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)?

Statistically Actually it IS sustainable - I spend about £40 per year on clothes/shoes. I wear everything until it falls apart because I resent every penny I have to spend on clothes

But I buy two pairs of boots (£10 each) - one pair at a time, and I only buy the second pair when the first ones are literally falling apart, and perhaps a pair of trousers and maybe a top.

I don't even remember when I bought most of my stuff.

Where are the S&B people when they are needed? I can't bear the sanctimonious "I'm loaded but I'm far too deep to spend money on CLOTHES" people.

I love clothes, I love shopping, I'm not shallow but I like to be well turned out and to wear fashionable clothes, and new Clothes.

This month I've bought:
2 polo neck layering tops £7.99 each H&M
5 long sleeved layering tops 2 X black, 2 X white, 1 X grey Primark £4 each
A grey jumper - H&M £14.99
A fur gilet £14 Primark
2 X jeggings for work £12.99 each H&M

That's £78.

Over the last couple of months I've also bought a bag in Zara £30, 2 going out tops in new look, 2 pairs of boots, 4 scarves, some going out shoes, 3 other blouses, jeans and 2 jumpers.

I have my hair coloured and blow dried every 5 weeks @£66 a go, cut 3 X a year, monthly pedicure, 3 weekly shellac, monthly eyebrow threading and twice yearly Botox.

Do I think it's excessive? No I don't , I can afford it, I feel good and I enjoy it.

Buying one pair of trousers and one top, per year, isn't exactly the norm and wouldn't be acceptable in an awful lot of workplaces. So rather like the MN chicken, sure it can 'feed' you for 4 days if you only eat a tiny slice but it's a bit of a stretch of the truth and not exactly what most people would mean. Wearing your clothes until they physically fall apart isn't how the majority of people live.

So, I'll rephrase. If you want to have sufficient clothes to go to work, maybe in a job where you have to see customers (I don't mean executive office wear) then most people would not be able to do this year on year for under £100. I work in an office environment but also run a business with staff - much more casual attire including leggings in some cases - and I would be having a word with the staff at the point where they started to look scruffy which would happen before their clothes fell to pieces. They have uniform tops and, despite being good quality, because they are worn daily (they all have 3 tops and 1 or 2 sweatshirts) they needed replacing inside of a year because they were really faded, baubled and scruffy. And yes, clean neat clothes in good condition is specified in the dress code and has been in every place I've worked since I was 15.

I spend loads less than that, mainly on leggings and shoes as they seem to wear out quickest.

I don't necessarily buy something every month but so far this year about £5,500.

The pursuit of labels and names, the transient nature of style, the fact that some of us feel cynical about the whole industry and are being taken for a ride by marketing men who are laughing all the way to the bank. These big fashion companies are interested in only one thing- profit. I have no interest in being a puppet while being shagged for my cash so I can wear someone's logo on my wellies

I understand that clothes can give pleasure, but it's when price is mistaken for quality and value that things go astray

I don't think you understand it at all. I have been buying clothes for the last 20 years from a Dutch designer- you probably won't have heard of them. There is a theme to their designs- complex and unusual tailoring only in natural fabrics, beautifully made in the Netherlands. The only reason I don't wear the first jacket and skirt I bought from them is I'm 3 sizes larger than when I bought it.

You seem to have the idea that "designer" means big name bling or perhaps even worse "designer jeans". There are many designers who are not big names but who produce timeless and classic clothes not made in sweat shops.

Summer clothes are not really needed as it just doesn't get hot enough to justify having the second wardrobe

I'm in Scotland- I have a summer wardrobe.

Actually please can you lovely ladies who do like to buy nice things please keep buying decent work clothes in my size? wear them a few times and then off load them cheap on ebay or in charity shops pretty please. Your generosity is much appreciated and enables me to find the cash for the bottomless pit that is school uniform and kids clothes

Only things I buy new for myself are shoes, trainers for running and leggings.

and underwear obvs

I'm intrigued as to the designer Lass?

I totally agree - I buy things because I like them not because of the name. I like things which are a bit unusual and different though and, very often, those interesting details aren't included in very cheap clothes. Higher end high street quite often does this well though, as do some designers whereas other big names can be boring as heck! I have a lovely coat from a local dressmaker/designer which cost £400. Hand made in Scotland, pure wool, only a handful in existence. I love it.

at okok.

No idea what I spend. Clothes wise I'd say not much but then I have just spent £100 on one bra set and one bikini (damn you big boobs), plus I've recently paid over £100 on some charlotte tilbury make up, plus the £45 on the hush skirt. So I think you're right - £100 really doesn't go that far!
I do buy a lot of my clothes from the supermarkets as I buy my groceries so don't really notice how much I'm actually spending.

I spend way, way, more than £100 a month. Clothes and my personal style are important to me and I can afford it. It gives me a huge amount of pleasure and I have to look extremely smart at work.

I buy jaeger, next, marks and spencer and Zara. Also some more boutiquey brands like libelula and feather and bone. I use our fantastic local charity shops, too and get just as much pleasure from scoring an ace outfit there than anywhere else.

I recycle a lot of what I have, eBay it or charity shop (I volunteer there, too). I don't buy designer stuff (as it's made for pixie sized people).

All this sounds very shallow. Possibly. But by contrast, my wedding dress was cheap by modern standards and I spend less than £100 a year on my hair (it's long, thick and curly) and my car is 9 years old.

Any amount on anything is unreasonable if it means you are living outside your means. If you want to spend £100 a month on clothes, comics or chocolate, go ahead if it gives you pleasure, doesn't hurt anybody, is legal, and you can afford it.

(Ps my best mate spends it on knitting wool btw)

In the past I probably spent about 2,000 a year on my clothes. Now I have lots and lots of clothes so I only spend about 200 a year, mostly in Primark on underwear, socks, leggings and nightwear. I make a coat or pair of shoes/boots last years and years. I am able to spend more than this, I just prefer to spent money on other things.

And I look at the bras I spent £20 on and think, well actually I prefer the bra that cost £2 in Primark.

Probably about that - I'm going to keep track as it varies. Usually high street or high end high st via eBay.

I spent £100 plus last month. Will probably do same this month. Last month bought bras, knickers, leggings, jumpers and boots. ( good winter boots at 70%off..). This month coveting new coat. Looked at cheap and expensive ones, but am coveting a beautiful one in Tesco for £40. Payday so am off to buy it!

Primark have fabulous jumpers for 4 quid,they last and wash up well, but then I will team them with more expensive jeans and an expensive scarf. I buy more expensive jeans because they last. I bought designer jeans in 1994 which I will never fit into the leg of now, but my 18 year old DD is wearing them.

I'm a fucker for overspending on clothes/shoes, and I like a lot of high end high street stuff, but I try to use eBay and the sales where I can. I also have a clear out every few months for eBay and charity shops, eBay in particular because I then spend the profits on new things.

I spend about 1200-1500 a year. I work full time in fashion with no dress code so can wear any of my clothes any day of the week. I could afford more but I tend to buy in sales and promos.

That probably includes 4 or 5 pairs of footwear, a couple of bigger buys like a leather jacket, 2 or 3 pairs of jeans and a few ASOS splurges on tops and knitwear.

Absolutely didn't grow up in poverty, far from it and that is part of my point. I had to wear my Dsis old school skirts because they were too good to get rid of, even though I was at least 4" taller. I felt ridiculous.
I wouldn't say I have a need to buy stuff either but we don't make do, wear things until they drop to bits or live frugally. For some people it can become a hobby not a necessity.
We spend most of our money on holidays and going out. I could buy a lot more stuff if we didn't, it doesn't interest me. I like a clutter free and quite minimal house.

Do people really not wear things until they fall apart? What do you do with them? To me it feels like a waste not to get the absolute most out of something. And plus I like my clothes and I often hang onto them for longer than I really should.

Perhaps I'm missing tone but I am not getting the sneery thing. I think when you haven't had a lot of money or you haven't prioritised clothes it feels very alien to hear people talking about what seems like vast amounts as being "essential". It's just surprise and disbelief, not necessarily thinking it's wrong.

Plus people love to argue a point on here :o so as soon as someone claims it's "impossible" to clothe oneself for under X amount someone else has to come along and explain how they do!

I apologise if someone was offended by the chicken comment, this was in no way to sneer at people who can't afford to spend that much. In another time and place, £100 was half my monthly salary and of course I didn't spend it all on clothes, and still managed to look decent.

However, today and in the UK £100 per month is not an amount that should make people go 'OMG how do you even manage to spend soooo much! I can't imagine!'

Background definitely comes into it. I grew up poor but not poor enough to be miserable. I didn't really see us as being poor, I just thought we were "careful with money". As a result I don't have the drive to get away from that because it wasn't terrible, but I do have some general feelings around consuming too much [food, money] which obviously hark back to that time. It's partly guilt/feeling like it's too much for me or that I don't really need it, but it's partly alarm and fear that it won't leave enough left over.

Well... I donate things I don't want any more so everyone who claims they shop only in charity shops has something to buy.

No, I don't wear my clothes until they fall apart. I like them to look nice, so don't wear things that have lost their shape, gone bobbly etc. I often also get rid of clothes that look fine, just because I'm tired of them. Yes, technically it's a waste, but clothes bring me pleasure. And of course I don't throw them away, but donate.