To think £100 a month should be enough for clothes?

[SabineUndine]

I don't have to wear formal suits for work, so I'm always in smart casual, with emphasis on the casual. But £100 doesn't seem to go that far. What do you spend (inc shoes)?

Just looked at my pay pal, and totted it up for the year, added a few things off the top of my head I remembered buying in shops and then added another 250 for other bits I've forgotten I've bought and then divided it by 12.

190 a month.

I like my own taste more and more as I get older though. I make fewer and fewer mistakes. My pay pal is full of returned figures as well!

Mice

That's fabulous!

I wouldn't have the patience (or skill, but that's by-the-by) - I always want stuff finished yesterday.

So I have to be smart for work, work 5 days per week. Each outfit ( dress or skirt and blouse, tights, camisole) costs approx £100 I need 8 or 9 of these for each season (total 18) most last 2 seasons IME . (So approx £900 per annum) on top of that I need a new pair of smart sandals every second year, pumps or similar most years and boots (usually last 2 years). That's just work without jeans, hoodies, t-shirts, running gear, party or holiday clothes. I promise my wardrobes not bursting.

I like A giggling child, a supermoon, time with my OH and a stylish coat, mind. Unsure why liking one means you can't possibly like the others .

Stillwishihadabs I don't think you need that many to be smart you just want that many.
You could have 5 skirts and tops that could mix and match and still be smart. You also don't have to replace these every year or every season.
If you can afford to have more and you enjoy having them then of course you should have this many (more if you wanted). However you don't need 8 or 9 outfits a season.

stillwish*. You must buy indiscriminately if you only get two seasons out of so much. I expect at least three or four years out of a pair of boots (say £150).

With 5 tops you can't have even 1 weekend where you don't get everything washed, dried and ironed by Monday. I find 8 is more realistic. Do you both work ft woth and have school age dcs gamer widow?

Yes 2 years smart enough for work then 2 or 3 "weekend wear"

That's boots BTW. I think 2 years of daily wear is pretty good tbh.

Stillwishihadabs I have school age DC work and work three days a week but even working an extra 2 days I'm fairly sure I could manage to do laundry every week. Do your DC have two lots of school clothes in case you can't manage to wash their clothes too? Anyway I don't really want to snipe at you as I said earlier I'm not in the business of telling people how many clothes they should have (it's your money buy what you want) but I don't think you need that many.

I spent a few months travelling weekly for work - out on a flight at silly o'clock on a Monday, back on Friday evening.The job was different to what I'd been doing before and I needed to step it up a bit smartness wise so I bought 5 appropriate outfits - the same stuff went in to the case on a Sunday, got worn during the week, then washed on a Friday/Saturday. It was blooming miserable quite frankly - I'm sure StillWish could get by with 5 outfits but it's a bit rubbish tbh.

I also would not get 3 or 4 years out of a pair of boots if they were worn daily for Autumn/Winter - especially the sort of smart boots that look ok with smart workwear. I do have boots I've had for longer than that, but because I have lots so they're not worn daily.

I probably do have too many clothes, but then looking at it, there are party dresses in there, raincoats, winter coats, summer sandals, winter boots, going out shoes, swimming costumes, lighter tops, jumpers, maxi dresses...

Maybe I'm tough on my clothes, but there's no way a single winter coat would be my only winter coat for 20 years and not look knackered. If you wear it everyday even the best coat is going to look tired after all that time.

If you already have a wardrobe of good quality clothes, it's not too hard to replace things occasionally when they wear out. If, however, you have a wardrobe of things which are already worn out, and you replace them with lower quality alternatives, then it's pretty easy to spend that much just on staying warm and dry.

I will easily spend over £150+ a year on shoes, not because I have a large shoe collection but because I don't drive, and walking everywhere wears out my shoes. I buy a pair of doctor martens every year, plus a pair of trainers for sport, plus replacing smart shoes, evening shoes, wellies, everyday trainers and sandals as they wear out. I think of my shoe budget as a travel expenditure as much as a clothing one.

This month, I have spent £30 on a pair of jeans and £9 on a pair of running trousers, but also desperately need some jumpers (all of mine have holes in), and two sports bras. Less urgently, I could really do with a sweatshirt or hoodie, and a warm pair of pyjamas. I try to spend less than £100 a month on clothes and beauty stuff, but right now my clothes shortage means that I'm unlikely to fit a haircut into that budget for many months.

namechange :
If you don't care about clothes, fine. It doesn't make you more intelligent or mean that you love your kids more than those who do!

I LOVE spending a whole day wandering around the shops. It doesn't make me a moron who neglects her
I wish there was a like button for this post, spot on, This has been an ongoing theme on MN for years, spend £££ on clothes, and you get judged. It's so uncalled for, and really speaks more about the mentality of those who think that than anything else.

I love clothes, love browsing and looking around, and thinking about what my next purchase will be . i dont have a set budget every month. i can either go months without buying a single thing Or spend a fortune in one day on maybe 2-3 items, I find it very effective. not buying and saving for a couple of months gives you a better budget to shop with. You buy higher quality clothes that can last longer.
Shopping with a mindset of "this will do for now" takes you down a path of never ending purchases of black work trousers,blazers,work shoes and so on, disposable fashion is just that,its not meant to last long. You end up buying more , spending more.and still not feel happy with what you buy.

Lara I have been know to start humming contentedly over a pair of shoes or a nice frock. I found myself doing it in a shop on Monday. I don't care

Clothes make me smile. They make me feel happy.
I understand that there are more important things in life than a new pair of trousers.
Doesn't stop me loving fashion.

When I worked 3 days a week.I had proportionally fewer clothes (as more time for washing etc and less money). All I'm saying is £100 pcm seems fine for maintaining a professional wardrobe.Also I think posters are being quite contradictory saying for eg: clothes should last (meaning continuing to be professional looking eg no bobbles, not faded keeping their shape) yet only have 5 outfits therefore washed every week. Realistically how good does anything look after 100 washes ?

2kids but do you have an extensive existing wardrobe? Otherwise, what do you do in summer, don't you wear summer clothes? Shorts, sandals, swimming costumes?

(Genuine question, reading back it looks pointed but not meant to be! )

"stuff" just doesn't do it for me. A giggling child, a supermoon, time with my OH are massively more important than a stylish coat.

Of course the people who are interested in clothes would totally sell their firstborns for a Chloe handbag.

My children are too busy working to fund my shopping habits to be giggling.

Why do you think I had them?

I love a decent charity shop!
I'd buy decent brands tho. Not primark (nothing wrong with primark but it's so cheap there id just go not get their stuff from charity)
I've had some lovely almost new designer and high end bargains

I've just totted up and I've spent on average 35 every month on myself.
I have bought quite a lot this year but I buy mostly cheap things from h&m and primark. I can totally see that £100 a month could easily be spent and if I was richer and thinner I definitely would.

Exactly katharina !! I love clothes and therefore I put my fingers in my ears when I hear my children laughing!

'stuff' like gadgets doesn't do it for me. And when I go out to eat the company matters more than the food. I prefer my house to look nice on the inside rather than on the outside. So inferences that spending money on clothes makes you shallow are illogical, supercilious and trite.

I'm shallow as a puddle and have the principles of Boris Johnson. My interest in clothes is the deepest thing about me.

But suggesting I might be more interested in style than my family is crossing a line.

Floisme