1st Purchase of My Low Buy Year - To Keep or Not to Keep?

My 3 Phases of Decision-Making + 10 Outfits!

I made my very first purchase of 2025, an online one, but it didn’t go as smoothly as usual: buy - receive - love - wear OR buy - receive - not love - return.

My initial thought was “Ooo Love!” but that quickly turned into questioning the authenticity of the the item, which led me down a bit of a rabbit-hole.

Since it ended up being such an experience, I thought that I’d write about it as a standalone post.

There was a 5-day return period for the item. Over those 5 days, I did a number of things to help me make a decision about whether to keep the item or return it.

I will be breaking this post into sections to illustrate the phases of my decision-making process:

☑️ Phase 1 - determining authenticity

☑️ Phase 2 - styling hypothetical outfits

☑️ Phase 3 - styling actual outfits I’ve worn

Based on the outcome of these phases, I should be able to confidently decide if this will be my 1/25 items for my low buy year!

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As this is the first installment of this series, it’s free for all subscribers.

For future decision-making newsletters related to my Low Buy Purchases, the first 1/4 will remain free but the entire newsletter will be reserved for paying members of the community.

If you are finding value in my newsletters and would like to support my work, you can upgrade your membership for $5 per month (OR an annual subscription of $50 gets you 2 months free). This gives you full access to all of the newsletters that I publish, all of the archive and the ability to start community threads, in addition to any other thing that I publish.

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The Item

When I shared my plan for my Low Buy Year, I also shared a few items that I had on my wishlist and one of those items was a pair of brown Moto boots.

I have a pair of black Moto boots that I bought in 2012 and they are a wardrobe staple. If something happened to them, I would replace them in a heartbeat. I was thinking that a brown pair could add a little more depth to my wardrobe since I have a lot of black, both in shoes and clothing.

My black Moto boots are from Frye and they’ve held up so well that I knew I’d like to have another pair from them. They had a 160th anniversary pair in chocolate brown back in the fall that I would have loved but they’re all sold out now and I haven’t been able to find them in the preloved market.

About a week before Christmas, I came across a pair of brown harness boots in my size on a resell site that I’ve bought from in the past. I saved them in my favorites and checked on them every day to see if they were gone. After about a week of this, on Christmas Eve, I went ahead and ordered them. The delivery date was January 2nd, so I decided that if I liked them, they would be the first purchase of my low buy.

Well, they came, and I had a moment of panic after opening the box and inspecting them closely. There were a few things that were making me think that they weren’t authentic Frye boots, namely the stitching on the Frye tag on the inside of the boot and a “SD” stamp near the Frye logo.

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☑️ Phase 1

I only had 5 days to return them, so I took my concerns to Instagram, and the community did not disappoint!

This is what I posted to my stories:

Most of the people who responded thought that they looked authentic. One person responded with a listing for a similar pair of boots on eBay that they had found which addressed one of the issues and I was feeling a little better about their authenticity. Then someone responded with firsthand knowledge that they were legit:

I had someone respond to ask if it would bother me that they were factory seconds and I did question that myself. But after thinking about it for a few minutes, I concluded that it didn’t actually bother me. My wardrobe is primarily comprised of preloved items so having a pair of boots with some cosmetic “flaws’ doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I was drawn to these boots because of the distressing, which I think gives them more of a vintage vibe!

Phase 1 Result - Pass

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☑️ Phase 2

Now that the mystery concerning their authenticity was solved, I had to decide whether or not I was going to keep them. I was still on the fence because I wasn’t sure if I would actually wear them - my wardrobe is comprised mostly of clothes that are cool toned and I wanted to see how these boots would fit in with my existing wardrobe before making my final decision to keep them or send them back.

Back in my earlier blogging days, I used to do styling posts where I would style 1 item 5 different ways, so I decided to give that a go again.

I also wanted to weigh these boots against my black Moto boots to see if I liked the outfit more with the brown or black boots, with the reasoning being that if I liked the black ones the most, it would be redundant to keep the brown ones.

Outfit 1 - Floral Dress

In 2018, someone that I followed on Instagram posted a photo of herself at a wedding wearing this dress and I was instantly in love with it! I needed it! I proceeded to patiently wait until I could find it in the preloved market and around 6 months later, it happened. The brand is Burberry Brit and it’s 100% silk. It’s covered in tiny pink and red flowers with a brown base.

When I first got the dress, I had a pair of heeled, slouchy suede boots, which I had thrifted. They were a little too big for me so I rarely wore them and I eventually got rid of them. From that point on, I wore this dress with my black Moto boots or my silver boots. But I missed having a pair of brown boots to wear it with.

Brown vs. Black Boots - I’m not 100% sold on the distressed brown of these boots with this dress. I feel like the dress needs a pair of “sleeker” boots so I think I prefer the black boots more in this aspect. However, I like the wider shape of the brown boots more than the black ones. I think that the wider shape of the brown ones balance the fullness of the dress’ skirt better.

Verdict - TIE

I don’t think that either pair is “perfect” with this dress and I think that both look good for different reasons. I could imagine wearing these equally with this dress.

Outfit 2 - Cashmere Sweater + Wool Skirt

This sweater + skirt pairing is one of my favorite outfit combinations. In the winter, I like to wear it with my black Moto boots or silver dressy boots if I’m wearing it out to dinner. In the spring and fall, with my black loafers.

As I was brainstorming outfit ideas, I thought that this one might look good with the brown boots. And I like how it looks, even more in person. However, I think the black boots look better with it overall and I would choose the black boots over the brown ones.

Verdict - BLACK BOOTS

Outfit 3 - Vintage Silk Blouse + Memade Dress

Sometimes, when I’m bored, and usually in the evening as I’m getting ready for bed, I’ll have a little dress-up session where I try some different outfit combinations to see if I can find something new.

This blouse and dress pairing is one that I tried a really long time ago. Every time I pull it out to try, I wish that I had a pair of brown boots because while the black ones are great, I’ve just always thought that brown ones would suit the creamy white and brown print of the blouse more.

I have a funny story about this blouse - I found it in the vintage section of a local consignment shop; I think in 2019. I had my kids with me and they were still little kids then. As soon as I saw the sleeve of this blouse sticking out, I grabbed it. And instantly fell in love! I turned to my kids to ask what they thought and they were all like “ewww, that’s gross” and I was all like “well, I definitely have to get it now!” 😆 And I will never declutter it, ever!

I like the look of the black boots with this outfit and if it was my only option, I would wear it, but I do think that the brown ones look better.

Verdict - BROWN BOOTS

Outfit 4 - Chore Coat + Memade Jeans

Up to this point, I had tried the boots on with 2 dresses and a skirt. I knew that I wouldn’t get a true result unless I included some pants. I have mostly black pants and I had already done an all-black outfit so I decided to test my 2-tone jeans. These have a wide leg and I imagined that they would look really good with the boots, and also not feel constrictive in the leg.

I wanted something on top that had a little warmth to it so chose a khaki green chore coat to complement the warmth in the boots.

And while I like the outcome of the black boots, I think the brown ones look a lot better with the coat and jeans as an outfit.

Verdict - BROWN BOOTS

Outfit 5 - “Kaya” Sweater + White Cotton Skirt

Just like with the floral dress, as soon as I ordered these boots, I knew that I wanted to try them with this white skirt.

And just like with the floral dress, I prefer the wider silhouette of the brown boots to the black boots, although I think the color of the black boots might “go” a little bit better with the overall outfit than the brown.

I also like that the brown boots are higher than the black ones so there is overlap between the boots and the skirt, whereas there is a small space between the top of the black boots and the bottom of the skirt.

Verdict - TIE, with maybe a slight edge to the brown?

FINAL VERDICT - 2 TIE, 2 BROWN BOOTS, 1 BLACK BOOTS

Phase 2 Result - Pass

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☑️ Phase 3

Now that the brown boots had passed the styling phase of outfits that I had in my head, hypothetical outfits so to speak, I wanted to be sure that they would work with actual outfits that I’ve worn and loved.

So I went back through the past 6 weekly outfit diaries and chose 3 of my favorite outfits + an outfit fail from last week’s newsletter to try them out with…

Outfit 1 - Originally worn on 12/15/24

I remember hearing a long time ago that you shouldn’t wear brown and black together and I don’t know why that was such a thing - I love how the combo looks!

I felt really good in the original outfit of charcoal cardigan + black mockneck sweater + black jeans + black belt + black boots. As I went back through my previous outfits, it was one that I thought could be improved on, or at least be as good, with a pair of brown Moto boots.

I swapped out my black western-style belt for a brown one (2 of my favorite vintage finds) and added the brown boots. And I really love how it turned out. I don’t prefer either one over the other!

Verdict - TIE

Outfit 2 - Originally worn on 12/18/24

I really loved this original outfit of tank top + fluffy cardigan + wide leg pants + black Moto boots and I thought that the colors of the cardigan would look good paired with brown.

While I do like the brown boots with it, I prefer the outfit with the black boots more!

Verdict - BLACK BOOTS

Outfit 3 - Originally worn on 12/28/24

Do you believe me now that I like black and brown together? 😆

Every time that I’ve worn this top that I made, in this case over a mockneck sweater + slip dress, I think that it would be nice to have brown boots (maybe because there’s brown in the pattern). And I feel like I was right - I prefer the brown boots with this outfit more than the black ones.

Verdict - BROWN BOOTS

Did the boots improve last week’s outfit fail?

In last week’s newsletter, I wrote:

I like the silhouette of this outfit but I think that maybe there’s a little too much grey going on?

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Or I could have tried my leopard print shoes instead of the silver sneakers - the brown of those shoes would have complemented the brown in the shirt and I think there would have been more balance.

I do think that the brown boots brings more balance to the outfit and I feel much better in the outfit with the brown boots - this one would have made it out of the house!

Verdict - BROWN BOOTS

FINAL VERDICT - 1 TIE, 2 BROWN BOOTS, 1 BLACK BOOTS

Phase 3 Result - Pass

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The Pièce de Résistance

Okay, my mind was pretty much made up at this point. The boots had passed all 3 phases of my little experiment BUT I had one more outfit in mind.

There have been many times over the years when I’ve wanted to do an outfit with jeans tucked into knee-high boots, but at 5’3”, most of these boots come right up to my knee and I don’t like how it looks. So I had accepted my fate and decided that would never be an outfit that I would wear.

But after trying on the above 9 outfits and seeing where the top of the boot hit on my leg, I thought that maybe, just maybe, it might work with a pair of jeans tucked into them.

And you know what, I love it! I don’t even know if tucking jeans into boots is trendy right now but I honestly could care less. The joy I felt at trying this outfit combo and loving it beats whether or not my outfit is trendy any day!

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To keep or not to keep?

KEEP!

I think that these boots fill a gap in my wardrobe and will bring the depth that I was looking for. I’m looking forward to wearing these a lot and seeing how they age. And, I think I’ve found my new favorite style of boot!

I hadn’t planned to discuss my purchases in such detail but I found it really helpful to make sure that I was making the right decision. While I think that I’ve been decently intentional with my purchases over the past decade, this post took it to a whole other level.

I don’t think I could make another purchase this year and not analyze it in this much detail - minus the authenticity most likely! I’m excited to turn this into a series!

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I hope that you enjoyed reading about purchase 1/25 for my Low Buy Year. If you found it useful, or entertaining, or hopefully both, I’d really appreciate it if you could like, comment and/or share this newsletter as it helps it to reach more people who might be wanting to improve their relationship with shopping.

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Thanks for reading! xx Gillian