oh the seductive appeal of the new

In order to make the most of what you've got, it's pretty damn important to make a thorough assessment of your existing assets. What have I found so far? I have too many clothes. Too many clothes I never wear.

My wardrobe is extremely cramped, so that it's fairly impossible to extricate one clothes hanger without dragging out two or three others, or knocking assorted garments off onto the floor where they may never be seen again (they're buried under all my shoes, remember.)

I read the other day that most people wear 80% of their wardrobe 20% of the time. This was actually being used as a line to convince gullible consumers like myself to invest in the bare essentials. But clever marketing aside, there's definitely some truth to the fact that everyone has a lot of shit they just never wear.

Maybe it doesn't fit right. A bit too short. Too low cut. Too uncomfortable. Too last season. My main reason for constantly acquiring things I wear once is the desperate need to just wear something new: there'll be a night out coming up, and I so strongly detest the sight of everything I own that I have to rush out and buy something new. Something. Anything. As long as it's something I've never worn before.

... And will never wear again. There are five or six dresses which fall into this category, which is a fairly epic waste of money. There's a concept among the fashion-savvy about value per wear. Example: a $200 dress you wear 20 times costs $10 per wear, and is thus a sensible purchase. A $200/$100/$50 dress that you only wear once... well, you see the point.

It's probably the product of a very clever marketing campaign that something we don't yet have in our overly-stocked wardrobes always looks a lot better than what's already in there. Or a basic psychological need to nest and acquire things and show our status - I'll leave that one up to you to decide.

You might disagree with me and think it's perfectly acceptable to wear the same thing over and over again. Good on you - you've already achieved what I'm trying to do and are getting the most out of the stuff you already have. (You uppity bitch.) But here's a scenario for your consideration: if you had one good formal dress, would you wear it to a string of weddings in the same circle of friends? Most women I know would balk at the thought. For a friend to remark "Oh you've worn your green Lisa Ho cocktail dress again" would likely cause embarrassment.

But far from being universal, I can think of at least one culture where this would be considered a compliment. French fashionistas - known throughout the world for their elegance and style - are known to value quality investment pieces that can be worn again and again over cheaper, less classic designs. According to A Guide to Elegance - a handbook on developing that saucy French style - if a Frenchwoman's friend remarks on her familiar, oft-worn garb it's taken as a compliment and recognition of her enduring sense of style.

It's a lesson I, at least, could stand to learn, as I flick through a pile of expensive and regrettable purchases that I'm loathe to give up but never really wear. Not one of these, I can't help but notice, is a piece I ever fell in love with, but a fickle, adrenaline-fueled crush I just had to have at the time, then quickly lost interest in. What a floozy I am.

Hopefully seeing these mistakes spread out in front of me - and mentally calculating the cost of these whims - will be enough to make me change my ways and embrace a shopping mentality which is a little more Parisian.