(Buy) Less But Better - Topic of the day 9/20/24
A thread title inspired by Dieter Rams and popularized by r/buyitforlife (amongst others), to what extent do you believe in 'buy less, buy better'? What are some of the benefits and drawbacks to following this ethos when buying clothes? How do you balance this with following trends or surprise needs?
17 Replies
Its what I say to myself justifying buying expensive shit
haha yeah totally
it's a misnomer for the most part
you have to buy more to begin with to figure out what 'better' means
this is really the krux of it
The perfect pair of pants is always one purchase away....
but then I will stop, I promise!
I will have escaped the consumerist hellhole and live happily ever after
too real, i immediately thought about pants too
That being said, I think there is value in thouroughly considering purchases to avoid buying stupid shit
Its always pants...
i'm learning to make the distinction between 'buy' and 'own' less; one is easy because either i spend less money or trade for things or whatnot
actually owning less is a work in progress but so am i
https://discord.com/channels/1116793467654381685/1271877531368427672/1271877531368427672 stuff like this underscores one negative, where you gain something from happy accidents
I try to keep impulse purchases and experiments to secondhand
trying to reserve buying new to stuff I know I will like
I’ve definitely been buying less, but better. That obviously doesn’t correlate to me spending less money, but I’m overall happier with buying say a single shirt from I „higher end“ label than I was with Uniqlo „hauls“.
This, with the somewhat quick turnaround some items have for me inevitably leads to me also owning less, which I’m happy about.
I’ve also adopted a bit of a policy where I try to give something away/sell something for every item I buy as well as overall being more mindful of what I actually wear and selling items I’ve kind of detached from for a long while.
Being happy with my clothes doesn’t come from owning a bunch of them, but from wearing them. And I try to live by that more.
Personally I try pretty hard to buy from brands that I believe are trying to do good in the fashion industry in terms of labor practices and environmental considerations. And Just by the nature of this stuff tends to be not cheap so that keeps me to buying less. But I try to be quite intentional with my purchasing.
And I think I do pretty well I have a main wardrobe that can pretty much it in a suitcase right now so it’s not too big yet. And I try to not hold on to things I don’t wear
“fewer, better things” I say to myself as I buy another pair of leather shoes…
jawnz are like a Pringle can: once you cop, the fun don’t stop…
Feels like a marketing tactic more than anything. Like, sure, there's wisdom there. But stores jumping on this motto like S&S really mean "our stuff is the better stuff you can justify"
Hmm maybe it's just referring to people who just a by a bunch for the sake of it? I mean I used to buy a bunch of things because I felt like expanding my wardrobe was great but very few of those clothes did I actually feel really good in
Idk I just take the time to figure what I want to express and take the time to explore other options before I buy something
Because I used to buy a lot of cardigans lol
I think I'm a chronic outfit repeater but I think that's just the consequences of having garments I'm really excited by
But idk if "buy less" is necessarily on my mind as much as I just buy what I feel like has cohesion/promise with my fit
Like I could totally trim down my tees based on how much I wear them but fashion is also an art form and "better" isn't a useful way to understand this
"less but better" for me has really come to mean "just buy the fucking thing you want, not a cheaper or more convenient alternative"
Yup. Very true. I’m now in the process of selling those items that I purchased along the way as I gained knowledge and taste. It’s basically an expensive entry fee.
I'll reach that stage soon enough, my issue with it is that it would be a lot easier if you go out and put the clothes you want on to try them out. Online shopping, especially second hand, is extremely convenient but I wish I had access to clothes I want to try IRL.
so much of it is gambling and guesswork for me lol