- Americans are financially stressed in almost every way. Yet we’re bombarded with messages to “buy more and more and more,” says personal stylist Allison Bornstein.
- Following up on her viral three-word method and false shoe theory, Bornstein has a radical new idea: “Just because you have the money doesn’t mean you have to spend it.”
- Here’s how to avoid the temptation to overspend before the holidays.
Allison Bornstein, author of Wear It Well.
Photo: Jennifer Trahan
It’s not often that we’re asked to buy less, at least not on social media.
More likely, in the name of “quiet luxury,” we are encouraged to wear Loro Piana cashmere baseball caps and carry $300 Smythson notebooks like Gwyneth Paltrow, and attach “girl math” to such expensive purchases justify.
This is in addition to the current trend of “treat” culture, which encourages spending money on smaller treats like at Starbucks as a form of self-care.
“We don’t need half of these things,” said Allison Bornstein, celebrity stylist and author of the new book “Wear It Well: Reclaim Your Closet and Rediscover the Joy of Getting Dressed.”
“Take a second to pause,” she said.
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow leaves a courtroom on March 21, 2023, where she is accused of colliding with Terry Sanderson during a family ski vacation in 2016 in Park City, Utah.
Rick Bowmer | Afp | Getty Images
Americans are financially stressed in almost every way. And yet we are bombarded with messages to “buy more and more and more,” Bornstein said.
Bornstein, who has been a style consultant for more than 13 years, encourages her clients to work with what they already own. “It’s just easier to buy something new, but you can use what you have,” she said.
“You can be more creative, more interesting and much more economical.”
More from Personal Finance:
Quiet luxury may be Americans’ most expensive trend yet
Shoppers use “girl math” to justify luxury purchases
Paying in cash helps buyers “forget” about secret joys.
While some things may be worth the splurge, like a good coat or expert tailoring, “just because you have the money doesn’t mean you have to splurge,” Bornstein writes in “Wear It Well.”
With her viral three-word method for defining a personal style and the wrong shoe theory for upending the usual combinations, there’s a reason her ideas resonate, and part of it is hers attributed to spending fatigue. “People are tired and have a pile of stuff they want us to buy and don’t know what to do with it,” she said.
Allison Bornstein’s book: Wear It Well.
Courtesy of Allison Bornstein
Quiet the noise, warns consumer savings expert Andrea Woroch. “The easiest way to avoid temptation is to get yourself off the list by unsubscribing from email, turning off SMS notifications, turning off push notifications on retail apps, and unfollowing brands on social media.” , she said.
Additionally, deleting payment data stored online helps create a “buying barrier” that forces people to reconsider their purchasing decisions, Woroch said.
Otherwise, sleep on it, advise both Voroch and Bornstein. Bornstein recommends putting an item on a wish list before committing to a purchase and resisting the urge to buy something just because it’s on sale.
“If you didn’t want something when it was full price, you probably wouldn’t want it discounted,” Bornstein writes in her book. “Think of a sale as a bonus,” she said. “When the item you already know you want is on sale, it’s even sweeter.”
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