Prioritising What You Buy

I remember when I first got in to lolita- I wanted to buy everything, and I really DO mean everything. All I wanted was to rush out and spend all the money I had. Obviously that is not what I actually ended up doing. In fact, there have been times where my lolita purchasing has actually been quite slow. When I was starting out, I was confronted by this huge list of wishes and dream dresses. I learnt very early on how important it is to actually think out what to buy next. I had to ask myself if there any point me buying certain items when they don't match anything in my current wardrobe or whether that cheap item was really worth it if I couldn't see myself loving it that much. In the end, I resorted to my usual tactic of making lists.

I briefly mentioned a while ago about my "Want Vs. Need List" and this list was a huge help for me as I built my wardrobe up. Basically any essential wardrobe builders (for example, a black blouse) went on the 'Need' part of the list and items such as dream dresses and other items I liked, but were not important, went on the 'Want' side. If I ever wanted to buy something from the Want side, I had to buy at least one item from the Need side. This meant that although I was getting items I really wanted, I was at the same time building up the staples. So this worked very well.

As I write this post, I feel I may be at the stage where I no longer need the Want Vs. Need List. I am confident that if I were to buy a new dress I would be able to make at least one outfit with the wardrobe items I currently have (even if that outfit is very basic). So now I have a bit more freedom whenever I want to buy something. Now a new problem has arisen- I am very quickly running out of wardrobe space!

So my next task was to take a hard look at all of the dresses on my wishlist. Although it took me a very long time, I have managed to put all of the dresses on my list in order of how much I want them. I currently have about 30-something dresses on my wishlist, with about 10 of them being what I would consider "dream dresses". I have to admit it was a difficult task but I kept imagining circumstances where 2 of the dresses came up and which one would I be more devastated to lose out on.

This all sounds like a very difficult process but actually, it makes it very easy to work out what to buy next. If something from my list pops up I will have a look at its position on the list and if it is high up then I will be more likely to buy it.

Of course, there are other factors to consider.

The Price- If something comes up at a low price then it can be tempting to go ahead and buy it. But how much do you really like that item? Is there any point buying something that you will maybe wear once before selling it on?

Will it suit you- As much as I may love an item, there have been occasions where I have let stuff go simply because it wouldn't suit me. It could be that it didn't suit my body shape or I was too close to the maximum measurements for me to feel comfortable wearing it. I think it can be very disheartening when you buy a dream item and then you don't feel it looks right on you. I believe a dream dress should make you feel amazing when you wear it.

Availability- Obviously some dresses are more popular than others. Whilst some items are likely to pop up very frequently there may be some which only go on sale about once a year. Sometimes it is worth going for the rarer dress because you could regret it if you lose it.

But despite all these points, there are times where you need to follow your heart. This actually happened to me recently. I had been saving up really hard for a few months to buy a dream dress and I was close to reaching my final target. However, just as I was nearing my goal, another of my dream dresses popped up. The dress that suddenly popped up was ranked higher on my dress priority list and I ended up being torn between 2 dresses. When I asked friends they suggested that I got the dress that had just popped up. But I realised when I saw their answers that it made me feel sad. My reaction to their answers showed me which dress I truly wanted more. In the end, I purchased the dress I had been saving for and I don't regret it one bit. So it just goes to show that sometimes even lists don't work. At the end of the day, you need to choose the path that you feel is best for you.