Buying clothes can be tricky. It’s hard to have confidence that what you try on in the fitting room will look just as good out in the real world. And then there’s the whole other issue of the item working with the rest of your wardrobe.
Most of us have all got this oh-so-wrong in the past – in fact I’m sure you’re currently conjuring up an image of something you bought thinking, or hoping you’d wear it heaps, only for it to sit sadly in the bag in which it was brought home at the back of your wardrobe collecting dust.
Thankfully there’s a trick to help you never make this mistake or waste your money again. Known as the 3-7-14 rule, this is how it works:
- If you buy something and you haven’t worn it in three days, it’s highly likely you won’t wear it at all. Let’s be honest most of us can barely stop ourselves wearing our purchases until the next day, so this makes a lot of sense.
- If you haven’t managed to wear the new item in seven days, you’re definitely not going to wear it.
- If you’ve got to this point make sure you return the item within 14 days or you’ll probably never return it.
Obviously some stores have a seven day return period so if this is the case make sure you hightail it back there by day seven to avoid having an argument or getting stuck with something you’ve realised you don’t need or want.
When you think about it, this rule really does make a lot of sense. If you’re not excited over a new item, why would you be excited when it’s an older item?
What do you think? Do you agree with this shopping rule? Why not give it a go and see how many purchases you actually end up holding onto. You’ve got nothing to lose except for items you weren’t going to wear!
We originally learnt about the 3-7-14 rule from Glamour.