What’s the last impulse item you purchased for your closet?

For me, it was yesterday at a sample sale my friend was working. “Oh, I thought of you when I saw this earlier!” she told me excitedly, rushing over to a table piled high with who knows what, and pulled out a small, silky bundle. She held it up, and a high-waisted skirt unfurled. It had a turquoise, blue, black and white pattern, and looked a little Mad Men-esque… Or maybe like something they’d sit on in Mad Men. “Would this fit you?”

Well, let’s see. I shrugged it on over what I was wearing (sample sales aren’t usually a fitting room-friendly environment), and…yup. It fit. At least, it buttoned over the shirt and shorts I had on. Did I have any idea what I’d wear it with? No. Did I particularly care for the color scheme? Meh. But it was on clearance! And my friend specifically had me in mind for it! And…and I bought it.

Back home, I stared into my closet, clutching the skirt and searching for a top – any top – to match it with. I found a couple pairings to try, but they didn’t shake the feeling of buyer’s remorse I woke up with this morning.

Do you have clothes like this in your closet? The clearance rack can be an especially magnetic impulse purchase zone. Those khakis with the pleats that – removed from the dressing room lights – look totally unflattering on you. The sweater that fit like a dream but was a weird, lima bean green color whose tags you still haven’t taken off.

Of course, impulse purchases can also be great. The leather jacket you bought on vacation in Italy that’s now perfectly beat up and makes you feel like the Fonz the second you put on. That concert tee you picked up ten years ago that fits perfectly now and is just the right amount of faded. At the sample sale I found curtains for ten bucks a pop that I can’t wait to hang in my living room for a much-needed decoration change. I don’t feel bad about buying those at all.

So tell me:

What’s the last thing you bought “just because?” Because it was on sale? Because you thought you wouldn’t have the chance again? Because the store was closing, and you had to buy something? Have you worn it since? Or is it sitting crumpled in the back of your closet, but you just can’t bring yourself to get rid of?

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