My Signs to Slow Down on Fashion Shopping

I’ve recently seen a resurge of popularity of my old post about shopping moderation. As the sale season is approaching again, it is a testing time of the year. I’ve been trying to achieve shopping moderation myself as well, and I'm getting better at it this year (I believe!). Still, there are moments when the compulsion kicks in.

I remember going to a Uniqlo store in Copenhagen in February "just to try" and physically feeling the urge to purchase whatever I was trying out, with my mind making up excuses as I stood in the changing room. That experience scared me - I ran out of the shop and decided to do a proper no-buy to clear my mind.

Usually, when I do a no-buy, fashion falls down in the list of my priorities and I tend to think, "it’s just clothes." Not this time. I kept reviewing, strategizing, planning, and feeling a longing for clothes that would make my life so much better. I felt genuinely uninspired by my wardrobe. Ultimately, I managed to will myself into a 2-month no-buy that was then interrupted by a long-sought-after two (!) pairs of Calder sweatpants that Tibi warehouse account St. Simons posted on their account.

I went off the rails slightly, without significant damage. After acquiring the two pairs of long-dreamed-of Calder sweatpants, several T-shirts, and a swimsuit - the latter two being genuine needs, I managed to talk myself slowly back towards moderation again. So here are some of my signs it is time to slow down.

1. Do you know your credit card number by heart?

Believe it or not, but I knew the 16 digits of my card, plus other codes, by heart at the height of my shopping obsession. This would make it so easy just to virtually "swipe" it and no one could stop me, not even rationality and self-interest. I’ve since changed that card (although there are easier ways to save your card these days), but it remains as a warning sign of too much online shopping.

2. Do you scroll through shopping sites during your downtime?

Reviewing the SSENSE new arrivals, analyzing the Tibi or COS collection at times has been my go-to way to relax on a break. There is no surprise that this type of behavior just creates new "needs," encourages more buying, and devalues what I have in my closet.

A special mention here has to go to Instagram, which is a shopping site masquerading as a social network. Despite hosting a great fashion community, Instagram algorithms are optimized as an ad network and almost every post there makes you covet a new thing. I actually deleted Instagram from my phone recently and can feel my mind clearing without the mindless scrolling and discovering new things to buy every few hours. I do "reinstall" it once or twice per week to check notifications and reconnect on what is going on, but this is so much better than going to Instagram every free moment on autopilot. In fact, this has been one of the changes that was most effective for successful moderation and completely cleared my head.

3. Do you know the new arrivals of your favorite brands by heart?

I still probably am an expert in Tibi styles and new arrivals, but I'm trying to heal from this - you do not need to "evaluate" every single piece in the collection, you can instead just shop for what and when you need. This is even more mind-wrecking with fast(er) fashion - following all the new arrivals at Cos is a part-time job in itself, which I willingly undertook :)