Toying with the idea of not buying any new clothes/shoes/accessories in 2021

[TableNiner]

I spend a lot of my time looking for new clothes, ordering clothes and returning clothes. I have more than enough to last a year and wonder if I should challenge myself, just feels very daunting. I would save a lot of time, money and environmental impact. Has anyone done this or do you think you could?

@1990s

I thought I would do well at this at the end of last year... got sucked into some cosy clothes as it was so cold...

Would like to try again.

Shopping for clothes when it's cold is the equivalent of shopping for food when you're hungry. Expensive.

Winter is a terrible shopping season for me! I am a sucker for coats and boots, especially on sale, plus I keep getting tempted by cosy looking loungewear. You’re quite right, it is like shopping for food when hungry.

I'd like to join please.

I have wardrobes stuffed full of clothes and shoes. I didn't buy as much last year as I'm trying not to buy man made fabrics (meno sweat stage - oh joy!) but I do pop to M&S, Sainsbury's or Matalan just because I can and buy bits and pieces out of boredom (albeit not so much recently!!).
My problem is my weight and its fluctuations but I do have stuff in 2 sizes! And it's a good incentive.

I'm going to put money away each month that I would normally spend and then buy better quality/ things I actually need so I'm going to start aiming for three months and see where we go!

Oh I need to add .
I am bloody fussy about clothes, no long sleeves, must have useful pockets, jackets must have zip pockets, no pink, no more black etc etc
And I'm mighty sick of ordering stuff online without checking these things, but it's never enough of a problem to send it back. So a fair chunk of my wardrobe is things I'm unwilling to wear much, but cost so much i really should wear them to death. I'm going to try getting over my hang ups and wear every item twice each this year. I might grow to love them?...

Well I have had a quick response to my offer of a pair of trainers on Freegle, old fashioned plain clarks type which I had about 15 years ago for an exercise class. Since then my feet have increased at least 2 sizes. So now I have an order for some stout thick -soled much reduced in Land's End sale. It makes me laugh when I read that feet and ankles are often the best feature of fat women. My ankles have always been huge (cankles I believe is the charming term) and prone to swelling as well as being multi-coloured due to broken veins, spider veins and varicose veins - all the veins you don't want to see.
Watching various TV programmes filmed in the hot days last summer reminds me of the seemingly endless weeks I spent trying to decide what to wear on my legs and feet if I dared to wear one of my numerous skirts or dresses. Even so, I have been seriously tempted by an Anna Sholtz maxi dress reduced to £44 on her website. Mainly to see if there is diffference between a designer produced garment and the cheap stuff I usually buy. With P&P that would be 50 quid and where would I wear it? That amount would be the most I ever spent on a dress. Laughable to some I know but a lot to me and courtesy of my sister's Christmas money gift.

Also I figured out if I wore a different outfit every day I could go at least 4 months before running out of changes. I do not go out anywhere.

Ooh that's a good way of thinking- working out how many days you could go if you wore everything once before you ran out of outfits. I dread to think. I only posted on here this morning that I'd like to join but I've already seen something, I've been looking for a purple long sleeve top to go under dresses for ages and I found what I was looking for today. It would mean that I could get more wear out of some outfits if I had it, I'm going to wait at least 24 hours and see what i think then.

I am planning on retiring at the end of this year, so I'll need a radical re-think of my wardrobe which is mainly dresses which I wear out of work first and in work later. I also want to lose a bit of weight so not real much point in buying new stuff until m new life starts to unfold. I will be buying very little until then.

Good plan - I've been trying to do similar.

The only buys I've done recently have been for nephew (he's moved to other end of country) - so jumpers etc.

I did get a pair of White Stuff long sheepskin (prob fake!) slipper socks recently and also some sheepskin lined leggings from China which were far too small.

I did get for Christmas gifts last year jeggings (M&S) but only because comfy, warm etc.

Shopping for clothes when it's cold is the equivalent of shopping for food when you're hungry. Expensive. grin

isn’t it!

I went back and looked at the purple top, I decide that in second thoughts it wasn't the shade that I wanted and it's not cotton, so I'm not going to buy it. It feels quite good that I've managed to stick to it again.

Sorry I caved, just received a order from John Lewis, a bra, a jumpsuit, and a hush one shoulder top, the sales are so good at the moment, I just can't resist, I am on a no spend from February.

Each time I see something I want now I write it down on a piece of paper. Then I look at the list some days later, and it's much easier to ignore and cross out items that aren't neccessary.

Well done to everyone finding a strategy through this! I haven't caved yet (Day 18) and actually have found it refreshing for there to be no point in wasting hours scrutinising stuff online (only for it mostly to be sent back) and have been trying to appreciate what I have. I think it's easier to just go entirely cold turkey as then there is literally no reason to look at an email or a website.

I have favourite things that I don't wear as I'm always looking past them for some new outfit/combination, or 'in case' I need it before it's come through the wash. Am trying to think 'this is something that really makes me feel good, wear that!'. Lockdown is also obviously a big help - I've got newish stuff no one has even seen in IRL and you just don't need so many clothes.

Not extending this to beauty as a PP has - I don't think I could do that at the same time, although I think starting with clothes makes you more mindful about what you are buying/actually need. I think it could become quite a satisfying challenge to see how little I can buy this year.

Really good idea to have a cooling off period, I was doing that a bit towards the end of last year and although some stuff sold out (that's the cunning nature of fast fashion), I didn't really regret it. Basically you need to be constantly thinking about something; I find I often forget what I was even looking at, shows you how much I needed it!

I meant not to buy anything this year but gave in to the sales temptation. The items arrived last week 7 or 8 I think and I haven't even tried them on apart from a pair of shoes which are going back as just that little bit tight. Now considering sending most of them back unopened as at least that will help the anti-covid regs , won't it? If they don't have to be repacked or even disposed of, hate writing that. The stuff is very cheap and probably not worth much to the companies. Gets worse doesn't it? I feel bad now and should go to bed and decide when I get up.

It is so easy to shop online and gives the illusion you are doing something when you really are not. Note to self that is.

Good note: the freegled trainers were collected - I only hung on for 15 years, it's a start.

As yet I haven't even looked at any clothing sites. This is definitely doable. I really really dont need any more stuff for quite some time. I am also hoping to break the habit of buying (some very expensive) items that just dont meet my requirements. Then I just keep them because it's less hassle than sending them back. Hence the many jackets without zip pockets, long sleeved tshirts that ended up with tags at the charity shops etc etc

How’s everyone doing? I’m currently up on the year , having just sold a BNWT top for £20 .
I do admit to buying and returning some M&S leggings that were poor quality. My excuse for buying was the colour which is hard to find and the money would have come from my top sale .

I just brought on ebay BNWT a fossil bag, did get a jumpsuit from John Lewis 70% off, a bra 50& off and a hush top, that's definitely it, if I have the need to buy a item of clothing I will go to ebay and buy second hand.

The M&S bra and knickers are going back. I didn't like the colour and fit of the bra. Am waiting on some jeans from M&S and some new Zumba leggings to come. I've decided to be more ruthless and send things back immediately if they don't suit rather than hold on because I can't be bothered/might grow to like it. It makes me mad to think of the money I've wasted doing that and the stuff I've taken to the charity shop with tags on.

I'm feeling ill and bored and getting the urge to look at shopping sites. I don't even want any clothes! It's just such an ingrained habit.

I caved yesterday. But I spent half of what I usually spend and I only bought wool and cotton stuff not polyester and acrylic. So I feel like I'm making an improvement even though I bought stuff I didn't need. I'm a sucker for a red coat that's what triggered my spending spree. I know I'll wear it until it's saggy with pulled threads and the lining has fallen apart though.

I bought some clothes yesterday for the kids which seems to have satisfied my shopping lust for now. I used similar principles for them. Only buying stuff they need right now, so it was mostly good quality cosy clothes for our walks. Managed to remove some cutesy outfits from my shopping basket, as they’d be a waste of money. I was going to get them stuff for spring but who even knows what’ll be going on then.

I’ve noticed my favourite everyday trainers are falling apart and normally, I’d be right on the shopping sites looking for a new pair. But I’m going to sort out my shoes this weekend and see if there are any pairs I’ve forgotten about.

I've gone over a month now without buying any clothes for myself. I have bought clothes for my DCs, only what they need because they've grown out of things. Clothes from my eldest DD get passed onto my youngest DD, my DS has quite a few hand me downs and we pass clothes onto friends when we've finished with them.

I have unsubscribed from some emails, I haven't got an Instagram account so I don't need to worry about advertising there. I go on fb maybe once a week/every other week and I do get a lot of clothes advertised on there. It's mainly dresses that are my downfall.

I need to keep in mind having a holiday at some point, that I have way too much and environmental reasons. If anyone comes across any interesting articles about the environmental impact of the fashion industry please could they share them, to maybe keep us going? I'm wearing a dress today that I've had way over 10 years, I only wore it a couple of times since I got it because it's not quite right. It's a strapless dress so I'm wearing it with a long sleeve top underneath! I'm trying to decide if it would work better as a skirt, but then I wouldn't be able to go back to being able to wear it as a dress.

Sorry if that's a lot of ramble, I'm just trying to put my thoughts down.

Lauren Bravo's 'How to Break Up with Fast Fashion' is a good read which will really get you thinking about the effets of over consumption of clothes.

effects

Great, thank you