My Grandma's #1 Shopping Tip, in Honor of NYFW

As New York Fashion Week starts heating up, the urge to shop hits — bad. You were just try'na check out trending fabrics for spring, but the more runway shows you watch, the more you want to buy: translucent all-white getups from Nicholas K, army green stolen from the boys, and hold up, did you see those floor-length gowns paired with flushed cheeks at Tadashi?

It's kind of like going into a department store. You may have intended to buy a sensible pair of work flats, but you get lost somewhere along the cocktail dress floor and end up emerging with brocade trousers, a cashmere scarf, and too many glittery sale tops to count. Don't fret your shopaholic tendencies, dear Fashion Week aficionados: I've got some priceless advice to share with you that will preserve both your credit card and your sartorial dignity.

I must've been 15 when my grandma gave me this piece of shopping wisdom, and I've used it countless times ever since (honestly, I've probably saved hundreds or thousands of dollars because of it). She told me,

If you're torn about buying something, walk away. If you're still thinking about it hours later, go back and get it.

The beauty of this advice is that it's not at all about deprivation. If you're still thinking about that fur-lined feather-covered sequin-encrusted bag a few hours later, you have full permission to run back to the store and snatch it close to your heart. But taking a few hours to think about something else will weed out all the purchases that aren't actually a good idea. The pants you know in your heart you'll never wear. The black coat that's on serious clearance, so you feel like you should buy it, even though you already have one at home.

Your unconscious knows what to cling to and what to let go, while you — caught up in a consumer frenzy — may not be able to make the distinction between this piece is my soulmate and I'm blinded by mall lights and no longer know what I'm doing right away.

Follow this advice, and you'll end up buying the things that truly speak to you. They don't have to be sensible. They don't have to be on sale. But when an item sticks in your mind, it usually means that there's some weird unexplainable chemistry between you and the piece (fashion = love, okay?), and you won't regret bringing that beautiful thing home.

Keep this in mind as you soak up the Fashion Week sights, and you'll end up with a fall wardrobe of well-curated pieces that speak to the strange, adorable, slightly disheveled being that is you.