What clothes have you bought this year and how much have you spent?

[hackneybird]

I'm always curious to know what others spend on their clothes. Some of my friends think I spend too much on clothes, and that everything I have is designer, but to be honest most of my stuff is high street. This year I've bought a lot of capsule item type basics, (some for work) as well as a couple of fashiony things and one big 'investment' treat. I earn about £35-40k a year. I'm a self employed freelancer and pay for my sons childcare and household bills (about £1100 a month) while my husband pays the mortgage and monthly food bill.

So this year I have bought:

2 x pairs dark denim jeans from Uniqlo at £30 each: £60
1 x pair pink Converse trainers = £30
1 x pelican print peter pan collar top from Zara= £25
1 x floral print scarf from Zara = £20
1 x full length black summer dress from French connection in the sale = £25
1 x striped dress from Cos in the sale= £19
1 x parka spring coat from Uniqlo = £59
1 x pair beige chinos from Gap = £30
1 black fitted shirt from Cos = £35
2 x fitted tshirts (1 x back, 1 x grey) from American Apparel at £19 each = £38
1 x neon yellow tshirt from H&M= £12
1 x pair gold gladiator sandals from Clarkes 25% off = £30
1 x pair black ankle boots from Kurt Geiger in the sale= £100
1 x full midi skirt in a blue and white print from Jaeger Boutique in the sale= £85
1 x camel trench coat from Jaeger in the sale= £149 (this was my big investment treat. It's a classic and should last me for years).

Now that I've written it all down it feels like a lot! The total comes to: £717. I'm averaging £120 a month. Maybe I should slow down a bit:).

Oooh marsha I would love to have a Celine bag.

thalia what's it like with a personal shopper? If I just wanted 1 or 2 'good' jumpers for the winter would I be able to see one or do you need to have a very large budget?

Which shop were you at?

I think my average spend is £16 / month. DH wishes I would spend more!

They're fab hackneybird can highly recommend. Mine's small. My last bag was too heavy for everyday use. Lovely as it is.

Just seeing the title of this thread made me feel uneasy Anyway, I have done some totting up and really must try and be more frugal. In my defence, I have gone down a dress size over last 12 months and so have had to replace some items that were hanging off me. I have also made £270 selling old stuff on ebay. I don't have a credit card. All the justifications coming out now
Here goes:
Zara jade green leather shopper £60
Zara coltskin shopper £60
Kew leather satchel £84
Topshop high waist jeans £38
Next skinny jeans £22
Sainsburys and Asda undies £30
Monsoon blouse £10 (with reward discount)
Monsoon jade cardigan £38
Monsoon grey cardigan £38
Monsoon belt £4
Monsoon scarf £12
M&S Limited Collection shirt £25
Next Linen top £20
Ash wedge trainers £100
Clarks sandals £45
LK Bennett shoes £75
Kew scarf £20
Lands End rainstop parka £80
French Connection jersey dress £58

Can vouch that marsha's bag is a-may-zing!

Right will try to remember. Working backwards we have:

Maje tee (x2)
Isabel Marant baseball tank
Malene Birger dress
Anya Hindmarch mini-gracie
Goldsign skinnies
Isabel Marant scarf
Vanessa Bruno tote
Alexander Wang tee
Demylee cardi (x2)
MaxMara bag
American Apparel skirt & dress
Raoul bag
Jago scarf
Cos Ts (x6)
Citizens of Humanity skinnies
J Brand skinnies (x5)
Acne pistols (these were £36 in a clearance sale!!)
White Co dress
French Connection dress
Barbour jacket
Marni for H&M sandals
Sam Edelman sandals

The worrying thing is, I reckon there is a fair bit more I have forgotten... In my defence I am a master bargain hunter and nearly all of this was bought at big discounts...

Oh yeah, and I'm a crazy ebayer. When I get bored of something, it goes the journey...

I don't think I want to list it to be honest, however I lost some weight and desperately needed to update my wardrobe. Also I earn a lot and in the grand scheme of things it's not a month's salary. Also I work from home so don't need work suits anymore which are expensive. I would buy at least 2 if not 3 suits a year at £400 each and that coupled with a few work dresses, nice shirts, tops and work shoes soon added up.

So here goes...

Fenn Wright and Manson - spent about £200 in their massive sale and added up the original value which was £1,200. For that I got:-

Silk Skirt,
Silk Dress
Jumper Dress
Woollen Dress X 2
Coat

At that time I also bought 4 cardigans from Kew, another jumper dress and 2 shirts - that was about £400.

Another shop in FWM Chunky Cardigan, 2 tops and some trousers - £130

Pair of boots - £120

Then 2 dresses from Kew - £200
Damsel in a Dress Shirt - £30 (reduced from £130)
Converse Pumps - £35
2 pairs cropped trousers Banana Republic - £80.00
Silk Shirt Banana Republic - £30
Swimsuit M&S - £30.00
3 Beach Cover Ups M&S - £75.00
Dress Next X2 - £90.00
Birkenstocks - £25.00
Scarfs Local Shop - £30.00
Jacket Planet - £50.00 (reduced from £249.00)
Blouse Next - £30.00
Purses X 2 LK Bennett - £60.00
M&S - Pyjamas X 3, Blouses X 3, some underwear - £150.00
Dress for fancy dress party - £30.00
Black Jeans - £40.00
Blue Jeans X 3 - Different prices and some in sale but about £120
Joules Gilet - £50.00
Joules Sweatshirt - £40.00
Fleece - £15.00

Over £2K? And I bet I have missed out things... have also bought quite a bit of jewellery only costume stuff and make up etc.

Looking back it doesn't seem too bad. I am much more careful now and try to buy in sales rather than pay full price.

1x next dress - £16
2x next jeans - £32
6x basic next vests/t shirts - £21
1x h&m leggings - £7.99
1x h&m cardigan - £4.99
3x h&m dress - £5.97
1x next cardigan - £12
1x work trousers - £12
1x Clarks sandals - £10 (in the sale)
1x Clarks pumps - £12.50 (in the sale)
1x Clarks work shoes £30 (in the sale)
1x Clarks winter boots - £25 (January sale)

£219 in total - more than I thought but no where near enough, my wardrobe is pitiful at the moment

[trembles]

3 prs silk knickers - £20
silk l/s vest - £15
silk T-shirt - £25
pyjamas - staying over with a friend unexpectedly to do her a favour - £25
navy chinos - £40 ish
2 blouses and a vest top from Zara - c. £65
cobalt blue jacket - c. £50
cobalt blue skinny jeans - c. £25
navy short-sleeved top for work - £20
navy cotton cardi and vest top - £20
red swimsuit - £50
bra - £32
2 dresses from Pepperberry - c. £100
dress from Oxfam - £8
grey cardi - £20
2 scarves from Accessorize - c. £30
1 pr brogues £65
1 pr slingbacks - £60

total £670

Blimey - more than I'd have thought. But less than I'd have bought last year. I have got loads of clothes and am trying to cut back - will be doing the capsule wardrobe thing next season.

Thank you OP and others, plenty food for thought in this thread!

White Stuff dress - £35
White stuff bag - £25
Sainsbury's tshirt - £5
Manteray dress - £25
cowl neck tshirt - £18
New Look jeans - £14
Swimsuit - £20
Socks - £13
M and S PJs - £15

Some of these are estimates. Things bought reduced from full price are asterisked.

Banana Republic pink luxe tee - $36.50
Banana Republic striped ponte top - $30
Nordstrom black jersey faux wrap dress - $98
Nordstrom colourblock dress - $138
Yumi polka dot dress - $70
*Boden wide leg cord trousers - about $50
*DP Jersey dress - full price was $28, but I think I paid less
DP bird print dress - $69
*Warehouse sundress - $60
*Warehouse mink cotton skirt - $40
Target handbag - $19.99
4 belts from Target - probably ~$50
*Two scarves from Target - $27
*Zara cardigan blazer with frill - $99
*Zara boucle zip blazer - $69.99
Platinum coloured pumps - $109
*2 pairs black pumps - ~150
1 pair nude toeless pumps - ~100
*1 pair white wedge sandals - ~$30
Purple flat sandals - $69

Total - about $1343, which is about 850 pounds. Yarg. But I bought almost nothing last year due to a severe economy drive, and I don't really mentally count shoes, because I have such awkward feet I buy shoes whenever I find any that fit. So that makes it just under $900, or 560 pounds. And I have been better about buying things that are reduced.

Looking back, I think the only duds were one of the scarves and the purple sandals, which aren't very comfortable (working on making them fit better). I needed the black dress for a funeral, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it, and I needed some bigger clothes for the summer because I've put on weight. And some of the other stuff is getting ready to look more grown-up and professional in a new job, hopefully!

Still, I might see if I can send some of the shoes back and return one of the Zara blazers ... would make me feel better about the dress I have my eye on ...

Like Amber, I have probably forgotten some things:
5 pairs J Brands in various colours
I pair Paige skinny jeans
1 pair Stuart Weitzman ballet flats
1 pair Acne pistols
2 Whistles blouses
Barbour jacket
Anya Hindmarch satchel bag
Mulberry Alexa bag
Whistles jumper
2 Isabella Oliver tops
Ash wedges
DvF scarf
Crumpet scarf
2 pairs Hush pajamas
Me & Em dresses
Dorothy Perkins dress
Me & Em shorts
Pure Collection silk blouse
Velvet blouse
4 Whistles tee shirts
4 Whistles tops

I don't remember how much I spent but a lot of it was on sale, ordered from the US so cheaper, or with discount codes. I probably spend £200-250 a month. If I ever pay with a credit card, I pay it off within a week. The bags, a couple of the J Brands, jacket and boots were presents.

This year I have bought:
Oasis sandals
H&M jumper
Miss selfridge dress
Union Jack pants
H&M vest
Primark socks
Primark legwarmers
Primark stripy wedges
Primark Nude wedges
Primark navy converse-a-likes
Red Asos dress
Flowery Asos dress
Green DP dress
Black DP dress
Black DP long sleeve T
Navy DP long sleeve T
White DP tshirt
Red DP tshirt
Pink DP tshirt
2 x exercise trousers TK Maxx
Butterfly scarf
Black Jersey jacket TK Maxx
M&S interview trousers
Black ebay dress
leopard ballet pumps
raffia ballet pumps
black work court shoes
Sports bra
Split sleeve colourblock dress TK Maxx
2 x jumper dresses H&M
Various knickers/tights

TOTAL cost circa £550 which is £91 per month...not too bad and I do wear everything i buy. I don't need anything more til autumn now when I will replace my long sleeve Ts and get a new pair of Jeans

amber care to share some of your bargain hunting tips? I'd love to know where I can source some of these brands at major discounts!

marsha which Celine bag is it?

Hackney the orange one here.

Small and light.

Amber thanks! Impressive list.

Well I am a sales obsessive, I target the big department stores as they will slash stock more than most. It's also about timing, if you want a bag you need to do Selfridges as early as possible on day one of the sale really as they go first. Selfridges is also amazing for premium denim. They will reduce by around 50% generally, then 2-3 days later they will slash prices even further. My Goldsigns were £50 down from £280. Donna Ida in Westfield also excellent for premium denim, they have a £50 rail, all different brands, styles and and sizes but I usually always find something great.

If you're not bothered about current season stuff, go to Harvey Nichols a few days before the main sale starts, they do a pre-sale of previous season stock at 70%+ off. Also HN v good for shoes, better discounts than Selfridges.

Harrods I don't rate that highly, better towards the end of the sale. Also worth getting a Harrords reward card (like a boots advantage card, points thing) as card holders get extra 10% off weekends during sale time.

Sign up to email alerts from all your favourite retailers to be ahead of the game when it comes to sales, some (particularly French brands like Maje, Comptoir etc.) have private sales.

I am also lucky enough to live in a town with a Matches, and they occasionally do a clearance store selling off slightly damaged items. This is where my Pistols came from. They needed reheeling on one heel, and were 90% off. Crazy discounts.

I also go to sample sales and rarely buy without a discount code. US retailers like Shopbop, revolve, Nordstrom v good for denim, as you are charged US prices and shipping often free.

I should start a blog...

No idea.
I did spend £500 in one day on 3 pairs of shoes but I have big feet, and if I see some which fit remotely, I buy them.
Probably nearer £2000.

Thanks amber that's all really interesting and helpful.

Today I actually managed to think about overspending on clothes, and managed to put back the aubergine chinos and soft blue shirt from Gap that I had in my hot little hands. I did not buy them, even though I really, really wanted the trousers, but I don't need them. 'repeat to self, repeat to self'.

Abzs - where do you work that you get such great discounts on icebreaker stuff etc?! You lucky thing, I LOVE their stuff! Could very happily live in it, although I do think the quality is slightly lower than it used to be now they are no longer making the clothing in NZ...

I work in an outdoor shop. Our head office has deals set up with most of our suppliers. Other suppliers offer special deals to their stockists. It means we lucky people sometimes get some very good deals, but the idea is if we're wearing their stuff we can sell it better.

The Icebreaker top, though, was a bargain in the sale.

amber I think ou should just set up as an online personal shopper getting bargains for all s&b ladies. Saving us all a fortune!!!!

Ok so:
Since January,
Barbour jacket £200 - pressie from my mum and used for work.
1 pair Fatface straight jeans - £45
Wrap London 2 fine knit linen vests £29 each, fine knit linen top £29 and long cardi £39 - all sale,
Fitflop suede slides £60,
Dr Martens Diva brown leather heeled clogs £60 - sale,
2 x bras from Bravissimo @ £28 each (one was present from DH)
2 x 5 packs lace-front shorts-style knickers from M&S, think they are £12 each, but I only replace them when they wear out, which is prob 2 or 3 years,
3 x 2 packs mixed colours layering vests from M&S £8 per pack.
Next black leggings in sale but with Xmas voucher.
Top from East in the sale £18,
3 t shirts from White Stuff - sale at £12 each,
Cotton floral top and dress in local boutique, £50,
Assorted scarves and costume jewellery in Matalan £10 - I take the beads apart, get rid of the tacky bits and make my own custom necklaces and earrings.
Tunic dress in Matalan £12
Hemp t-shirt and wrap cardi in local boutique sale £25
Think that's it. Just over £500 ish, not counting the vouchers/pressies, so prob around £100 per month. I earn similar to the OP, as does my DH, and we have 3 children, but low cc costs and very low mortgage. We have been paying extra into our mortgage and pensions for a good few years now. However, I save a small fortune on food by growing almost all our fruit and veg, buying meat in bulk from local farmers or eating what DH shoots and always cooking from scratch.
The sales help, especially online. I don't go to town or shopping centres much really, but we have some lovely local independant shops which have nice and more unusual things.
Also, whilst I enjoy fashion, I tend to have my own style as I know what I can get away with having huge norks and I do not have to dress up much as my office is not so formal because most of us work outside a lot and we hardly ever go to any posh events.

Oh bollocks, completely forgot the Radley bag I treated myself to this spring, so that's another £200.
But that isn't clothes though, is it........

I have to add (confess) two tops from People Tree. Ordered on Wednesday, arrived this morning!