The Pre Spending Ban Spending Spree

Charity shop and car boot sale shopping ruin you a bit for proper shops.  It's like being in a foreign and very expensive country when I accidentally wander into John Lewis these days.  The exception can be some of the ridiculously discounted high street sales that they have nowadays, as well as outlets of course.

Now that my #100daysnospend clothing purchase ban is in place, I thought I'd share some pictures of the shopping I managed to squeeze in before the ban was enforced.  I didn't purposefully 'go sale shopping' this year, but the charity shops have been fruitful, and we did go to some outlets as I as after some yoga gear.  The outlets near me are particularly good for sports and outdoor clothing.  (I used to run and do yoga in any old thing but once you try the proper high performance fabrics you can't go back!).  Here's what I bought, and whether I've worn it yet:

Charity shop finds.  All modern, no vintage this time.

J Crew silk dress, £2.  Not my usual choice of colours and I'm not keen on florals, but it's silk, it was cheap, and it fits perfectly, so it might be a holiday dress contender.  Not worn it yet.



M&S stripe dress, £2.  Not stepping out of my comfort zone with this one as I already have several striped tops and black skirts that I could use to create this look with!  A bit of déjà vu.  Worn this once, needs a non-static slip underneath because with tights it's a nightmare at riding up!



Asda jumper dress, £1.  Another one of those stretchy jumper dresses that I favour to wear at home with leggings, to be comfy and dressed down in.  Worn a few times.



Next outlet purchases.  I spent a total of £54 on the following 7 dresses.

Short white dress.  I wore this on New Year's Eve and fell in love with it.  I'd envisaged it as a work dress but teamed with gold accessories it proved that it glammed up nicely for evening.  Worn once.



Black sheer sleeve tunic dress.  I think Claudia Winkleman wears this kind of dress!  Worn two or three times.



Black bow dress.  I thought this could do for work, or maybe lunch whilst on a European city break in the Spring.  Unworn.



Black bow back dress.  I love dresses that are unassuming from the front, and then you turn around and bam, there's the sexiness.  Unworn.



Grey floaty dress.  This was the most expensive dress (£12) and the one I was least sure of.  It said 'Alexa Chung' to me.  At home I tried it with a belt and it was instantly improved, so I'm keeping it.  Unworn.



Coral mid length dress.  The best thing about this dress is that it was from the tall section, so hits me perfectly mid-calf.  I could see this as a wedding guest outfit.  Unworn.



Green midi dress, £5.  Another one for the office, you can't go wrong with this kind of dress, and again it hits me mid calf.  Worn a few times to work.  Perfect.



Other shopping
From the Levi's outlet, wool jumper, £17.  The other half hates this so I partly bought it in defiance.  It will do as a warm but thin layer for country walks.  Have been living in it around the house!



From Sainsbury's, top, £8.  One to stash away for summer.  Unworn.



From Sports Direct outlet, two baselayer tops, £12.50 for two.  Essential for yoga in a chilly sports centre.  Worn lots, they're really good at helping me stay toasty.



Faux fur trim cardigan, Tesco, £10.  This was utterly frivolous, but I love it!  Unworn.



I had a lovely Warehouse top as a Christmas present, but it didn't fit, so I exchanged it at Debenhams and also used up some of a gift voucher, returning with a pair of black trousers, £10, and a red blouse, £15.  It's incredibly rare for me to find a pair of high-street trousers that actually fit.  These aren't perfect, but they're close.  The secret is the stretch, the absence of pockets, the sensible 'rise' and the cropped length.  The blouse drapes beautifully even though the other half says the front of it looks like a horse.  Neither have been worn yet.





That's a total spend of £105, plus some of a gift voucher, which won't break the bank but was enough of a splurge to be exciting and it gave me a little boost to face January with.  Oh, and February and March, and some of April, because I'm only on day 44 of the 100 day spending ban.  Thursday 9th April seems a long way away, the day I am officially allowed to shop again.  But let's be honest that there are quite a few items in my purchases above that I haven't worn yet, so I really can't complain.

I'm also setting myself another target of getting rid of 100 items (not just clothes) as a bit of a decluttering challenge.  As the flow into my wardrobe is temporarily stemmed it might be the perfect time to cull the unworn and the unflattering.  I've already taken 7 pairs of shoes to the charity shop, along with 5 cookbooks, and a bag of around 20 VHS tapes.

Have you hit the sales this year?  Or have you been sensible and stayed away from the shops?  Are you avoiding shopping for a time or having a declutter??