We've all got 'em, somewhere in the closet. Some of us, it is sad to say, may have quite a few.
I'm talking about those items that we buy for all the wrong reasons, maybe no reason, which is the worst reason of all, and once we get them home, and settled in their new home, our closet, they become shut-ins, cloistered clothing, because they are simply things that there is no way in hell we are ever in our right mind going to wear, nor should we, and
WTF were we THINKING?
Maybe we didn't try them on - at least in the store - and when we get them home and finally get around to actually applying them to our body, we discover that they either simply do not fit us, or that they are a style that no one with our particular body and/or coloring should ever even think of wearing, and we are certainly not going to, or maybe it's not about the garment itself, it's just that it does not go with anything else we have, even using the term "go with" in the most generous, adventurous, and "fashion forward" sense, and in order to wear our Shopping Mistake, we would have to go and buy an entire ensemble specifically to go with it, most or all of which would also go with nothing else in our closet, and even if we were inclined to do that, we can't afford to, because we spent all our money on this horror, so back into the closet they go the Terrible Mistakes, tags hanging in shame, and there they stay.
WHY exactly they stay will have a thousand answers, many logistical: they were on sale, and not returnable, or we have not had time, or they were bought in a mall we seldom get to, etc. but most of the time, we don't really have a good answer for that.
That we plan to lose weight is as lame as it is popular. Especially when we say it in reference to something that is too narrow in the shoulders, or simply of a cut that is not going to look good on us even if we ever did lose enough weight so that we did not look poured into it, which we won't.
And no matter how much weight we might lose, we are not going to turn into Heidi Klum and suddenly look terrific in a garment made for someone who is 6 feet tall and weighs a hundred pounds. And even if we get those highlights in our hair and stay out of the sun, that color is still going to make us look like we have the flu.
We will give it as a gift, we say to ourselves, even though we know very well that there is absolutely no one on earth to whom we would dream of presenting a pair of hot pink satin gaucho pants embroidered with brown and yellow giraffes**. All over.
Maybe we decide to "save it" for the day when giraffe-embellished clothing becomes just as trendy and must-have as a metallic bag. A New Classic, maybe...
At best, after what our ruffled psyches consider a decent interval, we bite the bullet and toss it into the Blessing Bag, hoping against hope that the receiving charity will not put us on some sort of blacklist.
In any case, whenever we see those Terrible Mistakes hanging there, we cannot help but hear the loud and annoyed whisper of our Heart of Hearts -
"What were you THINKING?"
My own most recent one, committed despite the fact that by now I should know better, and do actually follow my own Shopping Rules, just sort of slipped through the cracks.
It is a cream colored top, one of those "surplice" styles, long sleeved, with two inches of lace at the wide V neckline, and an empire waist. I did not try it on in the store.
It was one of those famous clearance bargains, and while it is not so ridiculously too small that it will never fit, it will, as much as it can, fit as soon as I lose the weight from the Long Winter Illness (a long time of bad food choices and no exercise) it will never be becoming to my bustline, and when the semi-flowy bottom is looser it will only make me look as if I am in a different month of pregnancy than it does now, when I must stand very straight and suck in - don't we all know THAT song - to keep it from clinging.
And while a PLAIN long-sleeved cream-colored top is a sensible idea, and can certainly be considered a timeless wardrobe basic, it is way too much lace, and has all the above-mentioned features which combine to make it anything BUT basic, I would have done better to find a nice plain one, and a cami if I wanted a bit of lace, and layer it, but NOOOoooo.
I have no excuse for it having resided in my closet for so long, and in fact was Inspired to start this thread because yesterday I finally folded it up and put it in the Blessing Bag, that it may find its way to someone taller, slimmer, and with a smaller bosom and who looks good with that much lace...
What Terrible Mistakes lurk in YOUR closet, and what, if any, is your excuse for their presence?
**Not mine. But I have seen this item, cowering in the closet of a neighbor...
Confess Your Terrible Shopping Mistakes: What Were You THINKING?
Re: Terrible Shopping Mistakes: What Were You THINKING?
to Power Walk!
. Here's a couple, I've bought shoes that didn't even fit me. Twice. I ended up giving it away to my friends. I bought a pair of Diesel jeans that was more than $200 (before tax) and I only wore it two or three times. I really regret I bought it and I didn't want to re-sell it cause it was really expensive when I bought it and just wishful thinking that someday I would 'maybe' wear it.
, or tops that are only okay for wearing to a club , which I never go to 
)
My Little Luxury Collection at 
