Shopping Mantra

 Remember the ‘Shopping Mantra’ – 6 C’s CHARACTER,  CLOTH,  COLOUR,  CUT,  COST and  CORRECT FIT don’t buy if you have to lie  – to yourself about any one of these. My Shopping Mantra, which has been very useful and saved women lots of money. See the Capsule Wardrobe tip sheet which goes alongside this. Plan your wardrobe, after a wardrobe session keep the list in your purse of what would actually extend the pieces you already have. Don’t go shopping when trying to cheer yourself up. Don’t buy too many disparate prints in clashing colours that need careful matching. Don’t buy too long, big and baggy unless you are very tall. Don’t buy unless it matches your capsule wardrobe basics (personalise this to your colourways). Don’t buy if the cost, cloth, character, colour, cut and size are incorrect for you – it has to be right in every way or it is a waste of money. Don’t buy on a whim, go think about it and then return, you may realise you have a top exactly like it or that you need another colour – or may need something else. DO: Use special events to purchase something you have always wanted and make sure it becomes your beloved well worn staple, rather than just adding to a diverse difficult to match collection. Decide what other hobby/interest makes you feel good as opposed to shopping to cheer yourself up, trying a new hair style or make-up look, hair accessories or a lovely magazine to give you ideas for revamping or reusing or to help you update your look with a few accessories. Write a list of things that make you feel happy and use them as a means of focusing your shopping trips or afternoons off. Eg:- spend some of your usual shopping time meeting for coffee with friends you rarely see. Try to be more creative with the clothes you already have.  Find a good dressmaker to alter previous expensive purchases and update them. DO BUY THOUGHTFULLY AND NOT TOO OFTEN SO THAT YOU DON’T FEEL GUILTY AS THESE ARE THE PURCHASES THAT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD.  Remember the ‘Shopping Mantra’ CHARACTER,  CLOTH,  COLOUR,  CUT,  COST and  CORRECT FIT don’t buy if you have to lie  – to yourself about any one of these.