A penny a wear

Rage_in_Eden

I am dreadful for keeping clothes - i've even got a black wool coat bought for mum's funeral (1996) which I have worn constantly but which now really needs re-cuffing and a new collar. I have the fake fur fabric but haven't had the time..... today I am wearing:-

clarks red flat shoe/sandal things (bought 1997), black and white skirt (bought 2000 for my 1st graduation), black t-shirt with embroidery on it (1992) a FREE pair of sunglasses from a mag last year, a red M&S cardi (bought 1990) and, I do have to confess, a relatively new but 2nd hand to me yellow necklace (couldn't find the red one this morning when I got up in a rush). Don't I look stylish!!!!

oh, and I am wearing BHS underwear but you don't really need to know about that............ :rotfl:

nicki_2

My clothes are all less than 6 years old and I know this because everything in my wardrobe is new since OH and I got together! The reason? I put on alot of weight at Uni (pizza with the works, portion of chips with onion gravy & mayo followed by larger anyone? ) and I have yo-yo'd ever since.

I think I have 2 tops from before DD was born but they are so stained and out of shape I can't remember what I did with them. I'd love to get some new ones but I dont' know where my nearest Hawkshead store is now since the one in Liverpool closed down. I doubt I'll get to go to the actual one in the Lakes anytime soon :rolleyes:

Most of my tops are from Debenhams (£10 for 2 from Casual Club), Asda, Etam (expensive!), or Matalan (£4 each I think) and I wear a clean one almost every day. Infact, when I think about it my entire "daily" wardrobe is 2 pairs of jeans, and 4 tops :eek: All costing £10 or less so I think I get my money's worth out of them. I also have "house" clothes which are 2 pairs of jeans 1 size too big but with a belt fit just, 1 top with a hole in it (recently downgraded from a daily), a pair of crop pants from H&M, a sleeveless top from Asda (£2) and two vest tops (gift). "Going out" consists of 1 pair of black pants (<£20), 1 black top, 1 caramel top & a coat from Dorothy Perkins (£40 but a gift - worn 3 times so far due to it being a bit tight in the shoulders and not fastening over my *cough*!). As you can tell I don't do clothes that often, obviously I wear them though I just can't justify spending the money when I am over weight and in the house most of the day - if I went out to work it would probably be a different matter

Bogof_Babe

http://www.hawkshead.com/home.html

You could order Hawkshead online. Some nice stuff in the clearance offers right now too!

Gingham_Ribbon

'when I think about it my entire "daily" wardrobe is 2 pairs of jeans, and 4 tops '

This sounds like me, Nikki! I could actually do with a couple of washable aprons as my jeans get an unbelievable amount of stuff on them and I don't have a tumble dryer, so I'm somtimes reduced to wearing some old jeans that are too small. They're not my best days!

hornetgirl

Great thread MATH!

My best bargain has to be a pair of black H&M trousers bought from a jumble sale for 20p. I don't know how old they are, but I've had them at least five years and must have worn them hundreds of times. The poor things are just about worn out now, and have recently been replaced with a Next pair from a charity shop for £4. Unless I wear them every day for the next couple of hundred years they won't be such a bargain as the old ones.
I hadn't thought about it before, but I suppose I do apply the cost per wear principle to clothes shopping, as I've never seen the point in spending a load of money on a posh outfit that will get worn once or twice. I'd be even more likely to look in a jumble sale/bootsale/charity shop for such an outfit.
Today's kit is - fleecy Next top (jumble sale 20p), M&S trousers (£7, sale about 8 years ago) and sandals bought in France in 2003 for 15 euros.
I also buy super cheap stuff for holidays so it doesn't matter if they get ruined or the case goes missing. I can always leave them behind too, so there is room in the suitcase to bring home foreign baragins instead!

MATH

WOW Hester I think you win hands down unless there is someone out there in MSE land who can do better - :cool:

Sweet_Pea_2

My FIL sounds just like MAThs. All his clothes are incredibly old, (but washed so lovingly by MIL they dont look it.) He gets the P"£$ taken out of him quite a lot by close family members. (Me and OH) Before he retired he was a company director earning a good salary with a v posh company car but only had one pair of work trousers. MIL had replaced the zip and the pockets along the way. Shoes are more shine than shoe! He has a couple of "lovely" velour v neck jumpers which are his casual jumpers now he is retired.

He takes this attitude with all his belongings tho'. He recently came to our house to do a spot of DIY. Not long after he left we received an anguished phone call. He had lost his pencil from his toolbox. Could we partake of an extensive search as he had had it for 23 years and would hate to lose it now! He is a true Ol' Styler.

OH has inherited a lot of his ways and more and more are coming out every day......

emr_2

Hester wrote:

I wear a coat that was made for my great-grandma in 1902 (has the tailor's label inside). She wore it as a carriage coat (long), over the decades her descendents have chopped bits off the bottom as it got frayed (it's a navy heavy tweed fabric) and replaced the silk lining as it disintegrated about every 25 years and it is now just above the knee on me with a deep green lining. I wear it every winter as luckily I am exactly her height and shape (we're all pears, sigh, no escaping one's genes). I have no idea what great-grandma paid for it but this must surely be a bargain item on a cost-per wear ratio!

Dear Hester
how do you go about getting the coat lining replaced? my DD has a long winter coat that is still good on the outside but the lining is in shreds.

Penny-Wise_4

MATH wrote:

You may like it but do you need it? Do you like it enough to wear it 1200 times in the next say 2 years to make it a viable purchase? Is the quality of fabric and manufacture good enough to tollerate 1200 wears and washes? Mrs MATH thinks I'm completely barmy and miss the point of clothes shopping:rolleyes:

Do any other MSE'rs think like this or is it just me?

MATH i think you are completely barmy and missing the point of MSE. If you do the maths, MATH, to wear it and wash it 1200 times in two years would be sticking it in the washing machine 2 times every single day for 2 years! That is a terrible waste of money and not MSE at all. :rotfl:

Eliza252

I have a blue V-necked jumper that my mum bought for me when I was 9 and going to girl guides camp - I still have it and wear it regularly 14 years later!! (you do the maths! ) - nb, I have grown since then I promise - it was very baggy when I bought it!

Right now I am trying to convince myself not to buy a pair of winter boots that are £100 - a totally horrific amount of money but I'm very fussy about shoes and its so hard to find flat knee high winter boots that dont look like wellies - also I bought a pair last year for £40 and wore them nearly everyday for about 9 months, eventually they literally fell apart in the rain one day! I really want some that are going to last year after year and not fall apart - not lease cus I HATE shoe shopping!

I also nick my friends old clothes that they are going to throw out cus they have hole's in them - and then do some DIY - wallah! new wardrobe!