The Wall Street Journal published an article that captures the inspiration I felt to create The Style Editor. We often shop or hold on to items with ill defined ideas of who we are, hoping that the self identity will fit at some point. Talking through our attractions, either real or discarded, to these items that under-serve us is often times enough to let it go. For harder decisions, having an audience / jury helps quite a lot, too.
You loved it in the store. Now it haunts you from the closet.
You still haven't worn that item of clothing that seemed perfect in the shop but at home seems so wrong. You can't bring yourself to get rid of it, though. It's in a corner of the closet that could be labeled "regret."
An H&M store in New York promotes a sale in its window. Sales can entice shoppers to buy what they didn't intend to.
The retail industry counts on this and knows that people buy for many more reasons than actually needing something. Sometimes the skirt or shoes were bought on a whim. Other times, a blue mood demands ill-advised retail therapy. Maybe the sale was too good to pass up. Or maybe the outfit was perfect for the thinner, edgier, wealthier person you aspired to become.