When you have no closet space, every purchase feels like it might be your last. And when you buy multiples of something with this understanding, you know it’s true love.
A few mental states compel me to buy things in multiples: panic (What if I never find anything that fits this well again?!) and delusion (I will never need another t-shirt now that I have ten of these!)
Sometimes these purchases are made in a rational, detached way (incredible price + remarkable quality + exceptional fit = buy), but other calculations are less precise (OMG. Scallops? Lace?? Cap sleeves??? Tulle???? Yes, I’ll take them in all the colors).
Despite the range of emotions that drive these purchases, I find many of them to be useful, like Aerie Brooke Bras, Gap Legging Jeans, Aerie Seaside Turtleneck, J. Crew Lady Day Coats, and Hunter Rain Boot.
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| Black Halo Jackie O Dress in Heroine (reviewed here; on super sale in white here) | J. Crew Maple Tweed Jacket | Burberry London Westland Trench | Rebecca Minkoff Quilted Mini Affair Bag (reviewed here) | Lauren Ralph Lauren Bryce Boots |
This outfit comprises many of these multiples purchases: I own the Black Halo Jackie O Dress (reviewed here) in three colors, the J. Crew tweed jacket in two colorways (though have countless others that are similar in form), and the Rebecca Minkoff Quilted Mini Affairs Bag (reviewed here) in a second color.
I don’t think buying multiples is an intrinsically good or bad thing. I think there are a few people for whom buying multiples is efficient (like those who shop sparingly and those who have a minimalist style—which is different from someone who lives a minimalist lifestyle) but I suspect far more people, including me, fall in the other camp: buying multiples because we can or want to.
As someone who shops a lot and who jokingly tells friends that her second job is advocating for consumerism and stimulating the economy, I don’t experience too much consumerist guilt, but I do recognize that resources are finite. For me there’s also a point at which stuff starts to cause me anxiety and that is why I orchestrate frequent closet purges and care about the utility (and disutility) of buying multiples.
These days, when I do commit to a multiples purchase, I do it because the original gets worn with an undeniable frequency. And I think that’s a clear indication that the copy will (likely) also be well loved.
