Frugal Follow-up

[FrugalFashionista]

We've hopelessly lost the old thread. How are you doing ladies?

I need to reawaken the thread as I need to get back on the wagon. I decided to temporarily suspend my shopping ban - it's summery here and I've started wearing summer clothes and I decided to make some purchases now so that I can wear them all season long (in low 20s it's still a bit too cool for my routine sleeveless dress/bare legs summer look). Most of my old summer clothes are in great shape but this is what I needed to update them -

1. white jeans (have lots of denim shirts and blue tops) - straight-leg, non see-through
2. colorful printed cigarette pants (my wardrobe is mostly solid colors - I want to wear prints but not near my face) - found a pair in my favorite colors from MSMG
3. sandals (bored of ballet flats and Havaianas) - black cage wedges, low-rent child-friendly version of the Altuzarra look
4. slingbacks (found a lovely two-tone white/taupe pair on sale)
5. a few bracelets to liven things up

I'm still looking for a couple of high-quality white or cream tops, scoop neck if possible. They seem to be the hardest item to find, but my refound Zara poly-viscose top is surprisingly versatile. Still thinking about a long and narrow snakeprint silk scarf in my best blues and also need to make a decision regarding nude/taupe courts (to go with my summer cocktail dresses).

Spring lasted for 3-4 weeks here and coincided with my 1-month shopping ban. By thinking a bit harder and digging a bit deeper I was able to find all spring outfits I ever needed without any spending! Summer will be around until the end of October so I hope that I will get quite a lot of wear out of my mix of old and new. But I think I'm almost done with wardrobe updates and might go back to tight-fist mode very soon

DigWeedSow you asked me (some days ago now!) how Project 333 is going. It's now been nearly five months and overall, it's had a massively positive effect. The warm weather and mixing in some of my summer clothes has thrown me out of kilter a bit. Like some of the others, digging out my summer clothes (which I had been thinking of as some of my favourite clothes), I realised that a fair few are getting a bit worn and also are just not right for my lifestyle.

But generally I would still recommend Project 333. To give you an example, I like just above the knee length corduroy/tweed skirts. I had three:

A purple Monsoon fine cord one that was uncomfortable round the waist
A brown Top Shop brown herringbone skirt that was lovely, but unlined and incredibly itchy.
A soft green one from Zara, lovely material but too big.

Net result? No above the knee tweedy skirt that scored more than an eight. I justified it by saying that they were all eBay or charity shop finds, but P333 made me realise: so what? I didn't wear any of them regularly and didn't feel great in any of them. So they all went on ebay and I'm back to looking. But it's made no noticeable difference to the way I dress and I don't have that sinking feeling every time I look in the wardrobe.

Now I just need to find an evening or two to P333 my summer wardrobe, so I can get back on track!

We all seem to be wearing variants of navy today.Well done Queen for deciding to recycle your skirts.Its's difficult when you become attached to certain items.I've just realised today that cropped wide denims and A line denim skirts do nothing for me.Cut the ends off 2 pairs of jeans to make boyfriend jeans.My old jeans-Baby Phat and Apple bottoms [American brands] are still the best fit on me so are worth keeping.

Fellow short-sleeved cardi craze victims, reunite!

I love the color of my cardi (the exact shade of rose petals), but the matching silk cotton top that came with it has rose petal type shoulder detail that crumples if you wear the cardi If I wear the cardi with a white tank, I'll expose my belly bulge.

Teta had diastasis recti, and although I'm quite slim (and at my pre-preg weight), my lower abdomen will never be what it was before. And that's fine - I think flat stomachs are vastly overrated Who the hell who does not writhe on music videos for a living really looks like that anyway! Botticelli's Venus and all the Greek statues have soft bulges too...

I can recommend Brian Wansink's book 'Mindless Eating'. It helped me to make tiny but significant (perhaps -100kcal/day) changes that really seem to work. I got in shape last year and have maintained my weight for almost a year now (-4-5kg from post-preg) without being on a diet or feeling deprived in any way. Cottage cheese is gone, everything is firmer and I feel comfortable in a bikini.

Violet loving your outfit! You sound quite leggy, that type of simple silhouette (big on navy) works really well on me too. Raf Simons at Dior has really brought the full skirts back - I love them. One of my best shapes!

QoW love your posts! New hair sounds fab! I know the feeling, I found my H&M tees from last year, all shoddy and not particularly flattering. My advice would be to take it slow until autumn clothes come to the shops, perhaps rummaging a bit in charity shops in the meantime (you may find better craftmanship there). I bought too indiscriminately right after having my colors done

Sorry, some atrocious copy editing tonight

Teta does not have diastasis recti, I do

I've splashed out a whole £25 this weekend I bought a bright pink pair of superga and the 30 day shred dvd. I am not planning to make any more clothes purchases until I have at least tried to lose some weight by using the dvd. I did my first workout today and though I have to modify some of the exercises due to a medical condition, I think I did well. Fingers crossed that it works for me and was worth the whole £5 I spent on it

For those of you looking to shift some weight, I highly recommend going primal. The principle is to eat like our ancestors did, so cut out grains and sugar plus processed food.

I've lost inches of fat over the last three months and DP has lost a stone and a half. You eat proper food, for example for breakfast I've just had scrambled eggs with bacon, tomatoes and pepper plus some coffee with double cream. I think if you have children and/or are working, you don't have the time for structured diets and lots of exercise. You need something simple (mentally and physically) that keeps you going until lunchtime.

Today I am wearing very old GAP oatmeal straight cut trousers that were too tight for me, but are now a bit loose with my new khaki vest and charcoal John Smedley cardi. The rain is looming so undecided if strappy pink sandals are the sensible choice.

In the spirit of yesterday's frugal outfit last night I emptied a bag of clothes which was going to the charity shop to see if anything could be reinvented. Most of it was DS's too small stuff but in there was a soft yellow sweatshirt, lovely fitted style but a bad colour for me so today I shall be buying a dylon dye, probably navy blue. The crazy thing is I need a sweatshirt for a boating holiday that I'm going on in a couple of weeks and have been looking tentatively online for one!

Teta I used MFP after Christmas to shift some weight and found it very successful, tracking what I'm eating throughout the day and counting cals works for me. I may have to start using it again to get ready for the summer! Onelittlelady Respect, the Shred DVD is evil (but works!)

QoW I like the sound of P333, I'm quite into the whole minimalist thing so a simplified wardrobe really appeals. I don't have a huge amount of clothing, I would say that there are about 45 items in there at the moment so it wouldn't be too hard to whittle it down to 33. What sounds really great though is that it has helped you identify why things aren't working and it's this fine tuning process that would really help me. Hmmm, going upstairs now to see what my 33 items would be........

QoW can you link to the website that had the information about project 33 on it? I thought I had it saved, but can't find it.

I've bought a few things in recent weeks, either in basics (oyster white jeans and a tulip skirt - instantly making most winter knitwear and tops summer-worthy but pairing them with white bottom half rather than dark coloured bottom half) or odd splashes of neon/bright colours, which makes me feel v v summery. I don't mind having spent a bit, as I literally bought about four items of clothing over the whole of last summer, and for the four summers before that I was pregnant/BFing.

I also went through my wardrobe the other day and have pulled out everything that needs mending altering. There wasn't much in my wardrobe in the first place, and now there is embarrassingly little left behind, which explains why I have been finding outfits rather challenging over the past couple of weeks! My mission for the next few days is to get mending, take alterations to the dressmaker, and then reassess if I need any more clothes.

project 333

Question: are maxi dresses still in? I hope so as I have never got my wear out of the two I have (one dressy/eveningy, one everyday type.) I did see several women wearing them yesterday which was a lovely sunny day.

Project 333 is here Hopefully - I really need to try and find the time to do this, the more I read/hear the more I think it would help me hugely and it sounds really liberating.
My dylon items worked out brilliantly, I am really pleased - the olive green is a perfect green for me, and the blue cotton jumper I dyed has come out the most lovely dark teal, so very happy with my 'new' clothes.
Day eight of frugal May, I have bought two boring t-shirt bras from Figleaves with a 20% discount and 5% quidco so not exactly purchase free but I always feel better able to justify with a discount code.
Really need to avoid spending any more money this month and make do with what I already have, which now that I have got some summer stuff out feels like quite a lot (although some of the summer stuff is a bit of a squeeze - so need to reduce the cake and up the salad over the next few weeks which should be much easier now the weather is better).
Today I'm wearing straight leg indigo jeans with turn-ups, teal cotton jumper over a mustard vest, chunky cream plastic necklace and cheapo tan primarni sandals from last year.

Outfit today is my favourite white cowl neck top,boyfriend jeans,Leopard sneakers,Hush leopard scarf,Parka with leopard lining[for school run].Yes MFP works well for me too Dig.The only way i can lose weight is by tracking calories.I cheat on all the others and then give up.Well done Queen for losing fat and inches.I admire anyone who can successsfully stick to a diet.
Frugal, thank you for the soothing words regarding tummies.My stomach makes me look 6 months pregnant at times and makes clothes look awful.I want to look nice in plain t shirts tucked into jeans without trying to creatively tuck and squeeze myself into various trousers/devices/tunics to hide the fat.3 dc's in my 40's including 1 set of twins has meant my stomach has never recovered-flap of loose skin plus fat.Exercise plus diet will improve it so much.I just need determination and motivation!

Ladies,
I've managed to create a winning outfit from a bunch of losers:

• floral blue-tone skinnies (last year) *slightly limp white cotton peplum tee (ditto) *short-sleeved cardi, wild rose pink (ca 2 years old, almost unworn) - thought it was cotton, but it's actually poly-viscose!
• mock ostrich ballerinas, sky blue (last year, sadly near the end of their lifespan already) The outfit felt fresh, sunny and innocent in a 1950s teenage girl sort of way. Suits my shape, and super-flattering colors too

The limp peplum tee (death row survivor) is going places I wore it to a swish cocktail garden party last night, albeit hidden
Had to get ready in minutes, so I piled on some of my nicest clothes - a full-skirted coat dress, my best bag, combined with a sheer black tights and about 10-year-old pointy toe wedges (had totally forgotten how good sheer black can look). Saw some classic Dior New Look silhouettes on partygoers, full skirts are definitely back! A balmy evening, nice people and mighty pine trees against a pink sky. Then a quick cab ride back home to put DC to bed...

Unapologetic maxi dresses never really took off here in Italy (at least not where I live) but saw a preppy girl wafting about in one last week and it looked great!
Hopefully we should set up a repairs/maintenance challenge. I have mended a lot last month but still have a pile of unironed stuff that I would like to wear. I promise it will be gone by Sunday!
Teta good luck with getting back in shape, sounds like you have a great plan! I've given up on plain t-shirts tucked in

Intrigued by your Project 333 progress reports, very inspiring! I have more modest goals but definitely gradually downsizing my wardrobe!

Dig re sweatshirt rescue idea!
QoW and OneLittleLady loving your pink footwear!
Oh and Hopefully your oyster jeans sound fab - white jeans totally revitalized my summer options, they go with absolutely everything!

I'm so excited about all the styling and restyling going on here. It's my favorite part in fashion!

Hi, frugalistas, I have been quietly following your posts and thank you for the great tips and links.

So last night I finally got round to sorting through my wardrobe and pulling out the items that I've actually worn and been happy wearing in the past 12 months. From a massive double wardrobe, I only have 23 items that I regularly wear:

10 dresses (4 smart, 6 more casual)
7 cardigans
6 tops
3 skirts

I don't wear trousers except jeans, of which I actually wear 4 pairs.

I've got loads of clutter that doesn't suit/fit/work with my lifestyle or I just don't like anymore. Despite regular offloads to charity, I still have so much to get rid of!

Has anyone used one of those ebay selling agencies? In your experience, are they worth it? The thought of listing (and then packaging/mailing/worrying) fills me with dread, but there's some stuff that I'm confident would sell reasonably. Any advice? :)

Hi Myrtle thanks for your post, I loved your stats! Mine must be very similar I change my look everyday, but mostly because I feel bad about unworn clothes. A pared-down approach would be equally satisfying.

Haven't tried the eBay resellers. I did approach a consignment shop near me and their commission is 50% Vestiaire Collective is another option, but I cannot see how it works for the buyer - prices are generally very high and you will usually get a better deal buying brand-new from discounters. This makes financial sense for little else than sold-out current season stuff. The problem is that I generally like my high-end stuff - I'd like to offload some of my 'value' mistakers, Zara and the like, and listing and sending them is a lot of work for a really paltry return

Back to basics today, men's French blue shirt with white jeans and white shoes. One of the great things about living close to where DH works is that we can often go out to lunch together We had a long lunch and I'm slightly reeling from the huge glass of wine I just had, sitting outdoors. Couldn't help myself, I'm always style spotting and saw two takes on the all-in-one look on stylish Italians - head-to-toe camo worn on a very curvy frame (think Desert Storm ) and a total Breton look (possibly bias-cut in the bum area for extra lifting effect ). Keyword skintight...

Oops - I've just realised that I can't add up! I hadn't counted the skirts or jeans in my tally for some reason

Frugal, I do feel guilty about the unworn clothes in my wardrobe. I periodically try to recreate outfits but I think the simple truth is that if I don't wear it, it's usually for a good reason. Interestingly, the items that I get most use out of aren't the most expensive ones. Hadn't thought about that before actually!

Thanks for info re Vestiaire Collective, I'll have a look.

Your lunch sounds lovely, am at the head to toe camo! A brave look, but then white jeans are braver than I can muster, so... :)

Myrtle only hang on to the items you wear most and get rid (in one way or another) of the excess! I absolutely hate eBaying but hate clutter even more, so have decided to do some this summer. You could always test the waters and start with two or three items most likely to sell. I really miss our swapboard, but fear our member base was slightly too small to keep it running

Project 333ers, any tips on how to best pare down/offload?

Give it all to me?

I would Hopefully but I have nothing in orange
I mostly have Summer colours and black.

Seriously, if there is something someone is looking for, tell about it, as many of us have perfectly good clothes that just are the wrong color/style/size for us.

Aw thanks frugal. damn your Summer colours though!

I went through my wardrobe and made a vague mental 333 list last night and realised I have plenty of bottoms, but not really enough of anything else. Am trying to construct a shopping list and be sensible rather than buy everything I see.

Hello Myrtle
Very at your long lunch Frugal cold, windy and rainy here today so wrapped up warm and the heating has gone back on!

Dyed the sweatshirt today and the dye has taken really well so have a "new" sweatshirt for my hols

I had a count of the clothing in my wardrobe yesterday and only have 39 items. This doesn't include my winter clothes (stored away in a drawer) and high summer clothing such as strappy tops, shorts, sundresses, these are also stored in a drawer as they are mainly worn on holiday (hardly ever warm enough to wear here!)
So not quite Project 333 but not far off, mind you if I had to include shoes and accessories in the total it would be a very different story.

I'm fascinated by the colours talk, I have no idea which season I am. Has it really made a profound difference to those of you who've had it done?

Dig your dying has inspired me to revitalise an old linen skirt. I was thinking that I needed a summer-weight skirt but a perk-up would do just fine. Did you do anything to the thread on your sweatshirt? When I've dyed things previously I've had the thread-not-dying problem and it's put me off trying to change colours.

Hopefully are you looking for anything in particular??? I need to purge my jersey tube skirts as they're really not working on me anymore :(

What colours are your tube skirts myrtle?

Colour analysis was life changing for me - just made everything so simple.