Day 365/366: the good. What I learnt this year whilst wearing my wardrobe

Tweed pinafore by Tu – secondhand via Ebay

Despite the backsliding I described in yesterday’s post, I do think that this year’s exercise in looking at my clothes shopping habits has been helpful.

I went into town yesterday to have a look in the sales, but it was incredibly uninspiring; I looked through the rails and just went “meh” as nothing made me excited.  What I think I have evolved is a bit more of an original style than I had when I was thoughtlessly spending money on clothes and I just bought anything that fitted.

Skirt is years old M+S, jumper is Oasis via a charity shop

Pretty much all of the clothes I have bought this year and have kept fit me really well.  Most of them have a slight retro feel to them, and I have definitely moved away from any bohemian, frilly, lacy or draped sort of styles.  My wardrobe seems to have refined itself into simple but strong structured garments; either nipped in waist swing dresses with cropped cardigans or straight or slightly A-line skirts with fitted jumpers.

Secondhand tartan dress via Ebay, cardi from Lindy Bop

 

As a fat child and adult, I always veered towards clothes that draped, hid or disguised my body. This just made me look shapeless when actually I do have a shape, albeit a bit of a butternut squash rather than traditional hourglass shape.

What I have been learning this year during my wardrobe wearing experiment is what suits me.  I have moved out of hiding and into the light of Instagram and blogging.  I take photos of myself and I use them to give other women confidence that they can wear nice clothes too.  Life is too short not to wear pretty clothes, I don’t need to cover myself in shapeless baggy fabric. I don’t need to apologise for existing as I am.

I do love this outfit.  Skirt is new this year from Primark, jumper is C+A from 2014

What I have also learnt is that charity shopping is thoroughly satisfying, enjoyable and productive, but internet shopping is my downfall.  It’s too easy to turn to the Facebook selling pages, the online vintage repro dress retailers and that old time and money pit, Ebay.  I turn to the internet in times of stress and look at pages and pages of clothes.  I don’t even like most of them, but feel like that old void that needs filling with stuff is still there.

Second hand Monsoon pinafore dress

So my plan for 2017 is no internet shopping for clothes, shoes, jewellery or makeup.  If I want to buy something I have to get it from a shop.  I also have to buy it with real money, not with a credit/debit card – I have to see those notes cross the counter.  Much as I’d like to, I don’t think I can continue my shopping ban as it really hasn’t worked for the whole year. I do however think that stopping my internet shopping habit will be a helpful and more to the point an achievable goal this year.

Meanwhile, I will continue to wear the gorgeous clothes in my Wardrobe.  Bring on Wearing my Wardrobe in 2017.

 

The Collectif Caterina – one of the only two dresses I bought in a shop this year. I love it, it has so much weight and swirl.

Day 364/366: the bad

Anna Scholz dress from 2014 worn at The Curve Fashion Festival in September

My posts have been few and far between over the past few months.  2016 has been a horribly difficult year for me both personally and for the world in general which has not helped me to keep to my pledge.

Studio 8 dress – new

Lindy Bop dress – second hand

I managed to keep to my promise to myself not to buy any new clothes until mid-August when I discovered Lindy Bop clothes whilst spending a lot of time at home because I was really unwell.  They had a massive sale going on and I just fell into buying huge quantities of their clothes.  I sent most of them back or sold them on, but have ended up with 17 Lindy Bop dresses out of the 40 I purchased (OMG this is sounding terrible).

Lindy Bop dress – new

Lindy Bop dress – new

Since then I have backslid further and purchased new clothes from other online vintage-style retailers such as Lady V and new retailer Joanie Clothing.   All of the clothes I have bought from these retailers have been beautiful, they have been chosen for how amazing they look and their lovely style.  Anything that even vaguely didn’t work on me has been sent back.

Joanie Clothing spot dress – new

Lady V Owls dress – new

I have also bought clothes from Ebay which is something that I said I wouldn’t do and I think this is my biggest let down as I could easily have avoided this.  I did only buy two dresses from bricks and mortar shops though so I think I managed to get myself out of the habit of browsing the shops as a leisure activity.  I did however continue to visit charity shops and find some lovely things, especially wool jumpers and cardigans which I wear lots.

Wool jumper dress from Red Cross shop

Hobbs silk jumper from Oxfam paired with Laura Ashley skirt I have had since about 2008

So I have come to the end of the year with more clothes than I started with, despite selling a significant number of dresses and other things online and giving more away to charity shops and friends.  This is disheartening as I started on my pledge with such hope that I could break myself out of the shopping habit.

At last, an all old outfit.  Skirt Primark 2014, wool jumper Figleaves around 2008

However, I have learnt a few things about myself and my habits this year, and also my style has changed a bit.  I will talk about this more in my next blog.

 

Day 74/366: charity shopping is fun

So, my resolution not to buy clothes this year was not buying clothes anywhere apart from in charity shops. This means I have now become an avid charity shopper, popping into the shops in Kendal most weeks and whenever I visit a different town, I look out for the charity shops. This website http://www.charityretail.org.uk/find-a-charity-shop/ is a wonderful tool for finding charity shops and I discovered three new ones in Penrith that I hadn’t come across before as they are in a back street.

Laura Ashley shrug

M+S jumper

These are two of my first three buys this year a Laura Ashley shrug and a purple sweater from M+S.  The third is a 100% cashmere jumper which is not at all smart but very warm so is great for slobbing out at home.  All of these three came from the Salvation Army shop in Kendal.

 Kendal has an Oxfam, British Heart Foundation, Scope, Salvation Army, Barnardos, a tiny Age Concern, RSPCA shop and a tiny Age Concern.  I have had the most success in Oxfam, Scope and Salvation Army and have yet to ever buy clothing in Barnardos as the choice there is truly awful (although they do have a good range of books and DVDs).

Per Una brown cord coat

This coat is fab. It’s a little small for me, but as I’m wanting to wear it in the spring, I won’t necessarily need to do it up and it fits well everywhere else.  I altered the button position and also took the top button off and sewed up the button hole as it just wouldn’t fit across my bust. Also took up the sleeves, but I have to do this on every single coat I ever buy.

So far, Penrith has afforded the most spoils at the lowest prices, the charity shops in Kendal do seem to be more expensive – they are happy to charge £10 for a dress which I do think is a bit over the top to be honest.  I went to a number of charity shops in Islington when I was in London a couple of weeks ago and was horrified at the prices, and even more horrified that the largest item of clothing was a size 16 (and that there was only one of them).  Obviously charity shopping is not for the poor or fat in the capital.

Last weeks spoils from Penrith

George red bodycon dress

A lovely wool and angora dress from CC, a label that I’d not tried before

Some of my Penrith charity shop finds

 

Monsoon dress

Tu dress

I paid too much for these too dresses (£10  for the Monsoon dress and £8 for the Tu dress), although I do like them both

This cardigan isn’t necessarily my style, but it’s lambswool and has the most amazing decorative cuffs!

One of the things I have made sure I do is actually wear the clothes I purchase from the charity shops as I have in the past been known to buy items and then not wear them, so I have really been trying hard to get them all worn.

Brand New AXParis Curve dress – I love this the most of everything I’ve bought so far

One of the things I love the most about charity shop shopping is the thrill of the chase, will I find something amazing that someone else has discarded that I can take and make my own, and love and give a new lease of life to.  I really have had some successes this year, and I’m hugely enjoying the challenge as it’s making shopping exciting for me, and it also means that I’m not buying new, I’m helping to reuse clothes that are still very wearable, and that I’m donating to charity at the same time.  There is nothing not to like about this!

So my top tips for charity shopping are:

• Try on things that aren’t in your size.  My finds above include a size 14 dress and a size 20 dress, both of which fit really well
• Look for good quality fabrics – I’ve had real luck finding woolly jumpers and cardigans.  I rarely buy acrylic/polyester jumpers though unless they look brand new as they are generally bobbly
• Be prepared to take things up or take them in.  I will need to take in the Monsoon dress as it’s a bit too big on me, but should be able to do this with no problem
• There are almost always fantastic coats available
• Dresses are hit and miss, you really have to look carefully to find anything nice and often there isn’t anything appealing
• Go into your local charity shops every week or so as new things come in all the time
• I’ve had no luck finding shoes, but I do hear of people who have scored pretty much brand new pairs for not much money
• Take stuff to donate to charity shops if you’re not wearing it