Wardrobe 2012

Ok, I admit, I have been dreading making this post. But it must be done, as I threatened myself with it at the start of last year. If you know that you will have to justify your purchases to the world at large, it makes you think harder about making them.
Remember my anti-fashion consumer minimalism post back in February? Well, here we have it, my clothing purchases for all of 2012. It's going to take 2 photos to get it all in.

photo 1 = The "new" stuff.

1. Cotton dress from Max. $39, March.

2. Sheepskin and wool slippers from Craftworld. $35. October.

3. Brogue style leather boots from a sample sale. $85. June?

4. Red leather knee-high boots from Overland. $349.95. September. *Ok, yes. This IS rediculous. I lusted after these for ages, tried to find them discounted at Dressmart, failed, finally put them on lay-by. Took me 6 weeks to pay off, by which time it was no longer winter. I've worn them a few times, but time will tell if this was an idiot purchase I guess.

5. Green and white polka-dot togs from K-mart. $25. November.

6. 2x black singlets from K-mart. $8 each = $16.November and December.

7. Black "skinny" levis from Dressmart. $59.95. May.

8. Berlei T-shirt bra from Farmers. $59.95. December.*purchased because underwire snapped in my only good bra, same model, making me think I had some awful lung problem because it hurt to breathe when lying down! I've since found that you can replace the underwire. I used ones from an old bra I was going to throw out. Now I have 2 good bras.

9. Socks from a dollar shop. $3. February. *featured in the original post.

10. 5 pack of black undies from Farmers. $19.99. July.

11. Missing Teeth T-shirt, purchased at concert. $25. February. *featured in the original post.

12. Blue levis (dyed black/indigo) from Dressmart. $39.50. May?

13. Heavy duty black leather belt from The Warehouse. $25. April.

14. Green leopard print scarf from Max. $39. March. *a truly stupid amount of money to pay for a commercially produced scarf. But I love it and wear it lots. :)

TOTAL: $821.34

....and now for photo 2:

The "not new" stuff.
These are mostly op-shop purchases, or home-sewn.

1. Black cashmere and wool Max coat. $8. Salvation army. April. *featured in THIS post.

2. Charcoal cashmere and wool Max coat. Trademe. $40. October. *I know, stupid right? I bought the same coat twice, and paid a lot more for it the second time. I just loved the first one so much that I put a saved-search on Trademe, for one in a larger size. Finally 6 months later one turned up. The bad news? A size 12 is still a bit too small. :(

3. Green merino singlet. Salvation Army. $6. August.

4. Black Velvet skirt. Salvation army. $12. April. *also featured in THIS post.

5. Modified mens shirt. Salvation army. $8. December. *inspired by number 6.

6 & 7. Modified mens shirt, and black pants. Salvation Army. $6 each = $12. December. *These were purchased for an end of year work function, which was "dress up as someone/thing from the Movies. I went as Mrs Mia Wallace - Pulp Fiction. The shirt took a lot of tailoring, and then some safety pins ripped holes near the armpits during the course of the evening. :( I've darned them but I'm not sure if I'll wear it again. Also, the pants are a bit too tight. I was going to leave these off the list entirely, since they were for a one off dress up party, except for the fact that they are still IN MY WARDROBE. So, no cheating!

8. Black linen short sleeved jacket. Salvation Army. $10. December. *Why did I buy this? Seriously. I haven't worn it yet.

9. Green merino hoodie. Salvation Army. $8. November.

10 & 11. Top and Skirt. Sewn by me. Fabric from Geoffs Emporium. $16. October. *top is based on my favourite top, and it actually worked out well! A surprise for a pattern I made myself. The skirt is based on a style my friend makes. A - line, with no fastenings. Just slip it on over your head.

12. Skirt. Sewn by me. Fabric from Geoffs Emporium. $12. * As above but in black so I can wear it to work.

TOTAL: $132

GRAND TOTAL FOR 2012 = $953.34

Almost half of which was spent on shoes! I am quite surprised at having spent so much. I had thought I was doing well!

Also on the purchasing front, my major purchase for the year! At long last I have a latex mattress! I wished I had gotten on to it earlier. The lovely people at FUTONZ helped me find the right comfort level. It was well worth the money. I don't have to stretch and crack my spine when I wake up in the morning! The bed is also much lower than the old innersprung mattress, and easier to climb into! Latex is an eco choice because it is a renewable product, can be organically farmed, is long lasting (up to 30 years or more, compared to only 5 to 10 years for an inner sprung mattress), has no issues with electromagnetic fields, and is naturally resistant to bugs and mold (great for asthmatics like me!). In fact, I'm off to climb into it now.

Happy 2013 everyone!

Anti Fashion-Consumer Minimalist ?

I don't know what label to put on this idea. I don't even know how to articulate it properly! I guess the general gist of it, is that I realized I had too much stuff quite some time ago. One of the facets of this realisation, was that I kind of stopped making stuff. If you have too much stuff, why make more? Right? Another was that I stopped going op-shopping. The joy of finding a bargain was being crushed by the guilt of the space it would take up, and doubt over if I would really use it, or if I was just kidding myself. Having your possessions condensed down to one room really makes you think! (ok, there are still boxes and furniture stored out in the shed! I admit it!)
But another part of this involved looking at my wardrobe. I would sigh over articles like THIS and THIS thinking how much easier those "what-to-wear" decisions would be if my wardrobe only contained 24 items or 30 items or whatever the magic number was! But it got me thinking.
I'm a jeans and T-shirts girl anyway. My work clothes are usually black jeans/pants and black T-shirts, and my casual wear is not much different. Why did I need a draw full of blue jeans? Hell, most of them were too tight, or worn at the seams anyway! I had a draw full of tops, of which I only wore about a quarter. There were dresses in my wardrobe I had worn once, and never felt comfortable in. (It's not like I ever go anywhere that requires me to dress up beyond the level of jeans with high heels!)
So I packed stuff up that I hadn't worn in ages or didn't quite fit right, and stashed it under my bed. After 6 months I hadn't pulled a single thing out of that bag to wear. So out it all went. "To market to market" to sell a pile of clothes for $2 a piece! It was a relief. Now the hard part. NOT replacing them!

In May last year I went to New York, and I had a plan. Alongside all the sight-seeing, I would shop judiciously. I had in mind some items I knew I would get good wear out of. I would be careful.
Of course it didn't go completely to plan. A heatwave in New York had me buying singlets, my handbag broke and I had to replace it, I caved and bought an expensive pair of high heels. But some things have proved excellent buys. I replaced my old chuck taylors, I bought 3 pairs of levi's in the "juniors" department(now these are my only jeans), and a replacement for my old denim jacket, a pair of Havianas which got good use until I lost them in a stream out in west auckland, even the silk scarf I bought to keep warm that first day in NY has gotten good use (though not in that subsequent NY heatwave!) I bought some Mac make-up, just powder, neutral eyeshadow and an eyebrow pencil. It was a revelation! Lovely stuff! And no skin trouble with it at all! Dior perfume, a black top with rose detail that I keep for "going out".

A lot of what I bought that wasn't "fashion related", was gifts. The only items I haven't gotten good use out of, was my "San Francisco" jacket (how did I not notice that this looks a bit silly unless it's zipped up???) and those high heels I mentioned (there's hope for them yet! I have a wedding to go to soon.)

Now. Compare the photo above to the one below.



These are my fashion purchases since I got back from the USA in June 2011.(8 months ago)
A leather handbag (which I um'd and ah'd over for weeks, and I'm now sooo glad I bought it).
A black cotton embroidered top for work. (a well considered impulse buy, if there is such a thing, since I've worn it almost every week).
A band T-shirt and a pair of socks, purchased this weekend. (the socks to save me from blisters on Saturday night in town).

I also bought a nightie, but I don't think that counts!

I've also scored some freebies. From the lost property box at work, just a couple of T-shirts that I'm not yet sure if I will wear (I'm waiting for winter). And one of my nana's dresses (something to wear to that wedding!)

Sometimes I feel like a bit of a frump, always wearing the same things to work. But the truth is, I'm comfortable in them, getting dressed in the morning is easy, and I actually don't think anyone has noticed! If they have, they haven't said anything about my boring dress code. :-) We all wear black anyway!

On the whole, it's liberating. And I tell you what, the less dressed up you are, the friendlier people are to you! (I always thought it was the other way around, but apparently that's only if you go to snobby places.)
:-)