New Year’s Style Resolution for 2013: Here’s Mine, What’s Yours?

By Megan Collins | Last Updated: Jan 28 2019 | 2 min read

New Year’s Style Resolutions

Every year, we make resolutions. Lose ten pounds. Tip waiters more generously. Call your mother more often. But what about, this year, making a style resolution?

I’ll go first.

This year, I’m going to focus on buying less while reminding myself I’m really getting more. Let me explain. I am terrible at spending money on myself. Awful. The worst. The only way I can bring myself to purchase a big ticket item like a new coat, or a well-made pair of boots is with loads of fretting for days, weeks, even months beforehand. Holy cow, do I love to fret. I somehow have it in my head, despite knowing very well the healthy balance of my bank account, that I will almost definitely find myself homeless next month if I buy those boots or that coat. So instead of thinking about the purchase in a cost-per-wear way (which, if the item lasts a long time, actually makes the buy a great deal), I fall victim to the sticker shock.

And so I wind up buying a pair of boots that are less expensive, and also of lesser quality. A coat that looks sort of kind of like the coat I wanted, but without the great buttons or warm lining. And then the boots squeak, or the jacket gets a tear, and I stuff them all in the back of my closet because they just don’t look very nice.

Doesn’t it seem like a better deal to feel great about the items in your closet AND know they’ll last more than a season before giving out?

That’s why my resolution is buying better clothes, shoes, and accessories, which, of course, inevitably means buying less things, and then working on feeling at peace with my purchases.

Because I know that walking into a meeting, or a date, or traffic court feeling confident about how I look – not just okay, not meh – is worth the extra expense. I’m worth it.