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)?

It's interesting that so many people on this thread are assuming that if you don't spend much, it's simply because you can't afford it. Not necessarily. I can afford whatever I like, but have no interest whatsoever.
Possibly the two are intertwined, ie when I was poorer I would buy a new top for a treat to cheer myself up but now there's no need to treat.

I have very little interest in clothes (I look crap anyway so no point rolling a turd in glitter so to speak.)

However , we just had a foot of snow and it's ducking freezing so decent winter stuff is a matter of survival not vanity.

If I looked better I probably would spend more on clothes.

I spend £1200 a year I would say on me and same again on the kids at least. I don't have a wardrobe stuffed full of clothes and neither do the kids but £250 per kid per season doesn't go far. Literally shoes and a few outfits

arethereanyleftatall - there's also the fact that if you've remained the same dress size for a long time, 'investment' items of clothing will still look good, so there's little need to buy clothes all the time.

If you've changed shape (particularly if you've damaged clothes in the past by wearing them when they no longer fit and stretching/wearing them out), then buying a new wardrobe is essential, but few can afford to just go out and replace everything in one go.

It's also if you are poorer, you might be buying more tops to cheer yourself up, but also they will be of lower quality, so will wear out/look shabby sooner, whereas eg a good quality shirt will stay looking smart enough for work for years. (one of those ways in which it's more expensive to be poor, buying cheap means buying two/three times, but can't afford the outlay of high quality to start with.)

I think people who spend more buy for fashion (not strictly necessary but fun), and people who spend less buy for practicalities.

I spend more, but I love nice clothes, details, etc. I am also a bit of a perfectionist so I love to have the perfect bag etc to go with an outfit.

But I mostly buy in sales, I always look for online promotional codes, I don't care if it's this year's or last year's fashion as long as I like it.

It's a bit of a hobby. I am pretty well turned out and I'm not a basic "jeans & jumper" type. I always wear makeup every day and I don't style my hair as such, but it's always tied up nicely. It's just how I am, have been the same since being a little girl!

I probably spend considerably less than £100 per month but then I get lots of good brands off eBay and other than that Zara is fantastic.

Thinkofthemice Don't ever think that about yourself! I bet you don't look crap or like a turd in glitter. Every woman (I'm presuming you're female) can look attractive and smart and stylish and it's not about money (although that helps) or wearing the latest fashions, it's about picking colours that suit you and looking neat. I once saw a girl on a TV program, it was Location Location or something similar. She was wearing jeans, hair in a ponytail, a check shirt and an interesting slightly tribal black, silver and gold necklace (which I tracked down as coming from New Look). She looked great. None of her outfit were fashion items as such, and all of it was cheap but she looked pretty and put together. It's the difference between putting on jeans and a checked shirt and trainers and no makeup/hair unbrushed, and adding a necklace, ponytail and black ankle boots. It didn't cost any more particularly but it looked so good.

I don't buy clothes much but when I do it's from places like Karen Millen so it adds up quickly. Probably £100 a month is reasonable here.

Averaged over the year I probably spend about 3 or 4 times that amount. I like clothes and I'm also an awkward shape and podgy so I rarely find clothes to fit me in cheaper shops unfortunately. I'm actually starting to make my own stuff which will be cheaper for good quality but still not cheap.

I'm lucky to be able to spend more but I don't think 100pcm is outrageous at all if you can afford it.

I spend about 300 in January sales and another 200 during the year and we're pretty smart at work. I keep an eye on asos and house of Fraser for bargains.
Shoes probably £80 a year maybe another 50 if I need trainers or something also.

£100 a month?? I'd be hard pushed to spend that in 4 months.

I can go 6+ months without spending money on clothes. I don't have seasonal wardrobes, i just layer up in the cold, wear less when it's warm.

Thanks starbears but I don't look good - that's an objective fact. I'm overweight, apple shaped, frumpy and knackered looking. It's been a long time since I looked OK. I'm ok with it mainly
I like to make sure ds has nice stuff (for which read nice practical bright colours and decent bad gear rather than labels.)

Bad gear ? Bad weather gear.

Over the last 20 years I've averaged £137 a year on clothes. I am a man and used to wear suit and tie when working, so until about 2.5 years ago.

(That doesn't include a few cheap items that might have been bought at a supermarket as part of a grocery shop, but those wouldn't have made much difference.)

Statisticallychallenged I am also awkward shaped and podgy. Cheap women's clothes always look awful on me.
My tip for cheap clothes is the men's section. Seriously, it's been a revelation.
A women's jumper will be cut really awkwardly and will eccentuate my fat belly. A men's jumper from the same shop will just graze past the belly and sit neatly on the hip. Put is with a skirt and no one can tell it's supposed to be "menswear"

My problem is huge hips, big bum and big boobs. Plus tummy. Great combo! I will check out the gents for jumpers though - I rarely wear them as they are a bit of a lost cause.

I'm amazed that people have a monthly clothing budget. I have very few clothes and haven't bought anything new in 3/4 years. Also interesting is that recently there was a thread on the same subject and almost everyone who posted had a much higher monthly budget.

I bought a multi pack of tights for work in September, nothing since. Very tiny amount of money to spare on luxuries in our household, I probably spent less than £100 on my own clothes in the last 12 months.

When I do buy stuff I go for classic styles that I can keep on wearing from one year to the next, I might wait 5 years before replacing a winter coat, and a good 4-5 years to replace good boots once the cobbler has told me they can't be re-heeled and rejuvenated any more.

OPs level of spending on clothes would pay for our entire holiday/trips out in a year!

Erm I think I spend about £20 a month on clothes... If that...

I definitely spend that, and more! Some months I don't buy anything and other months I buy lots. Depends.

I work in an environment where I have to be smart casual, its in a creative field so I suppose there is an expectation to dress well there, for me that may be dark skinny jeans, or velvet skinnies with a top and blazer / jacket etc.

I buy work clothes regularly as I just couldn't be wearing the same trousers to work for 10 years etc. I am also in a client facing role and on any given day I don;t know who may walk though the doors.

Then I have other clothes for weekends. Slightly more casual but I don't like wearing my work clothes when I am not in work. I sort of have a hierarchy - good work clothes for important days like big meetings / presentations / events, once I have worn them several times they get demoted to everyday work clothes and I replace the 'good clothes'. The clothes that were my every day work ones sometimes become my weekend clothes etc.

Then there's 'going out' clothes. I rarely wear dresses to work, but regularly have evening events either through work or with friends so I have nice dresses / ankle boots / heels for that.

I will admit though that dressing well is a priority for me, I enjoy it and it makes me feel confident at work.

I would love to have that much to spend on clothes. I probably spend about £150-200 a year.

I should have said for all that I have a surprisingly small wardrobe! I buy as expensive as I can, never designer but I mostly have Jigsaw, Boden, Noa Noa, Whistles, Hobbs, Cos etc. I never ever buy in H&M or primark for myself as it is a waste for me.

So i don't buy huge quantities but I buy slightly more upper end of the high street.

I love nice fabrics and attention to detail and tailoring.

At the moment I am in LOVE with the Jigsaw winter stuff. In October I bought 1 pair of charcoal velvet skinny jeans, 1 black jumper, 1 bottle green cashmere jumper and 1 grey & plum plaid shirt and I spent over £300. So not a lot of stuff but I adore each thing and easily could have spent twice or three times that in the blink of an eye.

In Boden I bought high heeled ankle boots, a dress, 2 x tops, a coat, a bag and a shirt.

I bought very little winter clothes last year so there have 'topped' me up again and I won't buy anything else until the January sales

This is interesting! I'm one of these weirdos that keeps a spreadsheet of everything she spends and at the beginning of 2016 I decided to trawl back through my spreadsheet with a view to setting a realistic budget. I literally sat and added up every '12.99 in New Look' entry I'd made. I soent £1400 in 2014 and £1200 in 2015. I was astounded I'd spent that much. My best estimate was about £400 a year. I don't look like I spend overcame grand a year on myself that's for sure!

I suspect you aren't the only one who underestimates passtheharibo - it's very easy to do.

hmm, let me see now ... I'm not at work, and I'm not on the pull ... knickers and socks are about it I think, for evermore (unless the diet is really really successful, in which case, ahem, sewing and altering will be cheaper, if less dazzling.

That said, I did buy a nice suit the other day, just because: if you see someone seriously smart in the supermarket on a Saturday, it's possibly me!