Outfit | Lessons Learned

The Great tie dress | I’m wearing size 1
James Perse exclusive Birkenstock sandals
Admonish tote bag

I mentioned last week that I had learned some “new” lessons recently as a result of some new purchases. First, was not to buy dolman-sleeve dresses (or I’ll have to wear a cross body bag exclusively with it), and here are a few more:

1. 24 hour rule even when ordering online: sometimes I’ll try something on that I’ve ordered, love it so much, and just take for granted that I’m keeping it, no matter what. Maybe this is because I’ve already paid for it? Probably. But I need to be just as brutal with things I order online as with things I see while I’m out shopping: wait 24 hours before wearing. Although I can’t say that will have saved me from this dress, or other online purchases, but it can’t hurt either.
2. Don’t buy/keep something I can only wear with heels – i.e., it is very long. Like this dress. It was still long, even with my Robert Clergerie platform sandals. And then I wore it once with my birkenstocks and it was so long, I was stepping all over it when I didn’t pay enough attention to keep it in my hands, holding it up. And I don’t wear heels frequently enough to own ANYTHING I can wear ONLY with heels.
3. Stay away from anything with detailing at the bottom that would be lost in tailoring. I tell my husband when I’m wearing jeans with distressing or holes that “you pay extra for the holes.” And we don’t laugh anymore about it, because it’s true!! That was one thing that made me hesitate before getting it hemmed so I could wear it, the distressing at the bottom of this dress, AND the curved hem. I did manage to keep the curved hem, but of course, lost the distressing. Not a big deal, the distressing wasn’t noticeable, but I paid for it! I definitely am aware of this with pants/jeans; I never buy a pair with zippers at the ankle, or a unique hem, because I know I’ll lose it.

This dress by The Great embodies all the lessons!! Looking back, I shouldn’t have kept it, but I loved it at first try-on, and really wanted a gray long/oversized dress. It’s comfortable, and so easy to wear, but I like my black Oak dress better because it’s 100% cotton and not so flimsy (although that flimsiness is what makes it so ridiculously soft and drapey). But I ran into problems at the outset: mostly all revolving around the fact that it was ridiculously long on me.

Of course that happens a lot with my 26″ inseam, and I usually get things hemmed or taken up at the shoulder straps to shorten them, but was wary of doing that with this dress because I didn’t want to lose the curved hem or the distressing at the bottom. I almost decided to sell it, but took it to my tailor instead, who did a wonderful job keeping the curved hem, but could not have kept the distressing (nor would I have wanted her to, for what it would have cost…).

Anyway, I’m glad I hemmed it (It cost $15) and will continue to wear it, but I like other things in my closet better than this dress on me.  And now, given my new “rules,” I don’t have to worry about making a similar mistake again.  In theory anyway 😉

It’s all part of being more conscious about what you buy.  As I’ve said, you can still make “the wrong” decisions, but at least hopefully you’ll learn from them, and figure out ways to avoid making them again.

What are some lessons you’ve learned from mistakes you’ve made in your closet??