Friday 22 August 2014

outfit: monochromatic (and some closet spending pattern analysis)


jacket: asos | shirt: saxony | jeans: uniqlo | shoes: nine west | sunglasses: prada
not shown - bag: the leather satchel co
borrowed from le boyf - scarf: asos

hey guys! 

(at the time of writing) it's been a productive weekend so far. wet, windy and cold weather is the best for decluttering and simplifying! further reduced the size of the closet by donating two massive bags of clothes and shoes. yes, shoes. these are the ones that were not comfortable to me. i have weird feet. i resolved to keep only the ones that i could actually walk in, without wobbling.

it still horrifies me that i have so much clothes, although perhaps at this point in time, i probably have reduced my closet by 30%. i've been tracking my clothing purchases since mid 2012, and i've been updating this spreadsheet in an attempt to understand my purchasing behaviour. so far, these are my observations:

(1) i always view myself as someone who exercises thoughtful spending just because i adhere to my budget all the time, but the data shows that i often buy things on impulse and most of these things are terrible quality that don't last longer than a few months. i hate to admit this: i waste a lot of money in the process. 

(2) i really really really do not NEED 90% of the stuff that i buy. if i were to be completely honest, most of the time i bought those things because it is too good of a deal to pass. ugh. FOMO much?

(3) i spent most of my budget during holidays. for some weird reason, my willpower goes out the window when i am in a different country. i love the things that i buy (and most of them survive the latest culling spree), i have worn most of them and love wearing them. can i buy them here? probably yes. if i were to do that, would i have gotten them for a better price? probably yes. so why couldn't i just wait? i dont know. 

those are my stories so far. yours? 

Saturday 16 August 2014

is most of your spending rational, rationalised or simply reckless?


this post is inspired by this article by Gip Plaster, where he discussed when is it okay to buy something. this is a topic that is very useful when it comes to changing our purchasing habits. very often we think that if we've got the money, then it is okay, because at least, we are not turning upside down financing the purchase. i certainly adopt this way of thinking. i often forget that just because we can afford it does not mean that we are being responsible.

responsible purchasing is rational spending, we all know that. but why is it so easy to suffer from rationalised and/or reckless spending?

as someone who is intimate with spreadsheets, i maintain a spreadsheet for my wardrobe purchases. i thought that i have been thoughtful with my purchases, you know, practising the power pause, maintaining a lust list and deferring purchases as long as possible. despite all of these, it turned out that i have not been as thoughtful as i like to be.

because i haven't been rational.

i know that i have a lot of jeans and i know that i don't need another pair, yet so far this year, i bought two new pairs anyway because... errr i could? i could do so because (1) i liked them, (2) i could afford them, (3) i have waited for a while before i bought them, so you know, they are a meant-to-be.

if i was rational, i would have correctly pointed out that i did not need them and subsequently did not even consider purchasing them.

i was not rational when i bought my last pair of shoes. i definitely do not need a new pair of shoes. i rationalise this purchase by getting rid of 6 pairs of shoes, shoes that i didn't need when i bought them, and are now hopefully in the hands of someone else who would give them more love than me.

i don't know if i can be rational when it comes to shoes, but i will try to be rational with everything else in my wardrobe.

Friday 8 August 2014

i bought shoes (shopping ban ends)


oh hi!

it's August. and i bought the above shoes. they have been on the lust list for a very long time. although given that they have been there for a long time probably mean love more than lust.

the story goes like this: this morning i browsed through asos.com (achilles heel) and came across these babies on 30% off. i took a gamble with the size, i either got it right, or a size too big. no matter. i can never tell with asos's size conversion to be honest, i wish they don't convert them and just say whatever the tag says.

long story short, i kept thinking about them the whole day and purchased them. shopping ban be damned!

but the real question is, did i get rid of 20 items?

answer is yes.

the funny thing after the great closet clean out is that i develop a more critical eye. i basically got rid of things that i thought i wanted to wear and have not worn for the past year or so. this is probably not a big deal for other people, but it is somewhat of a big deal for me.

because i realise that my style changes. i no longer want to wear those things, not because i don't like them, but because i don't want to do that style anymore. i used to like it and i used to think that it was 'me'. it is not 'me' right now.

i dont know how long this version of 'me' would last, i hope it would stick around for a while. i like changing my style, and i think it's good that it happens - but at the same time it somewhat means i don't really have a signature style.

i dont know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, all i know is that, well, it works for me, for now.

other observations

timing - as soon as it hits August 1st, i got to the next stage of culling. i dont know if this is because i want to have the option to shop or whether i was in downsizing mode, or both. but i knew that getting rid of 20 items was harder when my closet was relatively 'clean' to begin with; yet a cleaner closet allowed me to step up to the challenge. in short, it was a ruthless exercise that is deeply satisfying.

process - a lot has been written about the process of decluttering, downsizing, shopping ban and the like. i dont have further to add at this stage other than to reiterate that it is an on-going exercise, and i don't think i will ever be done forever. i am happy with my closet right now primarily because it reflects my lifestyle and i am excited to refine it further in future.

the latest purchase (above) - these babies are the nike sky high dunk in black with snake skin effect. i wanted to purchase them at full price about six months ago, and did not because, errr... i was being Asian. they were on sale, of course, and so i gave in to temptation. i am stoked. like stoked. i don't know how long this high would last; i do hope they stick around for a while.

i consider this a great start to the weekend!