Swapping, selling and falling off the waggon..

Firstly, I will warn you, this is a long one so make sure you have a cup of tea ready before you start reading this. Due to my laptop finally giving up on life i have had very limited access to the internet so I have also not been as swap happy as i normally am!

Secondly I better say, after all the umming and ahhhing over what to wear for the wedding, it turns out I needn't have procrastinated so much, we were both sick as dogs and didn't end up going. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook though I at least got to see the photographs!

Anyway, its been a while since the last blog and I have quite a few things to get down so I'll try and stick to one thing at a time. I'll start with the swapping. The last few weeks has seen some excellent swaps;

I got a beautiful blue anchor print Laura Lees dress from Top shop, (which I had been seriously coveting from a far while it was in the shops) still with the tags on. It will be perfect for work and play so I am very pleased with it. A Mustard yellow three quarter sleeve cardigan which goes with everything I own. An amazing vintage wrap skirt from one of my favourite swappers, and a Brilliant 1960s hand made dress which i took on holiday with me and loved! So actually, I have managed to swap quite a lot!

As much as I love swapping over the internet, I had yet to experience an actual live swap but there was one in Sheffield at the Millenium Galleries, details here:

http://www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk/coresite/html/events.asp?id=914

http://www.vintagefair.co.uk/#/julyaugust/4529058503

I took some really nice items in the hopes that karma would repay me with something exciting. I have to say, I enjoyed the whole experience immensley. I came away with an original 1950s egyptian print skirt and a top shop shirt. I would definately recommend going to one, the atmosphere was fantastic and it was incredibly interesting looking through lots of other peoples clothes!

So on to selling. I have tried two ways of selling at the minute, the first way is through my swapping account on whatsmineisyours.com, the other was at the Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair (http://www.vintagefair.co.uk/). Through whats mine is yours I have sold a coat for £15, a pair of shoes for £20 and a top for £10. so that leaves me in + £45! The vintage fair was amazing, it was at the Millenium Galleries in Sheffield and held in conjuction with the Vivienne Westwood exhibition (which is amazing by the way if you have a spare afternoon in Sheffield). I thought I might get a bit bored, it was 1-7.30pm so getting there at 11.00 made it a really long day. However it went so fast! It was jam packed with more people queueing waiting to come in. I shared a stall with miss frugal selling all our unwanted vintage gems. I had loads of fun on the day, and found a couple of gems for myself. Now I know the whole point of this excersize is to stay frugal, however if there is one thing i love it is vintage. It is my weakness, and as long as i stay + in my money for clothes then I think I am still being frugal. It also fits in with our environmental aims and the thing with vintage is, as long as you look after it, you can more than likely get the money back for it anyway. So I found this gorgeous dress from the Glass Onion Vintage stall for £10, I never fail to find something from here, I got my favourite yellow mac and one of my favourite 1940s dresses from here at the last vintage fair so was very pleased with this find, it needs a couple of stitches here and there but still love it:

I got this fabulous grape print dress from Flashback Vintage Boutique for £10, who, if you are ever in Liverpool, have a shop on petticoat lane (how apt!).

Miss Frugal then tempted me with her wears, firstly this dress for £30 which I adore. It is definately in my top five dresses. I took the hem down by about an inch and a half as it was just the wrong length but now it is truely perfect. My Nan taught me a little trick to get rid of the nasty line left by the old hem no matter how much you iron. When you've taken the hem down, wet a teatowel through and place it over the ugly crease, then iron the teatowel until its dry. Abracadabra, crease gone! So here it is:

And finally, this gorgeous coat for a mere £10. I love it! And on Miss Frugals advice have teamed it with a vintage belt I got a while ago before my frugal days from my favourite favourite charity shop where everything is £1:

So at the vintage fair I spent £60, but I made £135!! So including my selling from whats mine is yours I am still £120 up.

Other purchases (i know i know i'm not supposed to be buying stuff!) were a really great top shop smock top which is perfect for work for £1 from a charity shop and a pair of shoes. Now i didn't really need new shoes and i didn't particularly want to buy them, but we went to Manchester for the day, I was wearing a pair of shoes i have had for about 2 years and are normally very comfortable. However for some reason they decided to try and kill me one toe at a time and my feet were cut to shreds! I ended up venturing into clarks which had a massive sale on and bought a pair of red shoes which were reduced from £44.99 to £9.99! They are very comfortable and perfect for work so i don't feel too guilty!

Making my money is still +£109. Yey!!

Right I am going to go off track a bit here and talk about cosmetics, well shampoo really. I used to work at Lush, which is a wonderful company and much more than just a soap shop. When I left (a year and a half ago) I stocked up on my favourite shampoo, I love juicy, and my favourite conditioner, Veganese. I ran out, but luckily it was December and at Christmas they have this amazing sale, well not really a sale but an offer that if you spend £15 or more you can get anything, and I mean ANYTHING made before that December absolutely free. In the past I have had gifts which retailed for £50 and a £35 moisturiser amongst my goodies. However this year I chose to get some shampoo and conditioner free as the large bottles of I love juicy are £12.75 and Veganese is £10.95. So for someone who used to buy just whatever was on offer at the supermarket this is a lot of money. However, like I said, I got my last bottle in December and I have only just run out of the shampoo(my boyfriend also uses it!) and I've still got half a bottle of Veganese left. You may wonder why on earth I am waffling on about shampoo, basically I am trying to save money wherever I can and I have run out of shampoo. Should I spend almost £13 on another bottle of my favourite or does this extravagance contradict my new frugal lifestyle? Well, the 500ml bottle lasted both me and my boyfriend month, which works out at £1.59 a month. Which also works out at much cheaper than buying supermarket shampoos.

If you are like me and am a bit precious about your hair then read this next bit very carefully. I promise I won't try and sound like an advert for lush, but I used to continueally have to change my brand of shampoo because my hair would get greasier and greasier. I have used the same shampoo for almost three years now without having any kind of problems because the grease was caused by a build up of silicon and Lush shampoos don't contain silicon! What would happen is I'd buy one shampoo, all the nasties from it would stick to my hair and build up over time, so I would change the brand. The new shampoo would get rid of the nasties from the old shampoo, (which is why when you try a new shampoo your hair feels all lovely) but then it starts building up its own load of nasties and the cycle would start again. Because theres no silicon, there is no build up. I love Juicy is good for my hair, but there are loads of different shampoos for different types of hair. If I am going out and I want big hair, I use Big shampoo as it is amazing for adding volume, as the name suggests! There are full details of the Lush shampoo range here:

http://www.lush.co.uk/categories/Shampoo_1130.aspx

Anyway, now I am really rambling. What I really want to say is I was going on holiday, camping no less, and didn't want to lug a brand new 500ml bottle of shampoo along with me so i decided to go with a shampoo bar instead. They are basically shampoo in a bar form and you can get a nifty little tin with to keep it in. I was a bit in love with I love Juicy I was a bit apprehensive but I have to say it is brilliant. It is so easy to use and convenient. I imagine if i ever did anything like going to the gym (ha ha!!) on a regular basis it would be perfect for carrying about. Details are here:

http://www.lush.co.uk/categories/Bars_72.aspx

I got Jumping Juniper for my greasy locks and it is really lovely, and smells gorgeous.

The other amazing thing about Lush is its animal and environmental policies. I have never heard of a company which is so ruled by its morals before, and not in a cheap marketing way. If I didn't work for them I would never have known about them, I would have just assumed they were just another fancy soap shop. Basically they don't just not test their products on animals. They don't buy ingredients which have been tested on animals. They don't even buy ingredients from companies who test on animals, even if the ingredient they want isn't! They have vegan products and work with poultry farmers and bee keepers for the things that aren't. They don't use excess packaging or carrier bags, all plastic bottles are recyclable. And thats not it. They are so concious of every ethical issue I can't even begin to explain. One example is whilst working there one day the price of every item containing Sandlewood went up by a few pence. On enquiring why, it turned out they got their Sandlewood from India where they'd discovered protected Sandlewood trees were being illegally chopped down in order to make Sandlewood oil. So they just changed suppliers and sourced it from a whole other country. There is nothing more important to this company than doing the right thing and they also do lovely soap. This is one of the reasons why I will continue to shop there forever more! And continue to get other people to shop there!

Don't get up yet because I still haven't finished. After all that faffing, the washing machine broke after all! The bearings went and the cheapest quote was £110 + VAT, I was also advised it wasn't really worth fixing. So I thought about the fancy 14 minute quick wash cycle washing machine and decided to have a look around first. We went to Currys, Comet and Tesco. However, having just finished reading 'America Unchained' by Dave Gorman we thought we'd try the independant route. So we went to Eastwood Domestics in Rotherham town centre (incidentally we bought our Fridge there!) and had a look. We ended up with a rocket ship washing machine!! Well, an Indeset Moon really, but it looks very futuristic and has flashy lights. It also has a brilliant 30 minute 30 degree quick wash, and lots of other excellent programs too. Not only did I get an excellent deal, £220, I got it delivered within two days (the first day being a Sunday!), fitted and my old one taken away for an extra fiver! From the big shops it would have cost £19.99 for them to just drop off my new one and take away my old one. No uncoupling, no fitting, just dropping it off and taking the old one away. So the moral is, shop local!

Well, I think that might finally finally be it now, you can relax! I will be doing the next vintage fashion fair in Sheffield so I shall keep you updated!

Primark, Washing Machines and Wearing What I Want

My best friend always says if you are going to pick a theme, its best to run with it properly and throw yourself into it. And I always agree, the most stylish people are the ones who go for it full throttle. To be honest I am not really much of a fashionista, well not a current one anyway. I love fashion pre 1980 and try my best to get away with wearing vintage clothes most of the time. However sometimes it isn't practical, e.g. I don't want my new old clothes to get covered in paint or bleach so best not to wear them to work sometimes or to clean the house. Other than that its 1950s 'new look' silhouettes and 1940s tea dresses for me! I do try my best and work hard scouring charity shops, the internet and vintage shops for those perfect vintage gems. So imagine my horror when i stepped foot in Primark for the very first time and saw rows and rows of reproduction wartime tea dresses with floral patterns and racks of full circle fifties dresses? Firstly I should explain, I have never been in Primark before for two reasons; One: a friend used to work there and basically has the opinion it is the Devil in retail form; and Two: I can't reconcile how you can buy something for so cheap and it be ethical, economical and properly made!! Believe me, look how long project shirt is taking me and I could probably walk into Primark today and buy one for £4. Plus I am used to shopping with my Nan when I was younger who always checked the seam allowance and proclaimed 'It'l never last!' when dissatisfied! Now I am not being a snob here, its not just Primark, I am sure many high street and high end shops are guilty of unethical practices, but I do try my best to avoid them. Anyway, I have lost track of my point (for a change!) I put a lot of effort into finding exciting and original looking things, so I was disheartened when I realised that I could just walk into Primark and get the same look. So what to do?

Well, lets move on for a minute and go back to my washing machine problem. Did you know washing machines have filters? I didn't! I know hoovers do, I know coffee makers do (and i don't even drink coffee!!) but washing machines? Well as it turns out they do, and I felt very foolish when my dad and step mum came to visit and asked if I'd ever cleaned it. When he saw the blank look on my face all I got was, 'Well, no wonder its leaking'. They proceeded to bend down, empty the filter and amongst all the hair they found two plectrums (not mine) and the missing button to the shirt I was wearing at that very moment! So the good news is, I don't have to buy a new washing machine. I am a bit disapointed though, I was quite excited about the 14 minute cycle eco warrior!

I have another problem, this weekend I am going to a wedding. I didn't realise it was this weekend either so instead of having time to cruise the internet for a vintage gem like I would under normal circumstances, I have to think of something else. Plus I can no longer do this anyway as I can't spend any money! It's also too late to swap too, but instead of dismissing everything I own, I thought I would try everything on! I have to say, I had so much fun! I felt like I was in Clueless when they are all dressing up! So I have a few decisions to make. Do I go vintage or not? Well almost every dress I own is vintage so that answers that question. Next, what era? As I said earlier I am a forties and fifties girl at heart so I think it will definately be one of those two. Here come the forties numbers:

Dress One: Original 1940s Rayon Tea Dress (Please note, it is impossible to take a good photo of yourself!)

I LOVE this dress! It is so comfy and easy to wear, the print is gorgeous and it matches my favourite yellow shoes.

Dress Two: Original 1940s Green dress with black trim, the colour is much nicer than on the photo!

I love this dress two, however I have worn this the most out of all the dresses, so maybe I should give something else a try. Dress Three: Original 1940s Grey sequined dress

I have never worn this because I don't think the colour does much for me. However I love the gathering at the top because it seems to balance out my pear shape!

Here comes the 1950s lot! Dress Four: Original 1950s open backed day dress:

I adore this dress! I love the rockabilly look and this is perfect. But is it suitable for a wedding?

Dress Five: Original 1950s Button Back dropped waist day dress

This is again a favourite, I loved the dropped waist because again I thing (suprisingly) it balances out my pear shape.

So there we have it, the choices. I suppose it depends on the weather, shoes etc, but it took a whole evening to whittle it down to five!! I have learned I have an incredible amount of clothes and probably don't ever need to buy more (but obviously will!). Back to my original musings on Primark and my disapointment that you can get vintage looks without the effort. I don't think I'll be able to give up vintage, and I don't think I should! It may be a bit more expensive and a bit more effort, but my afternoon prancing around in ridiculous frocks has filled me with new enthusiasm.

I have also done loads of swaps lately, including a pair of Dr Martin Mary Janes for work, a brilliant red cardi, and amazing stripey 1960s dress (which may encourage me to show my knees in public for the first time in about 15 years!). So thats about it for today, any opinions on which dress to wear would be greatly appreciated. I probably won't decide until 10 minutes before we go!

An angry washing machine

Last week my washing machine demonstrated what it really thought of me by spewing water all over my porch. Luckily I was mopping at the time so at least I was ready for it. This seems to have happened at quite a convenient time. We moved into our house about four years ago and bought the cheapest washing machine we could with little thought to how environmentally friendly it was, thats all we could afford. Obviously now we aren't spending all our cash on moving in, but we are still pretty skint. If I buy another cheap washing machine will it be a false economy?

Ok, so this is not exactly fashion related, but whats the point in being environmentally concious when I am choosing what to wear if when I get them home I shove my new found second hand goodies into an energy guzzling monster? I am already pretty hot on the saving money front when it comes to washing, thanks to my mum and her love of bid up tv. Last year she came accross washing machine balls, which instead of using powders or liquids is just a ball that you put in your washing machine and it makes everything lovely and clean! They are amazing, I haven't bought washing powder or liquid since well before christmas, my washing is clean and smells fresh (actual freshness not highly perfumed artificial freshness either!) and the ball looks as if it has hardly been used! They are suitable for every kind of washing; delicates, woolens, synthetics and are even suitable for thoses with sensitive skin. I found some online at and would highly recommend them for anyone wanting to save money and be a bit greener:

http://www.ecofriendlyhomeproducts.co.uk/ecoballs.htm?gclid=CIK-t9zA-ZMCFQ8WQgodsn2vzA

My Mum bought a pack of three, gave one to me, one to my brother and kept one for herself and none of our balls are even close to being finished. So not only does this save loads of money, it also reduces the amount of chemicals going into the water system from our washing machines and cuts down on the packaging going into landfill from the bottles and boxes of detergents we used to buy. I have to admit though, the balls are not brilliant at removing stains, however I use this: http://www.ecover.com/gb/en/Products/Laundry/20050711+ontvlekker+UK.htm

ecover stain remover. Believe me, I am a mucky pup with a love of beetroot and this takes the stains out of everything. I have also noticed that my clothes don't fade either, I have an amazing bright yellow vintage mac which is my absolute favourite item of clothing in the whole wide world and whether I climb trees or spill my dinner, it isn't fading! So although this edition of the blog may not really be about fashion, its about taking care of what you've got!

So anyway, back to the washing machine problem! I have found this beauty: http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=2566

(the rest of this website is also really good!) so i need to find £349 from somewhere. I don't believe in dryers, I have a washing line and radiators so I don't need it to include that. Basically what I want is a washing machine that will last and not cost the earth (literally) to run. So I may have my heart set on this!! On a completely random note, a friend and I went to Bradford Industrial Museum a couple of weeks ago to see an exhibition called 'Domestic Bliss': http://www.bradfordmuseums.org/industrialmuseum/exhibitions.htm

It has domestic appliances from the early nineteenth right throught to the twentieth century. It is a small but fantastic exhibition and worth it just to see the beautiful retro and iconic designs of the electric mixers and toasters! It also made me think of my nan who has had the fridge she has now for well over 20 years. Now I know her fridge is probably not very efficient but will the fact that she hasn't sent a fridgefreezer to landfill in the time most people will send four or five balance out her carbon footprint? Well now I am really getting off track, I think I have been listening to Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobious Pips 'Letter from God' too much!Basically, I am going to do a carboot this week to try and raise some money. I want to really declutter my wardrobe and house. Keep the really good stuff for swaps but get rid of the excess. I shall keep you updated!

On the swaps front I have recieved my mustard yellow cardi: http://www.whatsmineisyours.com/item/item/4652/woolknit-cardi.aspx

and love it!! Unfortunately the button went walkabout before my fellow swapper got to send it but she let me know before hand to see if i still wanted to go ahead. I am glad I did as I love it! I have a huge jar of buttons so I am sure I will be able to find something. I have also sent out another swap today and am waiting to recieve a top shop dress for myself.

Unfortunately there hasn't been any progress on project shirt, mainly due to lack of time, but i am determined to get the sleeves on this week! And thats it for now.

Holiday wardrobe on a budget

I'm feeling really confident about this experiment today. It feels so liberating to be free of the shopping bug, and I'm watching my bank balance level out instead of the usual draining it can sometimes take in the middle of the month. It's also really handy to see what I have amassed over the years, and use all those clothes I haven't worn in ages as a currency to help build me a new wardrobe.

Unlike Sarah I haven't started making things as yet, though I do have a 1970s dress bought from a charity shop that I'm going to reconstruct into a more modern version. I'm heading over to Barcelona next weekend with some old uni friends. Now I would usually head to the high street and impulse buy my way through a few sarongs, tunics, holiday shoes, flip flops and extra silly items like head scarves (I already have 20). But now I'm thinking frugal, I have selected 3 dresses that I love, pulled out some lovely sandals (last season but still very chic). For the evening I have acquired a lovely little black dress that I swapped for a clock radio, a beach bag that I swapped for an old shirt and a little cotton top that was swapped for an old tea dress I haven't worn since 2005.

The only thing I really need is a bikini, my last one didn't survive the massive waves of Cyprus last year and I really can't face the girls in the miss matched number I bought whilst we were at uni (8 years ago). I have come to the conclusion that I need to sell some excess clothing to make money to buy a new bikini. I am placing some dresses and belts onto whatsmineisyours.com and ebay.com and will see how much I have to go shopping with next week.

This weekend the clear out continues as I raid my parents loft for another two rails and numerous bags of clothes and accessories I stored there years ago.

Tidy drawers and Making Shirts

After the big clear out I have been very busy. Why does life always get in the way of the stuff you really want to do? Anyway, i have found things much easier since i thinned out my wardrobe. The logistics of picking something to wear in a morning have been a joy! Not having to wade through things i know i am not going to wear to find something makes the whole process much more enjoyable. So i have decided to perhaps swap the clothes i have weeded out for more accessories, especially hats and belts, definately not scarves! I got started on Saturday night loading up all my swaps, not very rock and roll for a weekend i know but I don't get out much! So far have swapped a polka dot pencil skirt i hardly wear as it shows my knees, for an amazing 60s velvet hat, a smock top i've worn once for a brown cardigan, to replace my nearly worn out brown cardi i love and a gorgeous 1950s jacket top for a bright yellow cardigan. As I have lots of dresses, cardigans are always useful and yellow is my favourite colour. I have recieved my hat already:

but due to the most stressfull day of the year at work i totally forgot to post my swaps today however i have emailed the lovely swappers to explain and they are all fine about it! Like I said earlier, life does sometimes gets in the way.

Continuing with my wardrobe organisation i thought about my underwear. Now, its not often i do that but everything is just chucked in a drawer jumbled up. I have bras and pants, tights and socks, stockings and neck scarves (random I know) all jumbled up in the same big draw. I have decided to move all the everyday underwear i.e. bras and knickers into baskets in my wardrobe and thought i'd have a go at making some dividers for my drawers so i can see what i have. I have a beautiful dressing table that belonged to my boyfriends Grandma and the drawers are huge, I particularly want to see what i have in the tights department, having lots of dresses and very pale legs, i wear a lot! But I want to try and fit my hats and gloves in too, so here is everything i want to put in, in the drawer as it is

The curious black cat is Peggy, who is forever helpful!

A cardboard box, some fabric scraps, some double sided tape and a hour later i have a new drawer! Here is Peggy checking out the new sections.

I now have eight sections, four for tights and stockings, two for neck scarves and two for hats!

I have always been a Blue Peter kind of girl and love to make things myself. So having come accross this website http://www.burdastyle.com/ I fell in love. Not only do i get to be really nosey and see what other peolpe have made, they also let you download patterns for free! I love this Shirt: http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/show/3640 And thought it would be perfect for work so this is going to be my first project. obviously to go out and spend a fortune on fancy fabric would not really sit well with the aims of my project so i have to resist the urge to go to Cole Brothers Haberdashery and head for my local charity shop. I come back with the following:

A piece of vintage cotton big enought to get the pieces of the blouse out for £1, a contrasting orange check shirt for the collar and cuffs for £1 and a bag of buttons for 50p. So if i manage to actually make this shirt, it will have cost me £2.50! Well, I have made things before, mainly simple dresses, curtains and cushions, never anything involving a collar. After downloading, printing off and sticking the pattern together (which takes an age itself!) I have got the pieces cut out ready sew in one night. The next night, in my head it will be like in the magazines when they recomend things like this. Ooh its easy, you just follow the pattern and then a pristine, gorgeous garment appears before your eyes! However in reality it is not quite that simple. I managed to get the darts in, front and back sewn together and the front bit where it fastens together sewn down all by myself. But the collar just seemed to be in a different language! So i took a trip to my Mums, she is used to me deciding to do ridiculous projects and is quite willing to indulge me. Having made a lot of my clothes when i was little she is like an encyclopaedia of sewing knowledge! She showed me how to construct the collar, turn it and attach it to the shirt. This sounds all very simple, but believe me, it isn't and unless you are very practical or have a very patient Mum or Nan willing to humour you then i wouldn't recommend trying a shirt for your first project. But after all that i have got the collar on:

I haven't tackled the cuff yet, but i will keep you updated with project shirt.

So that is it for this evening. Hopefully over the next week i will get more swaps listed, do more swaps and also I want to create a log of everything I spend, swap and make. Heres to good intentions!

The wardrobe edit

I'm also having a good clear out and cleansing my wardrobe of the old and unworn. It's not as easy as it seems. Funny, as I'm a trained personal shopper and can spend my days clearing out clients wardrobes, instructing them what to keep and what to lose - we call it The Wardrobe Edit!

So, I'm now taking part in my own wardrobe edit and though it's tough to decide what is for selling or swapping, it's also quite therapeutic. I've discovered a whole host of items that have lurked in those clear storage boxes we all loved and bought in the 90s from http://www.theholdingcompany.co.uk/. I even found some items that I have never seen before in my life. which means one of two things:

1. I shop and buy in my sleep, then carefully fold, stack and store the sleep shop items.

2. I have generous friends and family who shop for me then hide my presents at the back of my wardrobe in the vain hope that one day I will find them and thank them for said gifts.

It's a spooky mystery, but I thank the wardrobe ghost for my new clothes!

I decided to place one of the 'found' items up for swap on whatsmineisyours.com and I have already received a great swap request for a black wicker bag that will go perfectly with the black strappy dress I swapped this morning with a radio alarm clock! One whole new outfit in one day!

Here's my top tips for wardrobe editing:

1. Don't get distracted - turn off the phone, make a cup of tea and ensure all outside distractions are tuned out for the next hour (for major shopaholics double or triple this time estimate).

2. Have clear ideas of why you are doing this - you need to be in the right frame of mind, be concise, level headed and on no accounts must you do this when you are going through the following: a break up, a bereavement, a fat day, a thin day, a new hair colour day.

3. Have bags at the ready - make sure you have bags to separate out items - charity shop, swap, sell, car boot... ...oh and keep!

4. Take everything out of your wardrobe and lay it on the bed - it looks less daunting once it's out in the open.

5. Don't get too mercenary - don't get carried away and lose the whole lot, there are always some things you may regret later.

I'll leave the rest of the wardrobe edit tips to SarahM....

..Over to you Sarah xx

It Begins...

Well, here goes. I will start by introducing myself. I am fairly average. I live in my average house, with my average boyfriend, driving my average car, earning my average wage. And like everyone else, I am also averagely skint. My household bills have gone up, my petrol costs have gone up, my food cost have gone up. Unfortunately my desire to have fancy dresses and novelty shoes continues to climb radically. Should i compromise on style because i have no money? Should i buy disposable and unethical clothing because i can't afford to buy quality and gulit free? Well, I am going to try to live for a year, one whole year, the good way. No frivolous spending, no ridiculous purchases just things that will contribute to my wardrobe significantly. By that I mean things that i will actually wear and will last. I also want to spend as little as possible, I am going to attempt to swap, sell, barter and hunt my way through the next year and end up with a better, more practical and more environmentally friendly wardrobe.

Firstly i need to sort out what i have before i can even thing about aquiring new things. I have two wardrobes. One in my bedroom which i share with my boyfriend which is full of the essesntials like underwear, tops and skirts and trousers. However i do have another. The special one. I love vintage clothing, particularly dresses, so much so they have their own wardrobe in my spare room. Luckily I have a job where i can flounce around in ridiculous and impractical dresses all day long if i fancy (as long as i wear an apron) so i do have a lot! and to be fair, i do wear them. However a proper sort out of both wardrobes is essential (even if scary) before embarking on a radical lifestyle change.

So I will begin with the big one, the everyday stuff. I shall return in an hour or two....

Well the approach i chose i think was quite liberating and very very satisfying. Basically I emptied my wardrobe onto the bed. So I had to conciously make the decision to keep each item that went back in. The best bit about doing this was I could see everything. And i mean everything. It made me feel quite guilty, as just looking at the amount of stuff i have made the fact that i still want more a complete joke! It also meant i could shut the curtains, strip off and try stuff on. Mix and match things, try things out with things i'd never thought of.

So what i have learnt about myself from sorting out my main wardrobe?

I am not a shoe or a bag person. Aparently i am a scarf person. I have 16 scarves, and thats not including the ones in my car! I am not even counting neckerchiefs, just full on, wrap up warm, woolly winter scarves. Is this excesive? Most of them have been gifts and/or hand knitted by me so technically they haven't cost me any money. And as it is gearing up for summer, I will leave them in their box for now, as logically, people will want to buy or swap things they can wear or use now.

LESSON NUMBER ONE: Under no circumstance should i buy, knit or swap for any more scarves. I have enough.

I have also suprised myself a bit too, I have discovered a monochrome black and white 60s shirt I love but never wear goes perfectly with a vintage high waisted velvet skirt. Two items i never thought of putting together and probably would have either got rid of or ignored for another couple of years if i hadn't gone mad and torn everything out of my wardrobe! However, I have also discovered a problem with my wardrobe in general. I love bright colours and patterns, so obviously, i have lots of items with patterns and bright colours. What i lack is the plainer counterparts that go with these things. I could wear them together but i fear i may look more mad than usual wearing a bug print stripey shirt with a strawberry print skirt.

LESSON NUMBER TWO: novelty prints and bright colours may be fun, however i need to prioritise plainer skirts and tops. I must not buy these on a whim!

I didn't do the standard 'If i haven't worn it in the last two years i'm getting rid of it' method as at heart i am a hoarder and there are certain things i will keep for sentimental and fairly daft reasons. I used to have a gorgeous purple corderoy pencil skirt that i wore to death and even though it was faded, I still loved it. One day in a fit of madness i put it in the bag for the charity shop because i hadn't worn it in a while. I regret that to this day. I want my purple skirt back! So I would regret it forever if i let go of the first thing my boyfriend bought me, a gorgeous beaded French Connection skirt. So expensive at the time and very 1920s, but i never go anywhere fancy enough to wear it! Maybe the next lesson should be go places that are fancy enough to wear such things! It would also break my heart to get rid of any of my band T-Shirts, I have Pulp T-Shirts, Supergrass T-Shirts, Yeah Yeah Yeahs T-Shirts, Strokes T-Shirts, and i'll not mention some of the others! Each one was bought at a gig or a festival and holds a memory. They don't take up much space and i love to wear them with my battered old jeans in the summertime.

LESSON NUMBER THREE: Don't kid myself, there are some things that are destined to be part of my life, even if its not as a wearable, functional garment. More like a piece of memorabilia. However it is very important that i don't use this as an excuse to keep everything!

Onto the things i need. I use need quite loosly obviously as i could probably not buy anything for the rest of my life and not wear out the clothes i own. I should really say The things i want to balance my wardrobe.

1- Plain skirts and trousers to counteract the shear amount of ridiculous patterns and colours in my wardrobe.

2- Part A - The next issue to address is shoes. At work i am on my feet a lot, i have to go up an down ladders and need shoes to be comfortable and practical. So I seem to have got into the habit of buying cheap pumps, wearing them out and then throwing them away. Not only is this extreemly bad for the environment but it can't be cost effective either. If I spend £5 a month on a rubbish pair of pumps that make my feet smell like rubber, I could have spent £60 on a pair of really good quality shoes which will be better for my feet and not end up in landfill within the month. Unlike most girls though, I hate shoe shopping. One foot is bigger than the other, I have wide flipper shaped feet and nothing ever seems to fit right! However, this i feel is the first thing i should sort out. I must be on the look out for a pair of sensible, comfortable, good quality yet stylish shoes for work. Do these even exist? I must wear out the shoes i currently have though but if i see an appropriate pair, I have to investigate.

2- Part B - Going out shoes. I have an amazing pair of yellow shoes. The most perfect shoes ever to exist, very high yet extreemly comfortable. I have danced the night away in these a fair few times. However i wear them everytime i go out. I would like a little variety. I would also like a little Vivienne Westwood! Having been to the Exhibition at the Millenium Galleries in Sheffield (http://www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk/) I have reaffirmed my love for the great lady and have also developed a deep yearning for a pair of her shoes. Suddenly, everywhere i go there are Vivienne Westwood shoes that are out of my price range! Second hand will obviously fit in with my experiment, however i must make some money before i can spend it!

So I have sorted out my main wardrobe. The special one is to follow. Tomorrow i will photograph and count all the things i have sorted out today and list them on http://www.whatsmineisyours.com/ to swap or sell. I feel like I've made a good start and am ready to start my new lifestyle! I shall update this with photographs tomorrow.

The perfect swap

It's sort out day! Yes, I've started cleaning out my wardrobe and have stacked up a load of items that I no longer wear but someone else may love. So, I'm posting my items on http://www.whatsmineisyours.com/ to see if anyone is interested in swapping. I'm open for all offers for my unwanted items but I do have a girlie weekend in Barcelona and a few Summer/Autumn weddings in the pipeline. So, I'm on the prowl for maxi dresses for the Barcelona trip and a few special dresses for the weddings. To my surprise an email popped into my inbox this morning with what could be the prefect swap! I have a pair of very expensive Yanuk jeans, bought on a whim from Selfridges a few years ago. I think I paid around £140 for them but each time I put them on they just don't seem to fit, so onto whatsmineisyours.com they go and they have already attracted the attention of a swapper who would like to trade for a beautiful vintage inspired dress worth £200 - perfect for an Autumn wedding. I've asked her lots of questions regarding the fit and condition of the dress and it just seems perfect. I'll be posting out my jeans tomorrow and expect to receive the dress before the end of the week.

Welcome to our money saving experiment

As seasoned shopaholics and vintage fashionistas we pride ourselves on our well picked out wardrobes. Each item has been lovingly bought, sometimes on a whim, yet always with passion and conviction. So why have we amassed so much stuff? Let me introduce myself as Miss frugal. This is my new name, as this year will be different, this year I will try to spend as little as possible on clothes, shoes, hats, tights.... ..Scary thought as new season collections continue to roll into the stores, as I walk through my high street and see the new window displays at my favourite high street stores. Dresses beg me to buy them, Malene Birger just created a new season collection of dresses that were simply made for me. But I must resist. I must try to account for all I purchase, I must resist! So, what other options do I have to live from June 2008 until June 2009 without cracking open my credit card each time net-a-porter pops in my inbox. Well, I'm going to go back to basics, I'm going to swap, sell and bargain buy my way through the year. Whilst I'm on the 'utilising what you have' tip I will also be trying to customise and create new stuff. So, I'll try to learn how to make clothes, to turn dated items I have into new and updated styles. I'm going to trawl the net, read a few books, take some classes and try to bag as many bargains as I can. Everything will be posted here on the frugal fashionistas blog. So if anyone wants to join in or give helpful tips along the way then you are more than welcome. The shopping drought starts here!