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.