Sharing an update on my year of not buying clothes, and tips for making it work

We’ve made it to the end of the second month, and I’ve still not bought any clothes! I’m pleased with how the whole experiment is going so far. I can’t say getting dressed is particularly easy at the moment, as so much of my wardrobe still doesn’t fit my postpartum body, either because I’m just still bigger, or because my shape hasn’t returned to what it was. Whatever the reason, there is a sizable chunk of my wardrobe that remains out of bounds. Add to that the fact that my clothes need to be breastfeeding friendly, and there’s even less to choose from. There’s no point wearing a dress if I have to basically take it off to be able to feed my baby – that’s just not going to work!

In spite of these difficulties, I’ve actually found it pretty easy to not buy clothes. In the past, if I wasn’t satisfied with some aspect of my wardrobe, my immediate response would be to jump online and buy something in an attempt to fix it. Hence having lots of clothes that are actually way too big which I bought after giving birth! But something about having made this pledge has actually been quite freeing – I don’t feel I need to ‘solve’ my wardrobe, I can just sit with it and see how things work out. I don’t have the ‘job’ of going online and finding replacements for things that might fit again, or might not. So it’s been an easier month that I expected, in some ways!

February tip: Don’t throw things out just because they don’t fit you right now

I’m obviously not an advocate for ‘throwing out’ clothes ever (as in, sending them to landfill), but take this to mean getting rid of them in any way. Even before I was pregnant and had a baby, I used to find that my body size and shape fluctuated pretty frequently. This is totally normal, and the case for pretty much all of us to some extent. But it can make streamlining your wardrobe slightly difficult.

The temptation to have a ‘good clear-out’ and remove as many clothes as possible from our wardrobes can be hard to resist. Many of us live in houses with little storage, or in situations where storage is always at a premium. It can be a little demoralising having to put aside space for clothes that you don’t currently wear. But be it because your style or your body changes, you may find that a few months or years down the line you want them again. Since becoming pregnant I’ve rediscovered lots of clothes that I had previously written off as too big. You just never know what might come in handy. It’s also more eco-friendly to keep clothes for as long as possible (although it would of course be better if you’re wearing them!). Even if you give them to an op (/charity) shop or second-hand reseller, there’s no guarantee that they won’t end up in landfill.

So if you’re worrying about not being able to buy clothes, the best thing you can do is keep the ones you already have. Then you can have the fun experience of shopping your closet further down the line, and hopefully falling back in love with some of your old clothes. I certainly found this to be the case with my ‘Shopping my shipping‘ and ‘One wear rule‘ challenges. If months or years down the line you still don’t like them or they still don’t fit, you can then make a decision to part with them in as environmentally friendly way as possible.

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Have you ever tried a no spend period, on clothes or indeed anything else? I’d love to hear your tips and experiences, so please share in a comment!