I keep wanting to buy dresses for nonexistent events

[Anonymous]

I loved this whole thread and am happy for you, OP! I absolutely do this. I try to wear my dresses but I have a few dressier ones that I still haven’t taken out for a spin. Sometimes it’s because I don’t have the right shoes, and for some reason buying new shoes to go with an aspirational dress is a bridge too far. Ha!

Anyways, I am trying to pull back on shopping and I took drastic steps… I set my phone to grayscale. Pretty dresses look so much less appealing in black and white!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else do this? Like I keep imagining that I'm going to a summer wedding and I need a dress, and this dress would be perfect - only there is no summer wedding (at least not as yet). And I've even bought a couple of them! (They're nice - but when the heck am I going to wear them?!)

Or like I've been on the hunt for a chic little leather jacket - but I live in a hot climate, and we are already past jacket weather. Not that I never go anywhere colder - but do I need a cute leather jacket right now? I keep imagining we're on a trip to Paris in the springtime when I'd need it - but we are not going to Paris this year!

This feels like some kind of obsessive thing - but also I really enjoy a nice dress. They are all secondhand (even the jackets I'm looking at) so I'm not racking up huge credit card bills over this stuff. And yet at the same time I got laid off this year and am freelancing now, so it's not like I have the MOST stable income. Like this is not the time to just be like, well what's another $100 on dresses and jackets.

Anyway - does anyone else find themselves shopping for fantasy events, and why do we do this?

I used to do this but realized my closet was full of stuff I didn’t wear. I also LOVE thrift shopping so I’ll try on the dress, admire it and then take a moment to think it through: ‘such a b beautiful dress but am I really going to wear it?’

Sometimes they’re so cheap I feel I can’t resist but doing that mental exercise has really cut back on what I buy.

[Anonymous]

I so feel you, OP. I am eyeing a beautiful dress that I am fighting every urge not to buy.

[Anonymous]

I think about it but never buy the dress. So as a result I will have an event and have nothing to wear!

[Anonymous]

Create occasions to wear your clothes. Go to a play, the ballet, opera, musical performances, etc. You don’t need to wait for an invitation to a wedding or a trip to Paris to wear your nice clothes.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I can do this too. I have a few black tie events and maybe about half dozen cocktail type events, annual conference so if I see something I like I go ahead and buy it. I probably buy more than the actual events I need them for, but it's easier knowing you have a lineup on hand rather than shopping urgently for a specific event.

[Anonymous]

This is a happy thread. Don’t want to be a kill joy. I am all about joy and fun which is why I still haven’t been able to find dark navy dresses for ya know, those sad occasions. I don’t want to manifest, ya know!? But I always feel unprepared. 5’4” 108, proportionate. Higher end suggestions welcome. Anyone remember the Miracle dress hype from the UK brand that seems to be out of business? I loved the high collar. Turns out the fabric wasn’t good quality. MM Lafleur used to have quality knit fabrics.