Not buying any clothes 2017

maryb

well, the universe seems to be helping with the not buying clothes movement.

Have you seen the new seasons's tops? They've all got these fluted sleeves - narrow to below the elbow then a great big floppy flounce that would act as a mega dirt attractor trailing through everything.

Wildernessgirl

At least twenty days without buying any clothes - going to make it through the month for sure woop woop. I find it really helps to avoid going into the shops, not looking online etc etc. I am keeping busy in other ways which I think are better for my well being and bank balance....

LameWolf

maryb wrote: »

well, the universe seems to be helping with the not buying clothes movement.

Have you seen the new seasons's tops? They've all got these fluted sleeves - narrow to below the elbow then a great big floppy flounce that would act as a mega dirt attractor trailing through everything.

That's really good news to me - means that some of the stuff I bought donkeys' years ago, and still wear, (regardless of whether it's "in" or not, it's comfortable and I like it) will actually be in fashion! :rotfl:
I do use elasticated sleeve protectors for doing the housework when I wear these, though.:o

purpleybat

after a few days sorting junk and de-cluttering I thought 'oh this would be good for me' then I remembered I need to buy work trousers (just plain black but need to be thick and stretchy), I tend to buy them in bulk, 5 pairs depending what I find.
so, can I join please with the work trousers taken into consideration?


during the sorting I've decided i'm a hoarder of all things vaguely useful, I'm not as bad as the poor souls on the tv programmes, but I need to stop it now

mrssnowy_2

Hi all,
Great thread FrugalWeirdo.
I to am an emotional spender but hadn't worked that one out.
I have been redying elderly black trousers for many years,some are now on the 6th resurrection,and I have even got friends doing it.
But I didn't know about stripping the dye out,do you dilute the bleach and what ratio?
My clothes buying is random,I am retired so no work clothes needed,but belong to a few groups etc and need to go out looking OKish.
I do wear a lot of dark colours with different jackets,
waistcoats,jewellery(made by me) and or scarves to ring the changes.A lot of stuff comes from CS but with new necessities.
This is inspiring me to be more conscious of waste on clothing,not just financial but unnecessary acquisition and accumulation-oo thats a mouthful. Or as purpleybat says -a hoarder

Thank you and I will do my best
mrss

maryb

Hi I do dilute the bleach but it's still a pretty strong solution. You need to submerge the item in the solution and move it around occasionally. It takes ages to bleach to a uniform reddish beige colour and I'm sure leaving it in bleach water for that long weakens the fibres, which is why I only do it on old things which would otherwise be on their way out anyway.

You can get some specialist Dylon colour stripper but I couldn't find anywhere that stocked it so went on Amazon to order it and found the reviews were decidedly mixed. One or two people suggested bleach did just as good a job and it's certainly much cheaper so I started from there

mrssnowy_2

maryb, thanks for that.
So really ,its worth a go with the bleach and hope that the material holds. Could be embarrassing!

mrss

RainbowHippie

Hi All,
I'm enjoying reading along and (as someone else has said) really enjoying hearing about others' motivations for not buying clothing.

I am lucky in that i currently have a LOT of clothes to choose from, and there is definitely nothing i need, but am also realising that my 'style' has not changed that much in the last 10-15 years! As well as not buying new things i would also like to 'use up' some of the things i have - i am currently trying to wear things i am not sure about to decide whether i like them enough to keep. Part of the problem is some of my clothes were gifts, or made from things friends have given me to refashion, so even if i don't wear them frequently i have an emotional attachment to them and they are hard to let go of. This is definitely something i need to work on or find a way to work around.

In the past i have really enjoyed clothes shopping (although recently my enjoyment has been more about buying clothes for fabric to make other things!) and i think a lot of it is because my mum has always loved shopping and it's been an activity to do together, as a 'day out' to look round charity shops in a new town for example. In my late teens/early 20s when i was a skint student, a birthday/christmas treat from my parents would often be £50 to spend on clothes in charity shops and me and my mum would have a lovely day out looking for interesting things for us both. I also was more willing to buy new then and bought some things which have turned out to be good quality and lasted years - these days i'm generally much too tight to buy stuff new! Now, clothes shopping just frustrates me as i don't need anything/want anything so i feel it's a bit pointless. I still go charity-shop shopping with my mum sometimes and end up getting sucked into buying stuff (normally with the intention of using it for fabric) so i need to find a better way to manage that!!

I still have loads of clothes bought in my late teens (i'm now 31!) luckily it still fits and most of it i still like to wear - i have over time sold/donated most of my going-out-to-goth-clubs stuff though lol. Not so much into black these days! Part of the benefit of having lots of clothes i suppose is things get rotated so take longer to wear out. Realised today that my swimming costume is 14 years old (and still in good condition, probably means i don't do enough swimming!)

I've been successful thus far in not buying any clothes, but we're less than a month in so won't be celebrating yet The real challenge will be my next day out with my mum!! Still haven't got round to doing any of my mending/alterations of existing clothes that are queued up by my sewing machine, have been too busy sewing for my friend's daughter (a tiny hoodie jacket made from upcycled tshirts) but it would do me good to do/make something for myself soon.

Sorry for the lengthy ramble folks! Have a good Monday all. xx

eandjsmum

£5 spent on a pair of black work trousers this month

VfM4meplse

Nothing spent on clothes this month, the previous 18 months were all baby clothes / stuff for my mum, plus a pack of smalls for myself.

I think I can easily keep this up