Frugal Frump to Fab - 2015

Ellsbel

Sounds like the fabbing is going brilliantly rummer :T the urban decay pallet looks gorgeous, too
Had my early night last night but didn't sleep too well - think my body was more tired than my mind
I think it will be a pottering inside kind of day today - nice weather for Ducks outside!
Also going to start using up my body lotions in order to help with the decluttering; I've got far too many half-used ones!
Have a good day everyone x

indiepanda

I really got the bit between the teeth in sorting out clothes yesterday. Went through all the ones I had tucked away in old suitcases etc and checked a) if I had lost enough weight to get back into them (getting closer on quite a few things now) and b) challenged myself as to whether I would wear again if I could fit into them.

I had quite a lot of sportswear that looked incredibly dated and I wouldn't be caught dead in now that hadn't actually had much wear before I "grew out" of them so that went on the charity shop pile, as did some other things that I knew weren't my style or a colour I would wear now as well as some clothes which frankly just looked very cheap.

I then went through one of my two wardrobes - one which contains tops and knitwear and tried everything on and decided what should go from there, and added it to the stuff I'd already rejected from the drawers I did last week.

Ended up with 4 black bin bags of clothes so took them straight to the CS before I could wimp out. Felt good to get rid of it - so much stuff in there I hadn't worn for ages, or had worn but just felt unattractive while doing so.

A few years ago I clearly went through a phase of liking rather sheer baggy tops (was fashion at the time I guess) layered over vest tops which really didn't do much for my figure as they hid my waist. I suspect part of the appeal was I could wear them without going up a dress size, when really my body had!

I have another wardrobe to do and a hanging rail in my spare room so will do that either today or tomorrow.

One thing I did realise is for someone who spends a lot of the weekend in jeans and tops, I still have an absolute ton of tops, but only 4 pairs of full length jeans and two pairs of cropped ones that fit - and one of those I only bought last week. Ok, I would always change my top every day but not necessarily the jeans, but it still feels a bit unbalanced - if I have a busy couple of weeks I sometimes end up with most of them in the wash. Might treat myself to a new pair or two. Although don't want to go mad as still want to lose weight, and jeans are one thing that really look awful when they start to get loose - think it's because the fabric is heavier.

I also discovered I must have kept all my old bras when I put on weight in the past - bear in mind I've gone from a 32C when I left university to a 36E 21 years later, that's quite a few sizes I've gone through. Anyway, I found my local bra bank and went and donated them all. If I get back into smaller sizes I can buy some nice new ones then.

pirateyqueen

Morning everyone. I pointedly nails again using the red Carpet Manicure set last night. My first attempt lasted 11 days which I thought was pretty good for a first attempt. I've gone for a dark grey and am really liking it.

Rummer

My shellac has chipped after 5 days, so disappointed.

lessonlearned

Indie - sounds like you've been busy....... It is very satisfying isnt it when you get rid of all the clutter. I did my wardrobe thoroughly a little while ago, but I would love to do it again, however I will have to wait until I drop a size.

I do have a lot of clothes that are too small at the moment and which I will wear once I can get into them.

I started using a new skin product this week, a serum containing syn-ake which is apparently a synthetic snake venom.:rotfl: syn-ake is often referred to as "Botox in a bottle" and is supposed to freeze and reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

I can't say Ive noticed a dramatic reduction of wrinkles yet but my skin feels wonderfully soft and does seem to glow nicely when I use it. My face looks "fresher" somehow and less tired.

So far I have only been using it once a day just in case I had any kind of allergicreaction, so far its fine and I'm ready to up it now to twice daily.

I'll keep you posted.

Happy Anniversary Maman. How long? Have a lovely romantic day.

Enjoyed the light show last night.

Rummer

Happy Anniversary Maman

LL that serum sounds interesting, where did you hear about that?

Indiepanda Sounds as if you are in the decluttering grove I only have one pair of jeans so I wouldn't worry about you not having enough :rotfl:

More compliments today which was lovely as I was wearing a new dress and it was nice to be noticed. Most of my eating was healthy until someone opened a tub of sweeties and I succumbed to a few . However to compensate I went out for another long cycle and made sure that I went up plenty of hills.

indiepanda

I took another two bags of clothes to the charity shop today. The lady at the till recognised me from yesterday and said how pleased they were with the donations from yesterday as they tend to get mainly small sizes and disappointed larger customers who can't find anything to fit. Am wondering why that is - we're told in the press we're getting bigger and that nearly half of women are size 16 or over so you'd think that would mean nearly half their donations were size 16 and over. I don't think it's isolated to this shop either as I have looked around a few CS recently and found very little in size 16 but lots in 10/12.

Anyway, have sorted out some more stuff tonight, few clothes and some shoes, bags, belts etc so will go back with another three bags tomorrow.

Was funny seeing my clothes on display in there today - all looked rather familiar but no sense of regret. Don't think any of them had been worn all year and in some cases rather longer.

Am off to Swindon at the weekend to see some old work friends and am going to see if I can fill a couple of gaps in the wardrobe. I have only one pair of smart trousers for work and I have a couple of trench coats to wear over suits that were both cheap desperation purchases and look it. Challenge will be finding something much better as I really want a single breasted one as the double breasted ones I have aren't flattering on an E cup. At least now I know what I have in the wardrobe I won't be tempted by any unnecessary purchases.

Cannot imagine managing on one pair of jeans Rummer - guessing you wear less and are more organised with your laundry.

DD265

Happy anniversary Maman

Indie - it isn't very MSE but Pepperberry do some lovely coats designed for well endowed ladies. You can sometimes pick them up on eBay for good prices. I only have a few of their shirts at the moment but they fit really nicely. I don't know what UK bra size I am now but I'm buying a 34DDD in Victoria's Secret and the girls only just fit in!

I am going to a wedding reception tomorrow night. I want to wear a dress which is gorgeous (fell back in love with it when I tried it on this morning) but it is a halterneck and the strap is a fairly thin rough rope which digs in to the back of my neck if I do it tight enough. Going to see if we can safety pin to make straight straps instead. If not, I will wear my trusty teal lace dress. What a good buy that was. :rotfl:

Rowan_moon

Rumer well done working off those sweets with a long cycle ride. It's been ages since I've had time to go out on my bike, so Saturday might be the day for me to do that.

Indie doesn't it feel good to clear out all your unwanted clothes? I'm also in the process of doing this and it makes getting ready so much easier when I can actually see things in my wardrobe I can enjoy wearing.

Maman

Rowan_moon

Ooops hadn't finished

Maman happy anniversary :beer:

Wanted to share my charity shop experience with you all. I looked at a creamy beige Jaeger cardi but decided the colour wasn't right for me. A lady next to me then tried it on.

Lady to me: can you tell me honestly what you think?

Me: does it spark joy? Do you feel joy at the thought of wearing it?

Lady: puzzled look, then "no, it actually feels shapeless and makes me feel a bit frumpy"

Cardi went back in the rail. Ha ha, spreading he word.

I ended up buying a lovely pale grey Phase Eight dress and Hobbs jade coloured top both for work and both sparking bucket loads of joy :j