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I feel like 90s teen films taught me how to shop.

My core belief that I wasn’t good enough as I was and buying stuff would make me feel more worthy had a part to play too. But, remember the montages? Oh how I wanted to be one of those girls trying everything on in the shop with my friends, getting style advice and then buying bags full of stuff.

These days I’m a solo shopper. I’m happy to wander around with friends, but when I mean business and I’m capsule wardrobe shopping, it’s just me. That’s the way I like it.

I used to like as many opinions as possible before I made a purchase. The reason? I had no idea who I was, what I wanted or what my personal style was. Other opinions validated me and gave me a sense of security I desperately needed. But it wasn’t a long term solution because I was being influenced and buying all the wrong things. £1000s worth!

Even with the internet I still found ways to shop with others. Screen shotting things I thought would look good and send ing them to a friend for her opinion. If Instagram stories had been around I would’ve jumped at the chance to poll everything I was considering.

Shopping alone has re-educated me in wonderful ways.

Ten reasons I love shopping alone

I’m in control – I LOVE to be in control. The control freak mode in me has it’s pros and cons but when it comes to shopping it’s very important. I can take a break when I want, go when I want, head home when I want, go in which ever store I want and try on whatever I want. It’s all in my control and it feels great.

I can eat and drink when I want – The times I’ve had to stop for lunch when I didn’t really want to or make a detour to Starbucks for a coffee adding more time than necessary onto the day. I love the freedom of food and drinks being on my terms.

I love being alone! I’m an introvert for goodness sake, of course I love shopping alone! I love spending time with loved ones but it’s also incredibly draining for me. When I’m shopping I need as much energy as I can get so spending this time others makes no sense.

I can think clearly – When you’re a particularly picky shopper like I am you need to think clearly when you’re combing through rails. I like to keep my own personal style at the forefront of my mind. The more I can focus completely on the task at hand the better. When I’m taking someone else into consideration I’m not able to completely concentrate.

I have all the answers I need – When you stop turning to others for advice you’ll find you had the right answers all along. It took me a long time to realise my opinion on the clothes I choose to live out my life in is the most important opinion anyway.

I can forget everyone else’s opinions – I only want to wear clothes I love and to do that I have to tune into my own intuition. This has taken a to of work but silencing the opinions of others has really helped. I look to Jo Elvin who started the hashtag #clothesmyhusbandhates for some life inspiration in this area. Only dressing in clothes other people love makes us lose sight of our true selves.

I can take my time – minimalist lifestyle aside I still love clothes. The only difference now is that I’m more selective about what I buy and I reserve my wardrobe only for the very best. I love to set the time aside I need to get the job done right, because simple isn’t easy. It takes a rigorous editing process but it’s worth it because of how much time, money and energy is saves me in the long run.

I enjoy it more – Choosing the clothes we spend our days and lives in should be an act of self-love. I’m going to make it as pleasurable as possible and given the choice I would much rather go it alone.

There’s no rush – I hate rushing anything. I want to shop on my own terms without having to work around someone else’s schedule and lack of time management skills.

I don’t have to justify anything to anyone but myself – The amount of energy I’ve wasted on justifying purchases to other people doesn’t bare thinking about. I’m much more confident making a decision that feels right for me without the external justifications I find myself making on a group shopping trip.

I’d love to know where you stand on shopping. Are you still living the 90s teen movie montage or are you a lone shopper like me?