I am not going to buy clothes in 2020

[DuchessMinnie]

I have a stuffed-to-bursting wardrobe and I have everything covered from beach to snow to weddings and parties. I don't need to buy any more clothes, I need to lose 2 stone so that everything in my wardrobe fits me.

I have just binged in the sales and have bought another 3 dresses, 2 tops and a pair of work trousers. I really, really don't need anything. Anyone else?

Great, glad to have some company. This is my third year doing no toiletries (I always forget pretty quickly) I'm still using up stuff from 3 years ago

I am not going to buy clothes in 2020

Neither am I. Ooh - Boden Catalogue!

To be fair, I did quite well in 2019 until I changed jobs and went from a business casual dress code to business so needed some smarter stuff. Hoping for better this year.

Am pretty good at no new toiletries. They just don't interest me as much as clothes do! Ah ha - my Boden catalogue came today too, I had to put it straight in recycling

Hi all, I am going to try to join you all! One of my new years resolutions is to live a more sustainable life and given the damages of fashion I think this is a good area to focus on. I don't have the biggest wardrobe, but I have enough to see me through any events this year. I have a wedding in the summer but I have a lovely dress I wore to a wedding last year (all different guests so "safe"!). I did quite well about a year and a half ago after watching Stacey Dooleys doc on the environmental damage of fashion- shocking stuff. I didnt buy anything for months, but that seems to have worn off! Disclaimer- I may still buy second hand clothes, but will also try to limit this.

Signing in again as I need you lot as a reminder to stay strong: favourite 50s designer, unusual style, just my measurements... aaarrrgh. gnashes teeth, groans inwardly

Go and look at all the lovely things you already own Ardnassa

Funnily enough devil I did just that last night: I currently have the most beautiful and similar hanging up on my wardrobe as a reminder. Thank you :)

I have bought boots ( eBay and in sale both absolutely beautiful classics missing from my wardrobe ( that's sounds very Arsie) and I know I will have them for years). I've sent back a top which I bought in December which I've decided isn't right. I've sold a pair of jeans. I kind of feel I'm getting a balance and I'm wearing on rotation all my lovely things.

I've been working through and cataloguing my wardrobe - it's a slow process. Did most of my bags yesterday but I've not gone under the bed yet, cos there be dragons

Conclusion is I have a shitload. So far I have logged:
68 tops - not including basic vests, sports gear and about 10 cardigans
31 bottoms - not including sports stuff
58 dresses - not done about 7 evening dresses or about 10 summer which are in a box
32 jackets and coats
101 pairs of shoes/boots

@StatisticallyChallenged good work! I haven't managed to start on shoes and boots yet.

I've gone 10 days now without looking. I threw my new Next directory straight in the recycling and I am focusing on other things. Anyone struggling, I recommend joining the "make £10 extra a day" threads on here as I have downloaded money making apps to keep me busy on my commute instead of browsing eBay and clothes shops.

NO new clothes brought since 6th Jan!
Just putting it here to encourage myself!
5 days in!! Going to feel like a long year...

I’m doing this until the end of 2020 (at least) ✋ I made my last clothing purchase on December 17th, and since then I have been on an absolute no-buy.

I am currently working on creating an inventory of everything that I own. Once I am done, I will start ‘using it up’ (wearing it out), and the priority will be given to:

1. Items which show the most signs of wear and tear
2. Items which do not suit my style or fit me well anymore (to be used as wear-at-home clothing or to be altered, if possible)
3. Items which match many other items in my wardrobe, hence can be worn very often
4. Items with the oldest date of purchase (if I have this information)
5. Items which are not vegan
6. Items which are not eco-friendly/sustainable
7. Items manufactured by brands which ethos/vision/policies/behaviour/ambassadors I disapprove/feel strongly against

I am definitely getting the Stylebook app to track the frequency of use and the cost per wear of each of my items. I am sure the results will be shocking.

My ultimate goal is to have a maximum of 5 items in each category (I have 25 categories), and I’d like to refine my style in general. Unfortunately, I have no idea how long it will take me to reach this goal. Maybe an entire decade! 😰

I'm with you OP.

I'm going to try to not buy anything except essentials this year.

It helps that I'm not into clothes and hate clothes shopping so for quite a few years I've only bought clothes if I really had to. I wear them until they fall apart and even then I mend them if I can (I love that invisible mending strip that you fix with an iron).

My weakness is things for the house, going to stop buying anything new.

I've watched so many programmes about pollution, plastics, rainforest destruction, emissions. I do not want to contribute to any more destruction of the planet and for me that is by refusing to be an endless consumer.

The only thing I've bought this year so far is groceries.

I have now thrown out some tatty stuff which I kept wearing round the house and am now wearing some not very loved but new stuff which has been in the wardrobe for ages around the house, DH looked like this as I was wearing a chunky cardigan which I don't really like much but would be good enough for a going out cardigan today for slobbing around in.

I have not bought anything or looked at clothes to buy all week and am definitely going to work through the ones I have already to thin out my bulging wardrobe so I can more easily see what I have got rather than buy new stuff.

The messages here will be sending up alerts all through the fast fashion businesses. Keep going. With a little pressure from a lot of people, we will get a good range of wearable clothes. And there will always be companies that will lend the essential element of frivolity to the whirl.

I'm still doing well. Pulled all my wardrobe out and really trying to wear stuff even if I dont overly like it!

Day 13 and I see that Deborah Meaden is doing this as well so we are in good company. DP said I wouldn't last a week... he still says I won't last a year. We'll see. I have done almost 2 weeks now, and if I can do 2 weeks I can do a month.

Finding it quite easy at the moment as I've enjoyed cataloguing everything on Stylebook and rediscovering old things. Still so much work to do on streamlining my wardrobe but it's a start.

Thanks for starting this thread OP. I was inspired by a similar thread a couple of years ago, plus the threads on wearing everything in my wardrobe, and I have cut down drastically and been doing Buy a lot less, buy better & wear more. However, you have inspired me to at last unsubscribe from the emails that trickle into my inbox or junk mail box from brands I bought from once years ago. Have instead subscribed to a sewing website to get weekly tips as want to start dressmaking again properly. Am also planning to look after what I have more carefully and properly appreciate things that I have already - it does make me a lot less inclined to think I need to buy new stuff.

Hmm it seems Stylebook is the way to go to stay focussed. I bought two cardigans last week BUT they were from a charity shop and I have just retired two old ones. So I think that lets me off? Unfortunately I work in a clothes shop with a big fat discount so temptation is always there. And I do get clothes from there for free as uniform (usually a top and bottom item each month) so I don’t know if that rules me out of the thread too??!!

What a brilliant thread! So nice to read the posts that are caring about the disaster that is the fast fashion industry. I'm getting paranoid about the cookies with all the new fashions on them on here fgs!!!! I began last year to only buy what I need from charity shops,

I'm lucky because dm is very old and she has hung on to most of her clothes since the 60s , so I'm recycling some of them for her and wearing others. (She's put on quite a bit of weight since then of course) and I've lost some!

I was thinking of organising my wardrobe in colours which would work but a lot of colours go with black or denim blues.!!

I've just finished reading Lauren Bravo's 'How to Break Up With Fast Fashion'. It's a great read - very informative about the fashion industry and the damage it's causing the evironment, exploitation of factory workers etc and what we can do cut down on our relentless consumption. Thoroughly recommend

Can youshare any epiphanies??

I tried not to buy clothes 2019but that was a lame effort really

My epiphany began when I started buying organic clothes and bedding in the 90s, because I was aware of how bad for the environment the cotton industry was and still is of course. They are much softer than normal cotton clothes and they don't stink of all the finishing chemicals that are used on them. The organic clothes last very well too, I'm still wearing them! Though I have repaired some of their seams !

It is a dichotomy of course, but I know a lot of the organic clothes are fairly traded too.

I'm still staying firm too! I very nearly had a relapse with the idea that I needed a new pair of perfect black boots to go with an outfit that I'm wearing out on Friday, but I managed to talk myself out of it and am going with a perfectly lovely pair of black boots that I already own.
I think that, for me, it's not about never buying clothes again, but about buying less and enjoying what I do buy more. I've never particularly bought really fast fashion and do look after all my clothes really carefully, so they do tend to last for years. But, I did feel guilty about having things in my wardrobe that I had never worn - that is a true waste. I've been really enjoying having to shop my wardrobe and am getting just as much enjoyment out of beautiful things that I already own. I think that in future I only want to buy things that I really, really love and that I know I will wear regularly. I just want to stop buying things for the sake of it.