Clothing budget

ms_london

I dont have a clothing budget, just tend to buy what I like out of my £50 a week "me money"..

I tend to shop in primark, H&M, Next, charity shops - it might sound strange, but I prefer Primark to New Look - as New Look clothes can be a bit cheap looking, and at New Look prices (i.e. not cheap!!), whereas, you dont mind paying a couple of pounds in Primark - esp if you only wear it a couple of times!

My work wardrobe consists of black trousers & then a top (usually 3/4 length or sleeveless, V-Necked) - I also have a beige pair of trousers but only wear them in the summer. My black trousers were £6 from primark and good quality (for primark) and I could do with buying another pair (mine are starting to fade, oops!!), but I dont see the point now.

I have 3 pairs of Boots - and like you Bargain Rzl - seem to spend a lot of time & £££ getting them re-heeled!! Two pairs were from a charity shop (one pair, brown suede knee high boots, were from Jones the Bootmakers, unworn, for £7!! they are SOOOOO comfy!!), and one pair are black knee high boots from Next in the summer sale for £30.00 (excellent for Knee High Boots!!)..

I only have one jacket (which is from Next, but bought in a charity shop). My black coat is from Peacocks, for £35 (bought winter before last, still in good condition).

Yesterday I bought two simple tops for work from H&M at £5.99 each, also a sparkly top for £4.99 (for a friends birthday)..

Despite buying the tops yesterday I am trying not to buy anything new with going travelling. I dont see the point in storing clothes at my parents for 3-4 years (thats how long I am hoping to be away!!) so will probably car boot and ebay everything.

I probably dont dress as smartly as I could & I am sure, thinking about it, people are probably sick of seeing me in the same black trousers :0) Oh well!!

xx

alexan

I saved this from a post in one of the forums several months ago . I don't know who the original poster was to credit them.

"There is a factory shop in Whitwick, near Coalville, Leicestershire which sells Rigby and Peller, Fantasie, Freya and many other branded lingerie for a fraction of the shop prices and there isn't anything wrong with them.
They sell at the following prices
Rigby and Peller bras: £16 (£60 in the shops or from bravissimo)
Freya and Fantasie: 12.99 (approx £30 in the shops)
They also send the corresponding knickers and suspender belts if you like sets, and they also sell footprints swimwear (sold through bravissimo) for approx £25-30 and various basques, etc.
They also usually have a slight seconds section, where the R&P bras are usually £7-10 and Freya & fantasie are £5-7.

The shop is called Eveden Ltd and they open Tues-Fri 10am-4pm and Sat 9-1pm. They have a sale twice a year where you can get rigby and peller bras for £10 each and the f&f bras for £7 each.

Most importantly though, even though they stock most sizes, they specialize in larger cup sizes (they even sell H-J cups!)and if you ring before you go, they'll tell you what they have in in your size so you don't have a wasted journey."

Perhaps you could arrange a detour on your way to Blackpool.

If you have a brach of Ethel Austin near you, it is worth a look as they often have decent makes of bra in stock at greatly reduced prices e.g.Triumph, Berlei.

Aril

For work I've always bought good quality classics in plain colours [it used to be in the sales but then it was charity shops] which I then jazzed up with accessories or a patterned/coloured top.
It may be worth taking everything out of your wardrobe and laying it out on the bed. You may well see new combinations and colour matches that you haven't spotted before.
Aril

shopbot

A tip for shopping on the High Street. If you need a certain item and the shops appear to only have full price stock you still might be able to get a bargain. A lot of High Street stores hold reduced stock from previous sales in their stockroom until the next time the store launches a sale. If you need (for example) a work blouse simply ask if a member of staff if they are holding any sale in their stockroom. If they are, tell them what you want and ask them if they would'nt mind having a look for you. Sale stock is something they will not mind selling to you as it frees up stockroom space for newer more profitable stock.

A word of advice though. It's best to do this when the shop is quiet. If you try to do it during a busy period you are likely to get less help as the shop will have plenty of customers in store buying full price (i.e more profitable) product.

Philippa36

Just got an email from Breastalk.co.uk with a link to

Uplifted Lingerie

They have bras up to 32JJ and start at around £10.00. Free delivery and free returns plus 10% off if you sign up for their email.

HTH

TOBRUK

BTW, and not trying to get anybody's backs up here, I'm getting the distinct impression that some people think I'm being ostentatious with my money. My original point was that having cut every other area of my expenditure back to the bare minimum (cos I have a decent income but this is the only way I'll ever afford my own flat) I'm having trouble cutting down on clothes cos despite still having a good supply of good quality "stuff" from before I started cutting back, there still seems to be a constant requirement for things I genuinely need (like I said before, basic socks and undies, a spring coat, bras, and some shoe repairs). I hope I haven't offended anybody

Bargain Rzl,

People here should not be getting upset or offended by what you spend at all. The only thing I could say is that you raise the point that you want to cut down on your clothes spending, and here people should only want to help you with that goal.

If I understand correctly, you have your work clothes pretty much in hand don't you? If that is the case £50 is a pretty good allowance for clothes, personally that allowance would be a few months.

I'll have no more than £50 a month for clothes, if that

It does sound as though you do like chothes shopping - correct me if I'm wrong. Once you have done your 'big shop' (you stated in another post) on the things you say you 'need', why don't you stay away from the clothes shops and put say £30 a month in a pot, and when you 'need' something take money out from that pot - which will be your allowance! At the same time, when you then go clothes shopping only take the money from the pot and leave ALL your debit/credit cards at home. That way you will have to stay within your budget!
Please note, I am trying to be helpful and not dudgemental in any way - so smile!
Hope it helps.

Bellie_2

I find this topic interesting as shopping is (well was before turning into a dfw) my main hobby, i find that now, i only buy little things to update my clothes i have already, as this still satisfies my shopping habbit without blowing the amount of money i used. Plus i only spend on clothes etc form my weekly me money. i buy belts, necklaces etc from primrk etc. The only thing i will not scrimp on is my bras, i too buy mine from bravissimo as i am a 30f and nowhere else does the range they do, i think its worth it though to have decent bras(which i save up for).

Profit_slayer

If you are small in the back and large in the cup and your bra's don't last, try https://www.double-d.com as they still have a few of the Charnos bioform bra's left, which were designed for larger women. Charnos have stopped making these bras and on double-d.com they are going for about half price. you can put them in the washing machine and they last for ages. If you can find one on there in your size your lucky as these were expensive bra's and they're great.

Not sure if anyone remembers but they were designed by a bunch of inventors for a chanel four programme to solve the problems of larger ladies and underwires which pop out in the wash.

Also check ebay as I found one on there in my size for £5!!

If you are afraid to use ebay for size reasons, establish your size/brand in a shop first then search for the specific item you want. If the worst comes to the worst you can always re-sell them on there.

It does sound as though when you're over this stint of clothing 'needs' you won't need anything else for a while. Perhaps when you were spending frivilously you weren't thinking as rationally about your needs and from now on you'll just be 'topping up' a well thought out 'capsule' wardrobe.

I don't think your budget is outrageous for someone who has to dress smartly for an office environment.

Hopefully with the warm weather coming you can wear tops instead of Bravissimo shirts, which should be a lot cheaper.

In london there are places that you can get a made to measure shirt for about £30 should you need one- this could be a good option for you.

Dobie

Profit_slayer wrote:

If you are small in the back and large in the cup and your bra's don't last, try https://www.double-d.com as they still have a few of the Charnos bioform bra's left, which were designed for larger women. Charnos have stopped making these bras and on double-d.com they are going for about half price. you can put them in the washing machine and they last for ages. If you can find one on there in your size your lucky as these were expensive bra's and they're great.

Thanks for this link Profit_slayer I'm not an unusual size (36DD) but I find it difficult to get pretty bras that don't look like something only my mum would wear at a reasonable price. This is a great site, I've saved it in my favorites for when I need to replace some underwear.

angelatgraceland

Rather than waiting until I "need" something, I tend to buy 2 of the item if its available and exactly what I want. Ive saved a lot of time and money this way, especialy if it's in a sale, and is something which is a "basic" for work. You sound as if you know exactly what you like, so I don't see you making expensive mistakes. As for shoe repairs, there is nothing stopping you having your heels done, and doing the soles yourself, as I find these are the most expensive. I was going to suggest putting your money in a pot to keep for clothes but it's already been suggested. Just leave it there until the next Sale, then buy as many items as you can forecast you need.