Sharing an update on my year of not buying clothes

Well, I am truly overdue on this update! The last few months have flown by in a whirlwind of work, travel and (mild) illness, so I have sadly neglected these monthly updates. I’m afraid to report that it also hasn’t been an entirely successful few months from a No Buy perspective. Read on to hear my justifications, and judge for yourself how reasonable they are!

My first fall off the wagon was I think a fairly acceptable one – I bought a load of new bras. I think I technically excluded underwear from the No Buy pledge, as it’s more of an essential, but I was still aiming to buy as little as possible. Unfortunately my post-baby body changes have continued afforce, and necessitated a new size, and therefore some new items (I haven’t even returned to my original size, so my house is now full of bras that don’t fit!). This if anything put me off buying clothes, as shopping for a very specific items is really hard. Even Chadstone, which boasts to be the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere, couldn’t adequately meet my needs.

My second fall was another in essence brought on by body changes. I had a couple of weddings coming up, most importantly my brother’s. I had put off thinking about dresses for a while, in the hopes that I’d fit back into some I already owned. But as the months ticked by and the day drew closer, I had to face facts and admit that there wasn’t much chance of me fitting into the dresses I had in mind. So I started scouring the internet, with a fairly clear idea of what I wanted. I began with second hand stores like The Closet, but soon exhausted those without having found anything I liked. I turned to Myer, David Jones, and The Iconic, and again found that despite their vast selection, pickings were slim. I’d find something nearly right, and convince myself that it was as close as I’d get, so I better buy it. This is what led to me eventually buying four dresses, for two weddings. They’d arrive and just not quite be perfect, so I’d be tempted to keep looking, but hang on to them just in case I didn’t find anything better. In fact, it was the fourth dress that I loved the most, that was indeed perfect, and which I wore to my brother’s wedding. In my defence, each dress is still wearable, and despite being bought as wedding guest dresses, can be dressed down for normal wear. In fact I’ve already done so with one of them. But, the third and fourth dresses being my favourite, I suppose the lesson is to wait for the right thing to come along, and not feel rushed.

My third and by far worst transgression was that I just bought some clothes from Boden while I was in the UK. No real excuse here – I claimed they were for work, which they are, but basically I was under the weather and worn out, and fancied treating myself to some clothes from one of my old favourites while I could. So I bought a pair of jeans (ok maybe these aren’t quite workwear), a pair of trousers (pictured at the top of the post), a shirt and a skirt (the latter pictured below). Perhaps I’ve gained some wisdom from not buying other clothes this year, because these seem to have been good purchases, and they’ve all made it into my regular rotation. Did I need them? Technically, no. Are they bringing me joy and am I getting good use out of them? Yes. So maybe that’s ok? They were all on sale, so I at least don’t need to feel too guilty about the expense.

So there you have it, my confession and update on the last few months ‘No Buy Year’ progress. While I’ve technically fallen off the wagon, I’m safely back aboard now, and remain committed to seeing out the rest of the year. In fact my little foray back into buying clothes has convinced me what a good idea it was to stop in the first place! Not so much for the expense or even the environmental reasons, but primarily because it’s just a fairly frustrating and unenjoyable experience. Why would I invite that into my life?

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In the spirit of not having actually achieved not buying any clothes, I don’t feel I can really offer a tip this time. However, perhaps a light touch suggestion would be that if you are considering skipping a month, just try looking for a specific, and as niche as possible, item, and the frustration will surely have you swearing off shopping for good!