We’ve all been there: you’re on a shopping spree with friends, you’re caught in a frenzy of patterns and textures and styles and, before you know it, you’ve left the mall with half the money in your bank account and a surplus of clothes flooding your closet.  When you get home, you throw the bags on the floor, exhausted from your feat, and go on to forget half of the items you just spent hours scouring over.  You come to find out you were in such a rush to hit every store that every other item doesn’t even remotely fit into the rest of your wardrobe.  Now, this is certainly no life-changing catastrophe, but it can help your wallet to be more aptly prepared next time you hit the mall.  

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Purchase SMYTHE Patch Pocket Duchess Blazer here!

Here are my 5 tips to ensure no item in your haul is unmatched or forgotten.

While Shopping:

1) Check Your boxes

When trying on a shirt, dress, pants, or anything of the like, I ask myself several questions before deciding whether or not to keep it.  First: does it fit properly?  Second: is it comfortable?  Third: is it in season?  And fourth: do I own anything like it?  The first two questions take precedence for me, seeing that my line between loungewear and formalwear is seriously blurred, but you may come up with personal criteria that your clothes must meet in order to actually get wear-time.

2) Plan Ahead

While you’re in the dressing room, determine whether or not you already own other articles of clothing that would pair well with the item in question.  I try to come up with at least three outfits I can create using the new piece.  Sometimes, if I know I’m looking for something to complete an outfit I already own, I will even take a picture of the items in my closet to have a clear idea of what I need when I’m out.

3) Know the return policy

There’s no shame in returning an article of clothing that you’re no longer feeling as much as you did the day you bought it.  Just make sure you ask for receipts, keep track of them, and return the item within the store policy’s time-frame.

As Soon As You Get Home:

4) Prioritize

To ensure those new pieces aren’t immediately forgotten in the depths of your closet and drawers, place all of your new purchases in the front or on top.  I even use different colored hangers for newer clothes so that they’re sure to stand out when I go to pick an outfit in the morning.  Plan outfits that consist of one or several new purchases, or pair old favorites with the new.

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Go through your closet once a season and weed out items that you haven’t worn in a while.

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For Days and Months To Come:

5) Stay organized

Go through your closet once a season and weed out items that you haven’t worn in a while.  If you just aren’t feeling that fuzzy, bedazzled cardigan you bought to go with a specific pair of shoes anymore, and it’s way past the return deadline, consign it or donate it!  I try to go through my closet at least once per season to ensure I’m not clogging precious closet space with items that no longer fit or no longer suit my style.  You may even make a little cash to go toward your next shopping extravaganza.

 

Kaitlyn is a rising junior at New York University studying Film & Television and Business. Her main passions include women’s empowerment and social justice. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, eating her way through cities, and scouting parks for pettable pups. 

 

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