Why I don’t believe in "Forever Wardrobes"
What if instead, you just wore what you liked, when you liked it?
I used to believe in the concept of forever wardrobes. I want to. But I’ve come to believe that it’s not a good use of your time or money.
The “forever wardrobe” concept is full of big promises: if you just research enough, save enough, and make *the* perfect investment purchase, you’ll have, wear, and love these items for the rest of your life.
[insert record scratch] errrrrr what?
I believe in buying less and buying well. I believe that thought out purchases will serve you better and longer than impulse buys. And I also believe, from personal experience and working with hundreds of clients, that what you bought 5 years ago (sometimes even 1 year ago), isn’t always reflective of you, now. This doesn’t mean it was a bad purchase, or you didn’t research enough. It only means that you changed, and your clothes should change with you.
Remember when you were 5 years old? You probably have photos of your 5-year-old- outfits. Outfits your parents will swear were the only items you would put on your body. They’re probably a little bit unhinged.
What about those outfits when you were 15? If you’re like me, they were a little bit emo (thrifted t-shirts from the boys section and beer bottle cap belts).
At age 5 and 15, I wasn’t researching, saving for or investing in particular pieces to wear for the next 10 years. What I was doing was putting on items I liked. I might not wear those same outfits now, but maybe I would wear elements of those outfits.
As adults, we have, presumably, more logic and thought going on when we’re getting dressed than when we were 5. And we, presumably, have more refined tastes that, presumably, will last us longer.
But I would also put forth that, maybe not.
Maybe this idea of a forever wardrobe is just a marketing tactic to get us to spend more money. Have you ever bought one of those items that promised to make it easier to get dressed and mix and match everything in your closet? Only to really find out that it didn’t live up to the hype? We want to believe that once we just figure it out, if we just research hard enough, style can be a constant.
Instead, I believe that once you know the process of understanding yourself and how to find the styles you like right now - that is your constant. Not the clothes themselves.
For me, the idea of getting dressed is no longer rooted in investing and saving for a particular “forever” item. It’s evolved into planning, buying and wearing what I like, right here, right now.
This doesn’t mean I’m jumping on trends, or shopping fast fashion. It just means I’m no longer beating myself up over trying to create an illusive perfect wardrobe.
Yes, there are style principles and guidelines to learn and follow (I teach them to my clients and follow them myself). But what if we just focused on what we liked wearing and purchased accordingly?
Time doesn’t halt. We as people, don’t stop. We’re not static. We change. Get older. Gain weight. Move cities. Have kids. And as we change, style changes.
Forever wardrobes aren’t that forgiving. They don’t allow for evolution or change.
On a recent call for those enrolled in style LAB, my 83 year old client said that she was in the process of reinventing herself, again. If that’s not proof that maybe the concept of a forever wardrobe not being what it claims to be, I don’t know what is.
I like to think that change and reinvention bring opportunities. That the opportunity to reinvent yourself, the fun that comes from making tweaks to your wardrobe, the learning about what you like to wear, is the thing that is forever.
I just want to say a quick THANK YOU for being here and reading - my free readers, (hiii!) my paid readers (hello!!!!) and my annual paid readers (hola!!!). I’ve spent a long time doing things, trying things, quitting things, pivoting things - and to have so many people who have followed from way back when subscribing and paying to read what I put out is really cool. When the monthly paid subscriptions renewed this month (and no one cancelled lol) it felt good. Obvi, please cancel, unsub when you need to; not everything is for everyone for all time. But know that I really, truly, deeply appreciate whatever time and money you spend here! - Sydney