How to shop for clothes - my Top 5 Lessons

The other week I whisked my best friend off to a special day out in Dublin. She had just hit a milestone birthday and felt that she had lost her way on the style mile, so we booked in to see the personal shopper at Topshop in Grafton St to see if she could help.

Naturally I went along for moral support purposes only. But it would have been rude not to try on at least a few of the outfits the lovely Sinead had been picked out for me wouldn't it?

I swear my credit card started sweating the minute I opened the changing room door....

Anyway we had an amazing morning trying on clothes that we would never have picked out for ourselves and being very pleasently surprised by the outcome. Mostly at any rate - that to die for Kate Moss number? Yeah - you're not Kate Moss and it looks ridiculous. Well it did on me anyway.

So what did I get?

Some of my purchases are below - teamed up with a few 'must haves next times'.

Outfit 1

Topshop Picks 1 by katetakes5 featuring skinny jeans

Outfit 2

Topshop picks 2 by katetakes5 featuring calf length skirts

And what did I learn?

1. Shop with an outfit in mind.
Like most people I would swan around the shops picking up bits and pieces that I liked and then buying the one or two items that suited me when I tried them on.
No more. All the clothes I get now can be mixed and matched with each other to make up a complete outfit. The same shoes and jewellery are used throughout, the same jeans and tops are used with a few other picks and that's it - you have a handful of pieces that can be pulled together in lots of different ways. Clever eh?

Topshop picks 3 by katetakes5 featuring leather shoes

2. Shop for what you wear.
There's no point in having lots of pairs of lovely high heels if you never wear high heels, dresses that never see the light of day, and blouses that would look great at the office (when you don't actually work in an office).

3. Take a moment.
Do you often try something on in a changing room, look at yourself for point one of a nanosecond and think 'eugh, disgusting!' before ripping it off? Next time stop, take a moment, try tucking it in, or rolling up the sleeves or putting a pair of jeans on underneath, or doing up the top button. It's amazing what little adjustments can do to make an item suit you.

4. Only buy the definites. 
Unsure about something? Leave it behind and think about it for awhile. Chances are if you didn't absolutely love it then it's not for you and it will hang in your wardrobe with all those other guilt inducing purchases.

5. Don't tell the other half. 
Goes without saying doesn't it?