4. SHOPPING SMART

you need: pencil and your personal shopping rules

When shopping, ask yourself the same questions when editing your wardrobe with one addition, does it fit with the rest of my wardrobe. For instance, a top that doesn't go with anything else in your wardrobe so you'll have to buy all new pieces to wear it. Just because something is pretty doesn't mean you have to have it.

Building a wardrobe you love takes time and patience. Time to define your image and the patience to break bad habits and stick to your personal shopping rules. The rule that people have the most trouble with at first to buy only what you love. Doing so limits what you buy, forcing you to be more thoughtful when shopping, helping to avoid costly mistakes. This also allows you in time to 'shop your closet'; instead of buying something when you feel like something new, simply wear something you haven't in a while and create a new outfit. At some point you go against your rules, simply identify the rule you broke and try to return it (which is why it's good to shop at places with forgiving return policies), then move on...

DON'T

• Buy something just to have it, even if you need it. You buy a white button-down shirt that's not quite perfect. Since you don't love it, it stays in the back of your mind that you need one so you're likely to buy another one which probably also isn't perfect. By the time you find the one you do love, you may feel like it's too much money yet you just wasted money on two that you don't even like.
  
• Buy for price. Buying something expensive thinking "it must be nice" or buying something because it's on sale is a waste either way if you don't love it.
• Get swayed into buying something you don't love.
• Feel rushed to 'finish' your wardrobe. It will only make you buy impulsively and repeat past mistakes.

DO

• Only buy things you love, that fit you and your lifestyle.
• Buy things you can afford. Mix high and low pieces to keep your look interesting.
• Find labels, designers, and stores whose style and clothes fit you and shop them consistently.
• Find salespeople whose opinion you trust at the stores you frequent.
• Know how things should fit. Check retailer's websites or catalogs to see how garments fit the models (J.Crew, Banana Republic). Remember you need to fit the biggest part of your body first, then have the rest taken in if needed.
• Know your bra size. Be measured by a bra specialist at a nice lingerie shop or higher end department store, not Victoria's Secret.