If you can't honestly answer that question with any degree of certainty, I recommend you take a hard look at your finances and work out if you're a clothes-a-holic like me!
I am in full-on thrifty mode at the present time, scrimping and saving all my pennies as I have an uncertain employment future, dependent on various contracts and one big interview.
I have realised that I might have to ease off on the shoe and dress purchases. I was browsing on the
Money Saving Expert site (an excellent resource, please do have a look!) and in one of the forums people are pledging their clothing purchase limits for 2013. Some are vowing to spend only £500, others as little as £100. 'Hmm, maybe two hundred quid, I could probably do that!', was my thought. I then totted up what I've already spent on clothes this year and was shocked to see that I'm already at around £200, and we're only a third of the way in. How has that happened?!
Here's what I've bought in 2013 (items paid for entirely with cash, not including gift cards leftover from Christmas):
- Cervin red tights from Kiss Me Deadly, £17 and I haven't even worn them yet.
- Mango fitted orange cardigan, £11 in the sale, wool mix, such a star buy.
- Grey beaded belt from Anthropologie, £14.95 in the sale
- Traffic People jacket, £39 in the sale
- Anthropologie peplum top, £24.99 in the sale
- Charity shop pale blue wool jumper, £5.99
- Fuschia tights, 50p
- Red wool beret from Accessorize, £14
- 2 dresses from Sainsbury's, £21 in sale
- 2 cardigans from Primark, £6 each
- M&S tights, £10
- Boots from J Shoes, £45 in sale
In addition to all of the above, I also had gift cards to use up and bought a silk Hobbs dress, knickers from Boux Avenue, and a lingerie set from Kiss Me Deadly. Plus, I won a pair of knickers in a contest!
I don't think my problems of not having the right outfit to wear to particular events are going to be solved by continually buying more things, I think the answer is being a bit more clever about how I wear things. Here are some suggestions I came up with on how to make your wardrobe work harder for the money:
1. Work out the difference between what you want, and what you need
Everytime you think "Hmm, I need a plain black cardi/white blouse/colourful shoe" to make that outfit work, write it down! If after a few months you've had the same problem several times, maybe you do need to buy an item to help you get the most out of your wardrobe. Otherwise, it would be a waste.
2. Get rid of what you don't wear
This is a tough one, but it's hard to see beyond the clutter sometimes. I've got a 1930's green skirt suit that hung in my wardrobe for years, and years. I eventually came to the hard decision to sell it. It's in my friend's vintage shop right now, but if it doesn't sell there I will put it on Ebay. Having a wardrobe full of items you do actually wear will make choosing an outfit so much quicker, and selling things will make you a bit of money back.
3. Get a different perspective
If you've got an item and you are at a loss of ideas of what to wear it with, enlist some help - ask a friend, look at pictures online to see how others wear something similar. I bet you've already got the perfect items to team it with in your wardrobe somewhere, you don't need to buy something new to go with it!
4. Rotate your wardrobe
If, like me, having your entire wardrobe out at any one time is physically impossible, you'll need to rotate things so that you give items a fair chance of being worn. My task in the next few weeks is to have my winter coats dry cleaned and put away, and unleash the Spring coats and jackets from their vac-pack prisons. No doubt, at the same time I will unearth a dress/jumper or other forgotten item and wear it to death for a few weeks, giving me the lovely feel of having something new, but without me having spent anything.
5. Be more critical
Do you wear things that you're not 100% happy with? I had a red skater dress that I loved, but everytime I put it on I realised that the waistband was about 2 inches higher than where my waist was. There was also a sun dress that made me look frumpy. Taking a more critical look at whether something fit perfectly helped me whittle down my filled-to-bursting wardrobe, and has also helped me rein in my spending dramatically. It has to be perfect.
I'd love to hear if you are all aware of how much you spend on clothes? Or if your head's in the sand about it?
P x