The Bad Buy Book-June 2017-Dresses
Welcome to June’s edition of The Bad Buy Book!
The Bad Buy Book is a series hosted by Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge and Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style. We wanted to establish something fun and new together. Since we had both talked about our Sitting Shoes, we came up with the idea for The Bad Buy Book!
We all do our best to look great in our outfits, choose the right accessories, the right makeup, the perfect shoes, and wait for the best light to shoot the most flattering outfit photos. And now we are asking you to show us the items you don’t feel your very best in. You know, those Sitting Shoes, that dress that is actually not quite your color, the skirt that is a size too small but the saleswoman said it looked amazing. We all own those items! And while they may look fabulous, they don’t always feel fabulous! So we want you to show us your bad buys and tell us the story about them! What made you purchase the item? And why do you dislike it now? And why not share them with us? We buy these things for a reason then hide them in the back of the closet. Now it’s their turn to share the limelight.
Every month on the 15th, we will both publish a post sharing the photos you have sent us along with a few sentences about your Bad Buy. Photo submissions will be due by the 10th of each month so we have time to edit and compile all of the entries. At the end of each post we will let you know the theme for the next month’s post. Photos and the story of your Bad Buy can be emailed to shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com or nancybaten@upcmail.nl. Please put Bad Buy in the subject line.
Let’s get on with June’s edition of The Bad Buy Book: Dresses!
First, my gorgeous co-host Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style.
Nancy has this to say about her Bad Buy dress: “I can’t even look normal wearing this one. What was I thinking? I know! Oh, It’s only €15! Why do we ever go back there every time? Bleh! To big, to frumpy, to long, to whatever! Not me.”
By the way, Nancy, I don’t think this dress looks as bad as you think it does!
Lorena of My Every Day Wear shared her Jumper Gone Wrong with us for this edition.
Lorena said this, “I’m the first one to admit that something does not look well. In this case, the black jumper dress purchased not too long ago. It looked ok in the dressing room and I was in a hurry, so I did not stop to further evaluate and just bought it. Today I am ready to let it go after just three wears. Does this happen to you often? Buy something in a hurry, little thought put in it and then… it just does not work? I have to say it makes me upset as I like to think that I am now wiser and more assertive with my purchases, well I guess not.”
Lorena, I think it’s sort of cute. And I really like the green tee underneath.
Jodie of Jodie’s Touch of Style (who has loyally participated with every edition of this series) shared a dress that did not stand up to the washing machine!
Jodie has this to say about her dress: “So I’m sending this photo of my dress that I consider a bad buy! It may look fine in the photos, but after only one washing it pilled terribly. I had washed it normally like the directions said, but the material must have been defective. I kept meaning to take it back to the store, but I never got around to it. Sadly, I gave it away, even though I loved it otherwise!!”
I have had that happen more than once and it does make me quite sad!
Susan of Over 50 Under 20 shared a funny story about her brown dress!
From Susan: “Years ago, I made up a little saying for my husband to use when he went shopping by himself. I felt like this was necessary, because sometimes he would bring home clothing that was…how can I put this?…..downright UGLY. I finally figured out that he did not look good in brown, so I taught him to say, “If it’s brown, put it down” and “If it’s blue, it will do.” His wardrobe choices have improved dramatically since he learned these phrases, but occasionally he will rebel and come home with something in the forbidden color. LOL”
“I am telling you this because I should have followed my own advice. I bought a brown dress, and I tried to make it work. I really did! When I tried this dress on, I thought it was so cute. But as I am fond of saying, my fashion journey is full of trial and error, which is why I don’t like to buy expensive clothes. I don’t like to make mistakes. BUT….I just have to admit…..I don’t like it!”
“Believe it or not, I did not give up after seeing these pictures, but kept going. To be honest, it is not just the color. This dress is just NOT flattering at all. Ladies, this is why the camera is your friend. It will tell you things that the dressing room mirror will not say. The mirror might say, ‘Only $14.99, and you look so cute in this! Buy it!’ But the camera will say, ‘It’s not a bargain if it doesn’t look good on you. What were you thinking??’ So bye bye brown dress. I hope you enjoyed hanging out in my closet for a month.”
This is such a great story of Susan’s brown dress! Those sale prices get me every time as well!
Gail of Is This Mutton? shared a little navy dress gone wrong.
From Gail: “I bought this dress about a year ago: I was looking for an ‘impress dress’ in terms of a smart dress for work that would give me confidence in a meeting where I had to present to a senior manager from the U.S. I thought this dress had the necessary gravitas. BUT. Although it’s fairly figure flattering, it’s navy blue, a colour which doesn’t suit me and drains me. I find the dress so dreary, I can’t even think of what to wear with it to make it look better. A belt? Meh. Jewelry? Meh. So probably the navy blue tights and shoes aren’t helping. The dress is also a bit low cut, and I wore it with a sports bra to avoid showing any cleavage (!), and it shows my clavicles, which, unlike the rest of me, are bony. I don’t like wearing scarves but I don’t like this area being exposed. So I only wore it once, and I can’t see myself wearing it again!”
Maybe a bright pink statement necklace, nude stockings and some bright colored pumps and handbag? That may revive the dreariness of it all!
And now my bad buy dress!
“I have this dress in black and it is one of my favorites! When I saw it in this bright yellow floral, I had to have it. It was slightly damaged so I also received a 50% discount but it was a final sale. Now that I have it, I realize that the color is not so flattering on me. And the slimming effect that is created in the black version is not present at all in the bright yellow! Oh well, I still like the cheerfulness of the dress even though it is not the most flattering piece in my closet.”
That’s it for this month! Thank you all so very much for participating! I hope you all join us again next month as well as many more beautiful women showcasing our bad buys in our stylish ways with a side of humor!
Next month’s theme is Tops! Blouses, tee-shirts, tank tops, tunics…anything really that you would like to share!
Please submit your photos by July 10.
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Linking up with these Fabulous Link Ups.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
20 Comments
Sheela Goh
Shelbee, what are you talking about?? That yellow dress is GORGEOUS on you and your jet black hair and ivory complexion. Pinkie swear. And how is it that I completely missed this fun challenge of sorts 🙂 I must try and see if I have something appropriate for next month. I’m in Singapore right now, Malaysia and Italy are up next so professional photography is out of the question but I’ll try xoxo
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Sheela, you are too kind! I had a better (worse) dress for this bad buy series but I couldn’t find any photographs of it and it wouldn’t stop raining long enough for me to take new photos. It is a super pretty dress that happens to make me look 7 months pregnant! We would love if you played along for next month’s theme if you can…even without professional photographs…they are bad buys anyhow, so they don’t necessarily deserve the time or effort of professional photos. Hahaha. I wish you safe travels my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
jodie filogomo
You guys are the funnest for doing this! Maybe I’m just a sucker for a great deal or else I don’t evaluate a piece that well when I buy it—but I seem to have many of these bad buys!!
Thanks for all of the hard work for this.
And don’t you think that the photos don’t do the “badness” justice?
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Jodie, thank you for being so fun and playing along with us! I just commented on Nancy’s IG post that it makes me laugh when I see these posts go live because we make our bad buys look quite fashionable! I think it is just because we are that fabulous! Ha. I have a ton of bad buys in my closet even after doing a closet clean out! So I am definitely a sucker for a deal.
xoxo
Shelbee
Jill
This is such a fun series! I think that yellow dress looks great on you! Love the print and it’s so cheery!
Jill
Doused In Pink
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Jill! I was just as happy with the dress after the fact! I had a better (or worse) to share but I couldn’t find the photos and the rain wouldn’t stop to allow me to take new ones. So I shared what I guess I should call a “not that bad buy of a dress”!
xoxo
Shelbee
nicole
Thanks for linking up to Top of the World Style.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Nicole!
xoxo
Shelbee
Mary Colleen
I was going to say that dress looks gorgeous on you! And I love this idea! There are times I have gone back on outfits too after photographing them. (Though they are usually off due to styling choices, not necessarily bad pieces.)
This is a really fun idea! I enjoyed reading this, looking forward to the next one!
Mary
https://www.themarycurator.com/
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Mary! Maybe it was more the photos I wasn’t that happy with. I did get a lot of compliments on this dress they day I wore it, but it definitely did not photograph as well as I would have liked. If you have some bad buys hanging around your closet, you should submit one for next month’s theme of tops! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.
xoxo
Shelbee
Lynda Hardy
I actually love that yellow dress on you! Maybe if you’re really not feeling it, cut short the skirt to create a blouse with a flounce hem so you get the pop of cheery color, but not head to calf?
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Lynda! It is a lot of yellow for me! While I love your suggestion of turning the dress into flouncy blouse, I chuckled to myself when I read it as I thought, “Does Lynda think I know how the heck to do that?”! A seamstress, I am not! But there are people I can pay for that service! Have a fabulous weekend.
xoxo
Shelbee
Kellyann
I have so many bad buys, ugh, I keep wondering when I’m going to stop purchasing them! Thanks for linking up with Jennie and me for Fabulous Friday!
xo,
Kellyann
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Me, too, Kellyann. Me, too! Not only when will I stop buying them, but when will I purge them from my closet?! I am such a a hoarder of all things fashion related! Hahaha. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you can particiapte in one of our bad buy series…just for the fun of it!
xoxo
Shelbee
Elizabeth Ramsey
What a fun way to make light of our oops buys! Oddly, I think most of these dresses look OK on the wearers! My most recent (a dress – darn, should have submitted) was a white fitted linen number purchased while on vacation. All linen wrinkles but fitted linen with wrinkles just looks shabby. And I’m a bit clumsy so dry-clean bright whites are probably not a great choice for me. Looked stellar on the hangar!
Elizabeth / NattyGal.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Elizabeth, I am glad you can appreciate our silly sense of humor! I wish you had submitted for this series. Maybe you have a not-so-great top for next month! And we are going to feature jackets and blazers in the fall. I agree about bright white linen…not good for most people! Thanks so much for stopping by!
xoxo
Shelbee
Lorena
Its funny how I think some of the dresses here actually work, however its all in how the person wearing it feels.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I agree completely, Lorena! Because I think your little romper is adorable! Thanks so much for playing along with us! I think this series is so much fun!
xoxo
Shelbee
Ada
I actually quite like the yellow floral dress – such an unique style too. I think it looks great with your dark hair. I own that same dress in a peplum top which I wore a few times this Summer.
P.S. I want to participate in this series, sometimes. I love it.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Ada, thanks so much! I really love the bright yellow floral but yellow is not the greatest on me. It seems to look better if I layer something navy blue over it. Yes, you definitely need to play along with us! September’s theme is skirts! Just send an email to me or Nancy with a photo and a short description by September 10.
xoxo
Shelbee