For the first time this year I went clothes shopping. Last Saturday I really stress-tested my commitment to my no-buy year. My dear friend needed a few things for her wardrobe and wanted my help. Everyone has a super power and mine is an intimate knowledge of what stores are likely to stock what. I make a good shopping partner. Read more
Well, I have hit the hump. I’m half-way through my no buy year. Six months of fashion frugality.
So far, so good. The only new things to enter my wardrobe are a pair of culottes and a top — both sewn from my existing fabric stash. Curiously, even though I restricted my no buy limit to clothing, I have some how extended it to shoes and accessories. Not buying things might be just as addictive as buying things.
I have a pair of culottes currently under the sewing machine. Delustered Satin in a vintage floral print. You wouldn’t look at the fabric and think “culottes”. Maybe shift dress or box pleat skirt. But that’s why I went in an unexpected direction. Because I could.
It’s one of the things I love about sewing my own clothes. But obviously I don’t sew everything I own (although I’d love to). So how do I decide what to buy or what to make? Read more
This is what normally goes through my head when I receive an invitation to something slightly fancy. Oooh, exciting. Yay, we are free that day. Bother, we have something the day before – why are these things always clustered together? What am I going to wear?
The what am I going to wear question quickly becomes “What am I going to buy?” A wedding, a big party, a celebration is a lovely excuse to hit the shops and indulge. But not this year. This year my wardrobe options are limited to strictly in-house shopping. Read more
We live in a funny old world. Jeans can cost less than a sandwich. There are now 52 micro-seasons of fashion, rather than the previous two major seasons with resort in between. A dress can appear on a starry Instagram feed one day and a copy in high street fashion stores a week later. It’s all so fast. Fast. Fast.
When things gain lightning speed, perspective can reduce to a pinpoint. I recognised this in myself. It’s part of the reason I have committed to my no-buy year and why I’m still on track. Read more