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Clothes Shopping: Is Buying Only One Brand Too Boring?
May 29, 2009 at 12:46 PM by Cafe Cynthia - Comments (8)
I want to look stylish and wear nice clothes, but this is a problem for me because I'm severely impaired in the shopping department.
I don't have money, time, patience, or follow fashion trends.
So this is how I compensate -- I buy 80 percent of my clothes at one store: J.Crew. The style is totally me -- a blend of romantic and sleek casual. The clothes fit my particular body type really well.
Yes, it's an expensive store. But before you accuse me of being rich, I must tell you that J.Crew has fantastic sales.
I couldn't afford to shop there otherwise. I don't buy clothes very often, a few things every year, and I NEVER buy anything that isn't heavily discounted. By this point I know my exact size in everything -- shirts, pants, jeans, even shoes.
It makes shopping very easy -- I'm on the email list so I just go on the site, click, and snap up really good sale and clearance items. Or I make a quick stop in when passing the mall.
My latest find? That mushroom colored lawn skirt above. It's marked down from $70 to $50 on the website, but I snagged mine for $19 at my local store. I regularly pick up pants and jeans for $25. The clothes are such good quality, I wear them for years.
I know the fashion gods are frowning at me. Just like every single piece of furniture in your living room shouldn't be from Pottery Barn, you need to mix it up or end up looking cookie cutter like one of those displays in the catalog.
But shopping around is just too much work for me. And to tell the truth, I'd give anything to look like one of those displays in the J.Crew catalog.
Do you buy most of your clothing from one brand/store? Anything wrong with that or, hey, whatever makes a mom's life easier?
Comments:
I understand your reasoning but I'm a fashionista to the extreme so honestly that is really boring. Here's my solutions to your reasons for not mixing it up. 1.Time- Online shopping 2.Money- Sales and Forever 21 3. Patience- Can't help with that one but once you are comfortable shopping it doesn't take much time to put together a look. Try watching What Not To Wear on TLC,they have good tips and explain things pretty well.
Good luck and stylish wishes -S*
No. If you enjoy wearing that brand there is nothing wrong with it. It becomes pretentious when you wear the label on your top, butt and keep on wearing the name over and over . Then it becomes a Housewives from..... state type look. Wear what is nice and your style. It is your body, wear what you want.....
I swear by comfort and sales racks and clearance racks.
I just can't bring myself to pay full price for anything (even though I could probably afford to!)... it just seems wasteful. I shop ahead for my kids in sizes and get the most adorable things for next to nothing! 
I like the exhilarition I feel at finding something on sale.... I like to shop around at any store, shopping can be a fun thing for me! --- I prefer to go when nobody's around though, don't like shopping with billions of angry women. --- (Have you seen how brutal some women can be out there near a clearance rack?!)
I think shopping should be about value, comfort and LOOKING great! --- Who cares what label it is, or what it cost?
If it looks great, costs reasonable, and is comfortable. I don't care where it came from or what brand! 
Who cares? It's not like you're only buying the same LINE.
I used to only buy clothes at Kohl's... but uh, think about the wide variety of things they have. Doesn't really matter.
I am that way with Jeans... Levi's and Gap fit me.. always have... so I pretty much only buy Levis, or Gap jeans. I always ALWAYS buy them on sale (usually at Ross for the Levi's) but I rarely will pay the same $20 for anything else... they last longer, they fit my butt and hips without the waistband gap.. so I think its worth sticking to them!
Other than that, I pretty much just snap up deals where I can find them. But I think there is nothing wrong with knowing what brands fit you and sticking to those brands, especially because trends and styles change so frequently.
I buy my jeans at AE, basically ALL my jeans...Tops/hoodies/sweaters are majority from there too... but everything else is either Gap, Old Navy, Target Mossimo, and VS.
Is "hand-me-down" a brand?
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I used to buy almost all of my clothes at the GAP, when we had 2 here in close proximity. I think that it is fine as long as you are happy and comfortable with your style and it isn't impeeding your life. (Think "What Not to Wear", and the clothes they wear to work)
These days, I am more eclectic in my style, but only because I haven't found a brand yet that fits my more volumptious, post-twins shape.
twin_mommy May. 29, 2009 at 1:17 PM