No. 1 factor to consider when investing in new clothes

In recent years, Michela Allocca has built a capsule wardrobe to help cut back on clothes shopping and make getting dressed easier. 

The idea is to have a streamlined closet with a limited number of basic clothing items you can mix and match. But Allocca’s closet didn’t get that makeover overnight.

“I have purchased a lot of clothes [in the past] that I liked in the moment, but I was trying to make the clothes fit me, and they just didn’t,” says the personal finance coach and content creator. Her experience working in corporate finance helps her teach others how to use their money wisely, and she tries to model those decisions in her personal life too.

The average U.S. household spent around $1,954 on apparel in 2022, or about $162 per month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That’s nearly an 11% increase from 2021, and more than consumers were spending on clothes and shoes prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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For Allocca, choosing which high-quality pieces to invest in took some trial and error. She says neglecting her personal style was one of the biggest mistakes she made while filling out her capsule wardrobe.

“If you buy a piece of clothing that you don’t wear often, that’s a waste of money,” she says.

Derek Guy, the menswear expert behind the blog and popular X account, “Die, Workwear!” agrees. “The most important dimension [when buying clothes] is not to just think about quality or brand name, but the idea of emotional durability,” he tells CNBC Make It.

“Something can be beautifully built and really durable, but if it’s not something that you’re excited to wear in 10 years, then it kind of doesn’t matter, because it’ll just languish in your closet,” he says.

You might buy items according to a trend or shop a brand because an influencer says it’s a good one. You might even grab pieces when they go on sale. But regardless how much you spend, if it’s not something you are going to wear, it’s going to be a waste of money.

Here are three tips to help you figure out your personal style and stop overspending on clothes.

You don’t have to commit to a capsule wardrobe in order to minimize your clothing budget. Most of us have a few closet staples — like a pair of jeans or a blazer — that we wear all the time. Those should be the pieces of clothing you invest the most in, Allocca says. 

Out of a closet of “elevated basics” from which she can mix and match, “I’m thinking about the items that I’m always reaching for, and how can I make sure that they’re high quality, regardless of the price,” she says.

She feels comfortable splurging on these items because she knows she’s going to get her money’s worth. Though she paid around $500 for one sweater, “it’s a classic style, I wear it all the time,” she says.

While fashion blogs and influencers may try to dictate which items are or aren’t considered timeless, your personal style can help you decide if an item is going to be worth a significant investment.

“If you shop purely based on trends, then you have an entire closet full of clothes that has very low use and probably a very high cost per wear,” Allocca says.

If you don’t like the way a fabric or hemline feels on you, trust that instinct to avoid buying another piece you’re not going to wear. Linen, for example, is a good quality material, but if you don’t personally jibe with its texture or appearance, you shouldn’t try to force a linen set into your repertoire.

In addition to saving space in your closet — or eventually a landfill — aiming to buy fewer items can give you more of a budget to splurge on the pieces you do buy. A higher price doesn’t always mean better quality, but a larger budget gives you more flexibility to be selective.

“Increasing your budget allows you to find certain things that you want to keep longer and still make you excited [to wear] in 10 years,” Guy says.

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