Aside from the fact that I'm trying to get a smaller wardrobe, I also want to make a point by not buying things just because I can. When I was younger and was relying on my parents to buy my clothes, I had just a couple of jeans, shirts and a vest for a whole season (and sometimes even longer). But when I started to make my own money I had the freedom to just buy whatever I wanted and over the years I somehow found myself with an enormous collection of shoes (over 40 pairs), bags (over 30) and clothing (too much to count). Not too long ago it started dawning on me that people had to make these clothes and that it never even had been my wish to collect more clothes than I could wear. I then made the decision to cut back on my wardrobe and simply have less clothes and accessories. Since then I have thrown away, sold and given away many bags of clothes and even now I'm not done.
So my new rules are:
- I will only buy pieces of good quality
- I will only buy things that are perfect (no more compromises!)
- I will not visit stores like Zara or H&M (high risk of buying cheap things that are pretty but are of poor quality)
- I cannot spend more than 150 euros on one item (including shoes and coats)
(The only exception to my rules are second-hand or vintage items.)
The only thing that’s making this hard for me is that I really love fashion and clothes! If I didn’t I could just throw away almost everything and just wear a sweater and jeans every day. Instead I still want to look (and feel) good about the things that I have, so implementing my rules will at times be very hard….
I think I have tossed about twelve pairs of shoes that were too small/big/old since I started my fashion diet, so now I really needed some footwear. I saw a pair of Ugg boots on sale that were available in my size. The Uggs cost 129 Euros (around 185 US dollars) which means they were a bargain. I really struggled because I needed ankle boots that matched with everything and were comfortable, but then again, the entire country has them too and last year I swore to never wear Uggs again. So I made up my mind and decided not to buy them because I was really looking for boots in a more neutral colour (and they were lilac). After a couple of days I found a pair of boots I thought were right for me on the internet, taupe ankle boots with a small heel, and I visited the store to try them on. Unfortunately, those boots weren’t right either, the fit just wasn’t right and apparently, taupe isn’t my colour. But I did find some other boots I liked at the store and they did fit great. The only problem with that pair was that one of the shoes had a small ink stain and there was some discolouration between the shoes, so I asked the saleslady if they had another pair in my size, but they didn’t. So while she was calling to another store to see if they maybe had them, she grabbed a dark sponge out of the counter drawer. Still on the phone, she carelessly wiped the grey sponge onto the perfect beige shoe, which left a big dark stain. Great, now both shoes were ruined. When she told me none of the other stores had the boots she did smile at me and said: “But see, you can alter the colour of the shoe!” But making the shoes darker wasn’t what I wanted, I might have just bought the shoes if she had given me a bit of a discount because those boots too were a little expensive (120 Euros). But since she wrecked the shoes, I left the store shoeless and feeling bummed. But there was no need for me to feel sad for much longer because suddenly I remembered the Minnetonka boots I always wanted! These were a lot cheaper (75 Euros). For some reason, they’re very rare in Holland, nobody wears them here. They are just exactly what I want: neutral, comfortably and easy to match with all my clothes. They arrived a couple of days ago and I have worn them every day since. I’m so happy with my new shoes, I hope they’ll last quite a while! 
