Clothing budget

Dobie

It's worth checking out Tesco's Florence & Fred range for work clothes. They do some remarkably good quality items very reasonably. Their cotton & cotton/lycra tops are from £1.99 for strappy to about £5.00 for long sleeves. Nice blouses or smart jumpers are about £12 - £15. You can get a work jacket for about £30 & trousers or a skirt to match for about £20. They do loads of accessories too, belts, jewellery, hats, scarves etc. They do shoes & boots, underwear, tights, socks - in fact everything.
Their Cherokee range is good for casual wear, cardis, jumpers, jeans & so on.
I've got strappy cotton tops for which I paid less than £2.00, for at least 3 years & they're still fine, they wash & wash.

voucher_queen_3

On the Tesco front

I received an email from them today saying that they are going to do 20% all clothing for the next four days including 9th of April - not that I'm encouraging you to spend any money:}

£50 a month on clothes though - wow I'm so jealous

Bargain_Rzl

voucher_queen wrote:

On the Tesco front

I received an email from them today saying that they are going to do 20% all clothing for the next four days including 9th of April - not that I'm encouraging you to spend any money:}

£50 a month on clothes though - wow I'm so jealous

That's just it though. I don't WANT to spend lots of money on clothes. I'm not materialistic. There are things that my money could be much more productively spent on. That's why I asked the question - I'd love to get down to £30-£40 a month if not less (it's not that I shop every month, this is just an average over the year) but I somehow suspect the entire budget would get eaten up on bras, tights, and shoes (and I'm certainly not one of those women with 80 pairs of shoes!)

To return to some points from earlier:

PP - Your suit sounds lovely but I'm definitely a size 14 rather than a 12 . Also I don't need another suit now. Things I need now are coat, bras, tights and underwear. I try to buy one new suit a year (so I don't find myself running out completely and having to restock my whole wardrobe at huge cost) but have enough at the moment that I shouldn't have to buy another for at least a year.

nabowla - I know the feeling

(Sorry about weird fonts below, I started typing it in Word and have had trouble adjusting it)

Lillibet – I do stick almost completely to a particular colour palette – I have brown hair, blue eyes and very fair skin, so I stick to black, white, grey, blue and pink. (I have a very warm, comfy green jumper which I’ve had for about 10 years which isn’t my colour at all but is sooooo warm, a brown Bravissimo jacket which goes with everything, one or two things in mauve/lavender, and a red evening-dress which will have to go on ebay soon if I don’t lose a few pounds… but other than those, all my clothes are in “my” colour range.)

I didn’t even know that there was an option of heavier-duty heel caps/soles! I shall be asking for them when I go to the cobbler’s on Saturday.

I haven’t been polishing my shoes on a weekly basis – just when they look like they need it. When you say “polish”, does that have to be with a cloth, a tin of wax polish and lots of elbow grease, or is that liquid stuff with the sponge applicator (followed by buffing up) sufficient?

I take your point about handwashing bras. Normally I just put them in the machine in a delicates bag. BTW your friend has exactly the same bra size as me. Has she tried Bravissimo?

To everybody who’s suggested checking out the sales at various high street shops – I like Next, Warehouse, Principles, and (for trousers) Wallis. Most clothes from M&S and Dorothy Perkins don’t fit me, and neither do the tops or dresses from Wallis. For items which ought to last a long time, like coats and suits, I like department stores’ own-brand ranges, particularly Designers at Debenhams during sale time! Although I wouldn’t say I was a snob, I normally tend to choose good-quality second-hand clothes over cheapo new stuff from New Look, H&M, Asda or Tesco (I have had some great stuff from all of these places but I find you have to wade through a lot of cheap rubbish before you find a gem). I don’t really follow “fashion” so I tend to look for well-made, stylish clothes that will last for several years.

Shetitasatic – I know I should consider investing in another leather coat. One of the reasons I need a new coat this year is that my previous leather coat fell apart last year after 5 years’ loyal service. It went with work suits and jeans equally well.

whoever it was who suggested buying flesh coloured bras (sorry, lost track ) thanks for the suggestion but it's not greying that makes me need new bras, it's when the elastic starts to lose its structure and twists around, digging in (ouch)

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

Actually I just realised that perhaps I'm getting this out of perspective because of needing quite a few things all at the same time at the moment. TBH, once I've bought the aforementioned coat, bras and undies, and had my shoes fixed, I can't honestly think of anything more that I'll need for absolutely ages.

So maybe if I'm about to spend £150-£200 on clothes, that's not so bad if that's the only money I spend on clothes this year (except shoe repairs!) It's not as if I don't have enough work suits ATM to keep me going, in fact I don't need anything new of any value that I can think of - the only things I'll need new to see my through to the autumn are a couple of cotton/lycra T-shirts and maybe a new pair of jeans (readily available from charity shops so total cost about £15).

Have I just answered my own question?

Spendless

I also take a large bra size and have found around here the only place to get them is in Evans.

It is rare for us to buy underwear . That is because my MIL prefers to buy 'practical' items as stocking fillers, so we usually all get some new supplies for Xmas.

code-a-holic

I find you usually need to go for next size up!
Dont forget to search the web for money off codes. There is always £10 off a £20 spend lying around!

lynzpower

My tip is find an outlet village.

Theres one in Chester called cheshre Oaks for example, they have a Underwear shop there with bravissimo, playtex etc. Cos they are end of lines I seldom find much for me as a 36c, but there are STACKS in the bigger sizes. Also there is a Clarks shop too, along with M&S etc. Theres an M&S outlet store in Salford as well in that Lowry complex. HAve a look round on the internet. Do a ebay search for bravissimo, you never know what you will find in your size.

IM not the best person to ask, as I literally wear my clothes to rags as im too tight/skint to buy anything else. But im hopefully going to be going for interviews soon, adn will need something for that, suitwise. I'll be off to an area of london where they have loads ( so im told) of storebrand suits with the labels chopped out ( Dps, river island, next etc) where my mate got a very stylish suit for 20 quid last week. ( DPs) Cant grumble at that!

madfrenchgirl

oh this thread has inspired me to create another s/s to plan my outfits!

will hang it on the back of my future wardrobe, so I would know exactly what I have, what to wear to match my mood, save some time, and make sure I make a good use of all my clothes...

I definitely need to get myself more girlie. Plus, i am just about to move in our first house and my friend who lives round the corner wants to take me out shopping (hello! I wont have any money left!). Flogging her into a "mix and match" session might be the solution to not spending money without having to refuse a good girly time.

Bargain_Rzl

lynzpower wrote:

IM not the best person to ask, as I literally wear my clothes to rags as im too tight/skint to buy anything else. But im hopefully going to be going for interviews soon, adn will need something for that, suitwise. I'll be off to an area of london where they have loads ( so im told) of storebrand suits with the labels chopped out ( Dps, river island, next etc) where my mate got a very stylish suit for 20 quid last week. ( DPs) Cant grumble at that!

Whereabouts in London is this exactly, Lynzpower? (PS: when I was charity shopping in Golders Green last weekend there seemed to be a lot of "de-branded" clothes shops there as well as the charity places. Some weren't even de-branded. There was one shop that had lots of decent-looking New Look suits with the labels still on, but I didn't need one so didn't buy one).

Spendless - getting larger bras from Evans is all very well if you're large all over, but I'm narrow in the back and its just the...erm...frontage that causes the problem

aquilaM

Just wanted to add that I decided to cut down on my clothing expenses, and decided it was more effective to pay a little bit more for clothes that would last rather than buying cheaper items which don't last as long.

I tend to buy a lot from Monsoon, (and yes £50.00 doesn't go far), but after doing this for a year I don't need to buy any thing this season as I have last years spring clothes which still look fab (there is a difference between need and want - and i have my eye on some new things I want!!). Also I found that because i no longer have a huge wardrobe stuffed with things i hardly wear i am more creative with what i do have, and wearing combinations i wouldn't have tried before. I also tend to stick to certain colours so if I see something I know what it will go with.

As for underwear and shoes again try to buy the best you can as these are the garmands that can be unforgiving if they are cheap. I am a size 34E and try to buy M&S as they last longer. I try to buy a new set of underwear every couple of months.

i don't spend that much on clothes everthough re reading this it sounds like I do. i just feel that MoneySaving isn't always about buying cheap, but rather having a budget and buying quality rather than quantity.

I different point of view, I hope this helps

Axx

PS i always buy clarks shoes, and i have never had to re-heel them, do you walk miles???