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)?

I easily spend that, often more but not every month.
I don't buy new work clothes very often, tend to mainly go for classics in Hobbs, Jaeger etc and have some older bits from M&S (before they went crap) which last years.
I love buying non work clothes, boots and coats although not so many as I used to and definitely less summer clothes.
I will never buy bagfuls at a time and won't buy from Primark/supermarkets. I mostly buy a mix of high street and designer. Got to keep the economy going!
I also save a lot and pay into pensions.
And I spend way more on going out than I do on stuff.

I spend that much some months, particularly in autumn / winter. Of course I don't need to and I haven't always done so. But at present I am very fortunate in having some disposable income and I love clothes. Love, love, love 'em.

Vain and shallow? Hell yes but hey, that's me.

passtheharibo that's really interesting. I've thought of doing this each month just to see where I'm spending money that I shouldn't (since I discovered Just Eat there has been a takeaway issue!). Did you set up your own spreadsheet or find one online designed for people to use?

Is this some kind of new Mumsnet Chicken thread? 'What, 100 for family of 5 for a year? I dress the 10 of us for 5 pence! Per decade!'

No way could I manage with only 100 per month (for just myself).

KatharinaRosalie I spat my tea out and nodded furiously
It's the race to see who self flagellates whilst wearing a hop sack the most 😂

I probably spend £100 if i average it out, maybe a bit less. My weakness is skincare products, I spend an absolutely fortune on them.. don't even want to add it up, I don't have great skin though and so its very important to me to keep it looking great...

Most months I spend nothing. When I do buy clothes it's second hand shops, Primark or supermarkets.

at KatharinaRosalie. It was getting a bit MN chicken in here.

Katharina I totally agree. You can dress well for gBP100 but it takes work to do it. Those saying their spend less are either spending way more than they realize or they don't have a job that requires them to dress smart. I am wearing shoes (GBP 60), trousers (GBP25), top (GBP35), cardigan (GBP20), underwear (GBP 85), socks (GBP5), coat (GBP150) and bag (GBP100). That is GBP480 worth of clothing that I am wearing.

I believe the average UK women spends £50/month on clothes. This average contains SAHP, retirees and people with no dress code at work.

Like the OP, I spend around £100. Since I have a work dress code (as does OP), that's hardly extravagant. For many of us, work means a few suits or dresses and work can also require a few black tie outfits for functions.

Without this, I could get along perfectly with £300/ year and live in jumpers and chinos. The comparisons are meaningless. One day, when I retire, my clothing needs will be low. They were almost non-existent as a student or on maternity leave.

I would say if I didn't work, I would spend about £100 a year on a pair of new trainers and that would be it!

Also the whole 'I would love to spend that a month on clothes.' You probably spend more if you have kids! I spend about GBP300 a month on clothes for myself and our 3 DC. I am careful too. Sadly they need two wardrobes so it gets expensive. I just did winter coats and I spent GBP100 on the coat/ski pants sets. I got snow boots, the cheap ones, for GBP60 and I didnt have to buy hats and gloves because I bought them in the clearance last year for $1 a set!

Ha this is definitely the clothing equivalent of the mumsnet chicken. There'll be someone along saying they clothe a family of 5 on £100 a year soon

I spend more than 100 a month but need to look smart for work and also go out a fair bit so like to keep topping up my wardrobe. I love clothes and fashion so that probably doesn't help my wallet either. I do regularly sell on eBay though so get some returns from clothes I no longer use

I don't have a monthly budget for clothes...i buy as and when I need or see something I like. I spend a lot of Money on footwear as I'm not a high street size and so may spend £500 on 3 pairs of shoes in one go if they fit.
I buy quality and wear stuff for years as they don't look shabby.

It also rather depends what size and shape you are. I am a run-of-the-mill size 10 with shoe size 5. Every shop on earth caters for me.

Not everybody is that fortunate. If you are over size 18 or under size 8, very tall, very short, have big feet or large breasts... high street stores are not famous for their size variety.

i agree its loads....if you have already got a good stock of clothes. It depending nds where you are in life..amd career a bit i guess.

I have a few good suits, shoes and items that mix amd match with these, have bought several pairs of staples, and have tops, cardigans etc too. i have black and cream mac and a few heavier coats. one smart dark wool one two country tweedy and two or three light casual and a warm one.

If i bought all this going through one year it would be way more than £100 a month. now i have it i hardly spend anything.

my advice is tp buy quality and expensive, but rarely.

also if power suit job is new, of course youll spend more. i took on a more manual job once and had to buy a load of thick black work trousers and safety shoes .. nowbi've got them i wouldmt have to do that again. similarly i had a job in a very dowdy office and nice suits just werent worn so i had to buy slacks and polyester things (ugh) to fit in and avoid looking like a tv presenter in a mine...

I think I'd struggle to spend £100 every month, more like £150 every 4-6 months probably. I am not very stylish though, I go for clean and sensible these days!

I think I probably spend about £100/ year on footwear, mainly a new pair of shoes or boots every 6 moths but usually about £50 each.

At work today I was wearing a 6-month old pair of jeans (M&S), a

for work its smart casual i wear black shoes,black leggings and a smart button up shirt

3,smart button up shirt second hand like new £10,£7,£7,£8
2 black leggings £12
second hand black shoes £10

£55 thats all i spent and worked there almost a year

I have no doubt that some of the previous posters know to a penny how much they spend but I wonder how many are guessing? I've never budgeted properly in my life but thought I should start know so I just spent two hours last week calculating my expenses this year, and despite being convinced that I bought no clothes I was way over the Consumer Agency norm. Possibly some of that was clothes for my son as well but I'd say most of it was for me. It's been a bit of a wake up call tbh. I'd rather spend more judiciously - I can afford it but I'd like more to show for it.

Well I think I'm relatively careful. Probably about £2k pa on clothes, £1200 on hair, £400 on make-up and perfume.

Like Want2B today I reckon my skirt top and jacket cost abt £170 (Laura Ashley c 2012), tights, undies, etc £50, shoes £75, handbag (c2014) £129. Casual warm jacket £99.

I could probably manage for five years without buying any clothes and get by quite nicely if I had to. I could also spend treble but don't.

Loving the Duracell chicken analogy

I shop in charity shops when I have the time and it's amazing what you can find. Same is true for TK maxx. I usually buy basics from places like Gap, M&S etc and mix & match. Bright top, black skirt or Plain top, bright skirt goes a long way.

Hmmm. Today:

Dress - voodoo vixen - about £50
Cropped jacket - BCBG - bought in US but I think about £100
Tights - Wolford opaques - £30
Doc martens (flat for walking) - £80
Heels - bought in Sweden but around £70
Coat - Happy Rainy Days - £140ish
Bra - Bravissimo - £30
Pants - probably £10ish
Handbag - Marc Jacobs but big enough for laptop - £200 (bought overseas in sale)

I refuse to add up my makeup

I'd just love to have such a lovely charity shop. Ours sells bobbly polyester jumpers, mustard yellow suits, pull-up trousers for grown ups and stone washed mum jeans.

For those who shop in charity shops, how do you get over the fact that someone else's sweat has seeped into the clothes you buy.

Love totting up the price of what I'm wearing!

Laura Ashley roll neck, £15 (sale)
Boden shift dress £10 (mega sale bargain!)
Tights m and s £5
Pants tkmaxx £1.99
Bra triumph £15 (sale)
Shoes office £15 (sale again!)

£62, plus petrol, parking, postage- and only one item was full price in a normal shop! So if your wardrobe is empty you would need more than £100 a month.