The Smart Beauty Edit

For the longest time, I thought building a great wardrobe meant buying aspirational pieces that would magically turn me into the woman I wanted to be. It took me a while, and an embarrassingly large number of bad purchases, before I realised that buying smart means buying for the life you have, not the one you wish you had. I changed my mindset, and my bank account thanked me.

My weakness has always been bags, so every season, when the newest models dropped, I felt the urge to buy into the look. I thought my choices were neutral enough to pass as timeless but of course this turned out not to be the case when the next year rolled around. What I look for now is much simpler: bags by under-the-radar small brands, often locally sourced and made, in timeless shapes and practical sizes.

I also stopped buying items that were almost perfect, but not quite. A pair of jeans that weren’t quite the right cut for my shape, the blazer that overwhelmed by petite frame or the trousers that I needed to wear heels with, although I hate wearing heels. These poor choices are now in the past.

I also stopped letting myself be swayed by eager sales people who work on commission. I know they’re just doing their jobs, but my people pleasing tendencies often led to bouts of terrible buyer’s remorse. More often than not, shopping the sales without intention also added to this out-of-control feeling.

Although the process was slow, I started to reevaluate and question my earlier choices. I now ask myself the following questions before every purchase: if my entire wardrobe disappeared overnight, which items would I repurchase? If this bag didn’t have a logo, would I still want it? Does this item fit my life now? If the answer isn’t clear, I move on.

I never set out to be a minimalist, but I was tired of having a closet full of clothes based on the wrong choices. Shopping with intention hasn’t taken the fun out of the experience, but it has removed the sense of regret I often felt and I am now able to actually wear and enjoy what I own.