Dressing thoughtfully

I've just started reading Linda Grant's "The thoughtful dresser"- and there's a matching blog. All good and interesting stuff, though it's hard to feel kinship with someone who goes out in chapter one and buys a £300 pair of shoes. I can never decide whether I want more clothes or fewer clothes. An effortlessly chic capsule wardrobe denies the pleasure of buying something just because you really really want it; giving in to caprice means never having anything which goes with anything else. But, after all, what can you aspire to, other than the shabby-glam English eccentric look, when the only interesting place to buy clothes is the charity shop?