Total wardrobe refresh for £200 - is it possible?

[ActonBell]

I need a whole new wardrobe as most of the things I have don’t fit /are worn out/aren’t suitable for my life now.
I’ve just had my second baby and I’m breastfeeding so I’m looking for nursing suitable things.

I want to go for a capsule/minimalist wardrobe, though I’m not really a minimalist in style - I like bright colours and prints. So I’m not sure whether a capsule wardrobe is viable or not?

I can spend £100 this month and probably the same out of next month’s budget. Anything else will have to come from reselling the clothes I have.

Where would you start?
I’ve bought stuff from eBay before but it’s been hit and miss, particularly if it’s second hand.
I won’t buy from boohoo or Shein because I think their labour practices are unethical.

Any ideas about what I can do with small amount of money to make a big change and lay the foundations for having a small, useful set of clothes rather than a wardrobe crammed with crap I don’t wear?

Thanks!

I think you could definitely get a few good items if you shop around.
Jeans -M&S reasonably priced and all variations of shape and wash
Basic T-Shirts Primark long sleeved are good
H&M for short sleeved.
H&M in general for slightly better quality but reasonably priced stuff then I'd look for other bits in the tail end of sales depending on which retailers you like.
I don't have much experience in ebay purchases.

Ooh and mango too. They've upped their game a lot.

Definitely worth looking at M&S jeans. I'd start with a pair of those and a couple of jumpers or long sleeved tops.

You could do it for £200 for sure if you're willing to go second hand.

I would go to higher end high street shops you like (or like the style of), try on a load of stuff to find out what size you are, and then hunt on Vinted and Depop for second hand pieces from those shops at a fraction of the cost. I love shops like All Saints, Reiss etc but very rarely buy anything new and pick it all up second hand for peanuts.

I would also go to Asda and/or Tesco for jeans. I've had far more expensive jeans that I haven't liked nearly as much as my Asda pairs, and if you're a fan of skinny jeans the Tesco Contour jeans are brilliant.

Depending on your size you can get a decent amount of stuff at a cheap price at pep and co (poundland), new look (sales atm- loads of things are around £5-10 and I noticed maternity stuff in there), also charity shops- loads of people have had clear outs so loads of clothes to be had.

Go to charity shops, find good ones by looking at the demographic of people who live near them. I've had some amazing bargains that I'm still wearing years later. (DMs, nice trainers, a wool coat, a whole collection of cashmere.) You can definitely do it for £200 if you are willing to shop around. Plus you get to feel good about saving them from landfill etc.

Eeugh I just wrote a long reply and lost it. I would say plan your colour palette and narrow it down to 3 main colours with 3 accent colours. Denim is a neutral. I’m always recommending this but The Curated Closet is a good guide to finding your style and building a cohesive wardrobe. Id also look for videos by A Small Wardrobe and Use Less DK on You Tube for advice on building a wardrobe. For me I’d go for a below knee knitted / jersey dress in a neutral and wear now over leggings with trainers or tights and flat boots / shoes. You can also wear over boyfriend jeans. The jeans I’d wear with a boyfriend sweater or cardigan with a couple of vest tops underneath to assist the breastfeeding aspect.( jumper up / vest top down). When it gets a bit warmer I’d swap the sweaters out for a boyfriend shirt and a T shirt.
Id probably look at Depop / eBay etc for the tops as they’re more flexible size wise. Jeans I’d buy new - I like M&S jeans and also from Monki but they’re around £40. One pair is probably a good investment. That being said I found new M&S boyfriend jeans on eBay for half that. ( if you know what fits you can find them online cheaper). Monki and H&M have t
sweater / jersey dresses. Uniqlo do a good range of sweaters in natural fibres but I go for mens to get a slouchy fit.

I have access to great charity shops but you do need to have time to trawl through.

You could try Vinted for both selling your old clothes and buying new. Being able to search by colour/size/brand etc makes it much more efficient than trawling charity shops. (And you can do it while breastfeeding!)

Cheap high street brands like New Look, supermarket etc tend to be a false economy IMO (except for very basic stuff like tshirts). The point of a capsule is to buy high-wear and high-quality pieces, which does involve spending (but in a considered way). I built up a decent capsule a few years ago by spending £50-100 on 1-2 items each month and slowly building it up over a year or more. Definitely start with an idea of colours that suit you and make sure everything you buy can be worn with at least a couple of other staples in your wardrobe. I’d personally start with second hand, esp if you like bright colours (cheap brands use inferior dyes that tend to fade and look shabby after a few washes). You can find gems for a fraction of the RRP if you’re willing to trawl over several weeks/months (a process I really enjoyed!) A good coat/jacket and shoes/boots are the most important thing - try ebay for very reasonable preloved Hobbs, Jaeger, etc. Oh and definitely go for natural fibres where you can - maybe just me, but I never as feel good in synthetics and they tend to last less well.

I lost quite a lot of weight and none of my wardrobe fitted anymore. I had literally nothing to wear.
Last January I began to sell it all off on FB selling groups. I then used that money to buy clothes off ebay (it was cheaper than the selling groups if I looked enough and I could find things that I wanted.)
I took my measurements and looked at online shops so I could roughly know what size I would be.
I bought better quality items than I was replacing. Anything I bought from eBay that didn't fit I resold on FB selling groups.
So I replaced my wardrobe for free with much higher quality items.
I still have a good chunk of my original wardrobe and some eBay disappointments to sell, which will either go towards want items from "real shops" ie shirts have proved hard for me to buy second hand as I have wider shoulders than the rest of me.
Or I'll keep looking on ebay to fill gaps in my wardrobe

Vinted!

I find it much easier than eBay, get some absolute bargains & anything that’s not right I sell on again

I'm in a similar situation OP. I'd suggest first deciding on an outfit 'type' - I think I got this from the curated closet which a PP mentioned. So, what 'silhouette' do you like? i.e., cropped wide legged jeans with trainers and a fitted jumper, shirt dress with leggings and boots, oversized dress with blazer. I was always buying skirts but really I just wear jeans or leggings and jumpers. So, if you know what 'shape' you like, plan on having at least two full outfits of that that are entirely interchangeable.

If you like bright colours that's cool: just aim to have a palette that all goes. So if you decide your 'boring' colour will always be black, and your silhouette is button-down oversized shirt with a cardigan and leggings, you could have an outfit with a blue shirt and cardigan and yellow leggings, and another outfit with a blue and yellow patterned cardigans and purple leggings, and mix and match. (Those colours sound terrible together! But you get the idea) I bought a load of stretchy but flattering black scoup necked tops from H&M after I had my first, I was happy to breastfeed in them and with some lipstick and a scarf they actually looked quite flattering. But I do think the key is making sure things are interchangeable, and maybe investing in cheaper accessories like scarfs from primark to bring in colour and pattern if you're not 100% ready to commit to a colour palette.

Everything5pounds.com
Yes - you absolutely can!

I think a durable wardrobe takes longer than two months and £200, in that I wouldn’t find the perfect version of everything I was looking for. I think wardrobe building takes more time.

I agree with PP's, make it a 2022 project rather than a quick fix. First month get a good pair of jeans and a nice top. Second month a decent pair of shoes that will go with everything. Third month a jacket that will go with everything and on and on. Each month take your time to find the perfect item and spend as much as you can afford on it. Build yourself a wardrobe of good quality items that flatter you and work with each other.

You should have a look at Community Clothing. Highly ethical, simple, casual clothes that won’t go out of fashion. No patterns (except stripes) but they have a good selection of colourful t shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, and button through dresses in various iterations. Just well designed, everyday clothes without greedy mark-ups. Good as the basis of a wardrobe, to which you could add whatever you liked from elsewhere.

@HumourReplacementTherapy

Ooh and mango too. They've upped their game a lot.

Had totally forgotten about Mango but am very impressed by current selection.

OP, I think a couple of key pieces that could upgrade everything else would be a good idea for the first pass. Like a great pair of jeans and a really perfect jumper.

I usually shop at the charity newlife, they even have an online website. Shops like new look and river island donate their clothes to newlife who sell them for cheaper and then give the money to those in need.

I personally think that you will get very bored of a minimalist wardrobe if you like colour and prints. And I agree with others that it's probably best to get a few decent quality bits every few months than lots of cheap bits all at once.

When you say you like colours and prints, do you mean like big floral, or bold geometrics, or ditsy prints? Just interested nosy

M&S for jeans, lots of styles, denim shades and lengths and a good price. Charity shops as you can pick up brilliant buys and shop for things made in the UK. Vinted is excellent, it's easy to find cashmere sweaters for £8-10 and good quality coats and jackets from £5 on there. I bought a Max Mara coat for £40 and a Jaeger leather biker jacket for £15, just keep checking for your size regularly and if you see something you like buy it immediately because the good stuff sells almost instantly.

Thanks everyone so much! Brilliant ideas to work through here.
Does anyone have any tips about navigating Vinted? I haven’t used it before and it looks quite different to eBay. What’s the best way to find things?

@riverpebbles - I don’t suit animal prints and I get a bit fed up with the sameness of a lot of modern florals so I tend to look for geometric or vintage-style prints in just a couple of colours. So patterns of shapes, waves, brush strokes and anything unusual appeal.

It’s definitely possible if you trawl through charity shops or the sales. All of this from the Zara sale comes to under £100…

I would look at some brands like Run and Fly, Sugarhill Boutique and Harkel, to see whether they float your boat with respect to patterns.