The Shopping Ban / Frugal Fashion Thread

[FrugalFashionista]

Tentatively dipping my toes in here ---
Do you love clothes, shoes, accessories, and beauty products - perhaps a bit too much?
Have you self-prescribed a shopping ban, are you on a strict budget, or are you trying to learn to shop more mindfully for other reasons? Are you a budding recessionista, thriftionista, frugal fashionista - or would you like to become one?
Would you like to do this with like-minded people, still looking stylish and up to date?

This thread could be a place for mutual support, inspiration and creative tweaks (planning outfits from what you already have; charity shopping, swaps, repurposing).

My personal goal: no more clothes, shoe or beauty purchases in March.

I'll tell you more about why I am here in true 12-step tradition, but we need a few like-minded people first

Hello again all. Glad to see your thread has inspired so many frugal. On reflection, I think I'm likely to be an infrequent contributor. I am fairly naturally careful with my spending, and don't need to restrain my habits too much, plus am fairly disciplined about e baying clothes I'm not wearing anymore (even when I still love them). However, I will be keeping an eye on the thread and pitching in if I feel I can assist in anything.

Queen It's v neck, a kind of coraley colour, with grey elbow patches, size 12.

Really interested in the psychology info people are sharing. It's giving me some useful insights into why I was a more sensible shopper when I had more money and more time!

Actually, I am not too much of a spendthrift and, perhaps because I have a good idea of my own style, I don't make too many dud purchases (although there are certainly some) but I still buy and spend more than I am comfortable with for all sorts of reasons.

Loved the NY Times quotation that it is life that matters. Wish I could "like" that.

Polyvore: I'm a recent convert and have really enjoyed creating a few sets. It definitely made me realise how much variety already exists in my wardrobe.

But, you know, here's the thing - for me at least. I like clothes a lot, I really do, but I like many other things a whole lot more and I don't want to give clothes the head space (and wardrobe space ) that used to be more readily filled with other things. So that's what I hope to get out of this thread.... To let go just a little, to be confident enough not to care so much about the garments
on my back. If they suit me, if I like them, if they are as ethically sourced as possible and if I don't have so few as to be washing thrice weekly and so many as to be surrounded by bin bags of the things then I'll be happy!

Hope that all doesn't sound totally and utterly mad! If it does, I'll NC and disappear......

Queenofwhatever hello it was me with the top ten, I was a good while ago but from memory without fail the following items featured in the top ten sellers for the company. Year round there would be a plain white T shirt, dark indigo jeans, workwear Black jacket (essentially a blazer) plain black workwear trousers in the spring/summer there was always a mac usually in beige or navy, black cropped trousers and a denim jacket. In the winter always an ivory and a black roll neck sweater and a black v- neck sweater, a grey hooded top and black ankle boots. None of these items are particularly revolutionary and I dont think would be a shock to you and I bet nearly everyone on here has at least one if not all these in their wardrobe. Don't get me wrong other items came and went out of the top ten but these basics in one form or another featured all the time. which having thought about it means we should add another rule to to our shopping mantra "Do I have one of these already ?" Aside from having a few "what on earth was I thinking purchases?" I think more people are actually guilty of having wardrobes full of identical looking purchases like me with my trainers and the other poster with her shirts which makes you feel like you have nothing to wear as your wardrobe is visibly bursting at the seams !

Hello again, I think I'm in the same space as carrie in that I know what suits me now and don't splurge spend anymore. Although in years gone by I was significantly in debt as I couldn't control my spending back then. Being happier in myself and less concerned about what others think has made a huge difference to the way I shop. I was definitely guilty of sale time splurges and buying multiple items in different colours if one fitted me well.
My main issue is that for now, due to DH redundancy I'm on a shopping ban. I'll be watching with interest for ideas about new ways to wear existing items and can't wait to take a look at the PIn Swap board tho!
Hope everyone has had a lovely Mother's Day.

libertychick I've read that book! I agree, it is well worth reading. The authors made the point that willpower strengthens the more it is exercised, which sounds like tosh but I've found it to have worked. They also pointed to evidence that strong willpower - above attributes such as confidence, resources etc - is fundamental to success.

And I remember a tip for strengthening frugal willpower by checking a bank balance when tempted to overspend.

I realised after my slightly somber talk about my compulsive shopping that there was an essential bit I had forgotten; I love clothes, I love fabric and interesting prints and buttons and textures and playing around putting slightly quirky outfits together. So I don't want to give up on clothes, but buy less and more purposefully - finding things to make outfits out of clothes I already have rather than constant duplication.

Interesting NYT article. This is the line that stuck with me:
Though American consumer activity has increased substantially since the 1950s, happiness levels have flat-lined.
Worth thinking about. It is good to know what drives us and how to manage it.

issimma will pm you. Do I pm you my pinterest or my email?

Hurrah, Awks, come on over!

Just back from a party (a lovely party).

Unless someone hasn't done it yet, we'll post the swapboard link here tomorrow evening
Thank you everyone who has posted and Issimma for enabling

Ground rules, made up as we go.
1st priority: to people whose e-mails Issimma has ie those who have board access and are posting items to swap. They get preview and get to reserve items as soon as they are posted.
2nd priority: anyone who has posted on the SB/FF thread - if there are competing bids, they win.
3rd priority: lurkers and the rest of universe MN ;)
Do you ladies agree?

Sounds good to me Frugal

Can I just ask, when we say swap do me mean for free or for a price? Obviously if you want an item you pay p&p.

Read through the new posts and I'm with Awaywego. I love fashion, and fashion loves me back (clothes fit me off the rack - I can wear very many styles). But I've reached the point of diminishing returns. Quoting Wikipedia: the law of diminishing marginal utility means that the first unit of consumption of a good or service yields more utility than the second and subsequent units, with a continuing reduction for greater amounts. In plain English: my first pair of designer jeans brought me a lot more pleasure than the 6th pair. (I had a brilliant social sciences teacher in school who said that the first espresso machine you buy is life-changing, the 4th is not...)

But I'm also with Violet. There are much more interesting things in life than fashion and I want to limit time and energy I spend on thinking about it. I'm interested in many other things, and one of the ways I've gotten out of shopping to fill the void is to create much more meaningful content. (That was a big challenge last year, and I've made a lot of progress.)

This thread is working much better than I thought. I love the thoughtful introspective vibe here. And dedicating some time to archeological excavations in my closet and cellar (found some treasures today!) feels more creative and satisfying than mindless shopping.

I was wondering that too QueenC....

Thanks for the Primal blueprint link Queenofwhatever looks very interesting, have bookmarked.

QC as few of us can do local swaps I think offering to pay the p&p (via Paypal or by other means) sounds good. Some swap items are quite valuable and in those cases I think it's up to the people to negotiate a solution. If you are interested in an item, PM and ask what the person would like to have in return. The swap will be completed only if a solution that satisfies both parties is reached.

I have listed a few things that didn't make the last charity bag as I held onto them for various reasons. I would consider swapping for another item that might take my fancy or selling them. How do we complete transactions, does pinterest have PMs or similar?

Mmmm " the psychology of shopping" interesting

I adore clothes,I love fabrics, trimmings, historical clothing, theatre costumes,current designer stuff....everything.

But......I don't need to buy it all.

I know what suits me, I do experiment occasionally but I tend to buy what fits with other stuff in my wardrobe. I don't always buy expensive and never designer...ever.

I have friends who always need something new for an event and always have to buy expensive, would never consider buying cheaper high street even though they will compliment me when wearing such a garment. I think women with no confidence in their own style need the confidence a label gives them, and really , frugal ladies the fact is you don't need to spend high end to look high end if you've got a bit of style .

CeeCee I'd suggest the interested party PMs you here on MN (this is how we keep the swaps within MN), you two negotiate the terms&details, and if and only if you agree, you comment on Pin to close the swap. If the interested party and you don't reach an agreement, you can comment on Pin that the swap is open and others can bid. Would that make sense?

I just completed my first swap ever.

That's a plan, thanks FF. Will see if those commenting pick up and PM me here as my small one has just woken up so that's me offline until tomorrow night.

frugalfashionista I just wanted to pop on and say what a great job you're doing here - I love the thoughtful vibe on here too, and am going to try and make some time to really read through all the posts. There's some really interesting stuff coming up. I'm also going to take a whole week off work to sort through my overflowing wardrobe and get swapping/charity shop donating!

Drywhite yes I agree. I can admire vintage Valentino without having it in my closet. And I can stop buying because I've found my style, I'm old enough so I don't have to join every passing trend.

Re designer and not, it's social code too. In some contexts labels are the new normal and that's where the pressure to conform starts. (That's a big part of my story.) But I've always thought that true style transcends the label. My Polyvore experiment taught me that my humble items can be worth ££££ and vice versa. There are multiple versions of the same item at very different price points. This is why I think the boards might be useful on a frugal thread - if we specify "black pencil skirt", you can source it at Tesco or Jil Sander and everywhere in-between.

Thanks Daimbardiva and CeeCee (loving your stuff!) - hope you'll be able to sleep well tonight.