Not buying clothes 2024

[Nonewclothes2024]

I need to stop buying clothes.
I have far too many.
I feel overwhelmed deciding what to wear every day.
I wear a uniform to work.
I have deleted all shopping apps.
I am unsubscribing from shop e mails.

Anyone else ?

If it helps, I have bought only 2 things this year, other than bras and socks! Total spend: £70.

@CharlotteRumpling that is pretty good! I did well a couple of years ago but have fallen off the wagon again.

I've not bought a lot this year, I've not really looked except when I've known what I needed to buy/replace but I've been scrolling on my phone this morning and found lots of things I'd love.

So the answer to not buying is not looking. Who'd have known 🤔 😆

Cycling Wise words! It seems obvious, but it's very true!

I noticed I started looking at items for myself when I picked out something for ds (who needed socks, trousers and shorts) and lo and behold, bought myself a nice top as a reward for getting through a very busy period at work.

But nobody is perfect, I suppose. I'm back on it now. Don't need anything else for summer and happy with what I have. Especially if this somewhat chilly weather continues, no need for warmer weather gear! 😅😫

It feels a bit daft saying it @moimichme but it looks like the only solution 😆

I bought a couple of golf shirts and a skort yesterday which is a need if I'm going to play 'properly' this summer but I'm avoiding looking at anything else from now on. Next stop, autumn.

I’ve not bought anything. Really surprised at myself. I’m finding the longer it goes on, not buying things, the less interested I am in even looking. The other week we were away, a place we regularly go to has an outlet mall nearby which I always 🤭visit. Looked round the shops that usually tempt me but had no enthusiasm for it & all I bought were some Molton Brown toiletries & chocolates for a birthday present. I’ve just dug out my summer clothes & am ashamed at how much there is from previous years, some still with labels on. I’ve thought of selling on Vinted but reading other people’s experiences just can’t be hassled so I’m just going to shop my wardrobe(s 🤨)

One thing to try and retrain your brain on is that you can look but not buy. Couldn’t it be enough to know there are lots of nice things in the world but you don’t have to have all of them.

I follow Hannah Louise Poston on YouTube who has done loads on shopping addiction and in one of her recent ones she was trying out banning online browsing for set periods of the week. Because ‘research’ was stealing her time, rather than the actual buying.

The weather one is interesting, there’s a real incongruity between lovely displays of summer new ins and the lacklustre weather which seems to be going to repeat last year, and potentially become the norm. Will retailers have to recalibrate what ‘summer wear’ is. Two week holidays don’t seem enough to sustain palm print coords and the like. It’s the same with places selling all the picnic food.

@TheOGCCL I follow Hannah Louise Poston too and love her. She's got great tips (dh saw me watch her vid and asked me why I was watching myself - which is funny because I do look quite a bit like her,albeit few years older, but we also sound the same).

I'm doing a low-buy, not a no-buy and think I'm doing pretty well. I have bought 2 vintage dresses recently; my friend's shop closed a while back, and bought them more to support her than anything. One is a great fit, the other will be given away. They were bargains tho.

I'm not after any new clothes, but would like black summer sandals. It's been more than 2 years since I last bought shoes!

Well, I think I am now in no-buy land. I bought a pair of sunglasses and a pair of cargo trousers. That's 4 items this year apart from bras and socks ( which I do not count). Am still on course to buy less than 12 things.

That is fantastic @CharlotteRumpling. It’s good to know there is hope!

I’m still on target (just) to not go over the budget I set myself for 2024 which is close to half what I spent last year and close to a third of what I spent in 2022. So definitely going in the right direction but not exactly no buy.

I meant to say I am in low-buy land! Clearly not no-buy, as I have bought about 4 things this year. No buy is very hard. Aiming for low buy now.

Small fail in that I bought that uniqlo bag that everyone has. I sold all my bags, bar two, last year, and all I had left was a small beige one and a large black one, neither which really suited lugging stuff around in the summer.

I also got 2 new bras, but that was a very true necessity - I was down to one regular and one sports bra.

I did sell one of the aforementioned vintage dresses as it was a tad too tight, and made my money back.

I also failed. I bought some M and S linen trousers and a teeshirt for summer. But hoping that's it,, as we are not having a summer anyway! I may buy a sports bra.

I hear you OP. I too wear a uniform to my p/t work, and then I’m usually in my gym gear all day when I am off.

I’ve only bought a handful of things this year. In fact, I have been through my wardrobe and I have sold, recycled or donated to charity what I don’t want. I made £700 on Vinted. Even today I went through my summer wardrobe and tried it all on (there are only about 10 things) and put 2 things in my recycling bag to go. Selling things has made me think twice and three times before I buy anything. The only things I have bought this year are keepers for a good few years, so I didn’t mind spending a bit on them.

So, my clothes, jewellery, accessories are all sorted, and I went through my whole house and declutterred earlier in the year. Now I need to address my toiletry stash, and makeup collection. I have loads of shoes, but not sure I want to cull them as I love them all.

I've gone a bit off the rails too.

Once I got rid of all the things I wasn't wearing there wasn't much left plus I filled out a little in the pandemic and my toes spread so so I needed shoes bras and some work clothes.

I also recently replaced all my ten year old shabby night wear which was poly cotton with 100% cotton nighties from La Redoute.

But it's thoughtful, not event driven or fashion driven. It's improve my life driven.

(Bit scared to do an item count thought)

I did quite well last month hardly bought anything. Need to keep it up now.

I am checking in with two purchases and also to say that I'm very glad I bought that pair of Chelsea boots from M&S in late March because sadly I have used them loads already - really wish I had a chance to wear my sandals on occasion this summer...but never mind...

Purchase of a canvas tote bag in bright colours (it has a zip so should work well year-round) after getting rid of two well used old bags. It was 60% off and I'm treating it as a replacement item.

Also scored a bnwt swimsuit at local charity shop for £5 which will be very handy on our holiday to the USA to visit family in 2 weeks. 😊

Trying to pack a few older clothes that I wouldn't mind donating when we leave, so that there's space in my luggage for a few new things, but I'm intending to stick to my low-spend on clothing goals during our trip and mostly enjoy experiences.

I've fallen off the wagon quite a lot recently. I did allow myself to buy some clothes for my birthday in May, but went a little bit overboard. And at the same time also bought some basic tshirts and vest tops to replace stained/moth eaten ones I have.

(So I kind of think that was ok).

But I'm going on holiday to a really hot humid place and bought a dress yesterday for it. For me I think the problem is not just the actual buying that's the issue, it's the constant looking online for clothes - and I've started doing that again in looking suitable clothing for my holiday. I had stopped doing this and was spending my time doing much more productive things.

On the plus side I've realised that I want to step away from fashion and only buy things that will last for years. I find vinted really distasteful for all of the new and nearly new things that people sell for not very much money. (And I count myself in that).

Do bags count

@HelenHywater I relate to it not just being actual buying but the time spent ‘researching’. With seemingly limitless options, you can spend so much time down an internet rabbit hole. Hannah Louise Poston did a YouTube about this earlier in the year, she was limiting herself to certain windows of internet time.

I find the summer much easy to dress for (even this ‘summer’) which stops me feeling something is missing which drives my searching and shopping.

My issue is more changing my mind a lot on what my style is. One minute I’ll be in full on ‘had my colours done’ territory, the next wanting quiet neutrals. One minute I want to follow the fashion for looser jeans, the next thinking skinnies look best. I used to be into low rise trousers, now it’s mid rise. At the moment it’s all about necklines. Also feeling like my wardrobe isn’t casual enough now that putting on a pair of heels makes it look like you are dolled up. Think I’m still adjusting to the post pandemic world where I’m not going out to work every day. The balance between what you actually need.

I’m at an age where you really think I would have settled into something a bit more stable and be buying those classic quality pieces everyone talks about. I think it’s just I really love clothes/styling and it’s how I like to spend my disposable income (but obviously that just isn’t right for the planet).

Spend wise I’m still on target but 60% spent and the winter is my downfall and I have in mind the need for new boots and a new coat so expensive items. My current coat is very worn and tatty, which is another weird thing in that with some things I chop and change but others get worn to almost literal death. I’d love it if all my clothes served me like that but haven’t found the secret yet.

@TheOGCCL I'm exactly the same! I need some variety in my wardrobe. I've noticed within 6 weeks I'm totally sick of whatever I'm wearing, then by next year I'm longing to wear those old favourites again. I experimented with my style a lot in recent years. Now, like you, I'm finding the post pandemic world is all about making dressy pieces look more casual so I don't look like I belong in a different era. I don't know if this will help you at all but I've discovered muted colours count as neutrals for me and mix seamlessly with all my other clothes. Once I looked at it like that, I was able to stop buying lots of brighter jewel coloured things that look good on me but don't always go with everything else I own. I also discovered that I don't need pastels in my wardrobe. If I stick to those muted colours and some traditional neutrals and crucially stop wearing black then my wardrobe feels light and bright enough. I've settled on jeans/trousers that are neither extreme. Straight legs that are shaped round the butt then straight down from the thighs, bootcut that aren't too flared. Long and pooling round my ankles a little, but can be folded up neatly at the bottom to shorten them. I've decided the way forward is to make a decision to just pick some styles I like and stick to them. More personal style than upto the minute fashion. It's taken a few years but I finally feel like I know how to make my wardrobe cohesive and with enough choice I don't get bored, but without having a ridiculous amount of clothes.

@TheOGCCL I'm the same. I can't decide what my style is, so keep trying different things. More recently I've decided that I only want timeless clothes in the Margaret Howell/Studio Nicholson/Toast vein. (but with vinted prices) . Then I see someone else and think their clothes are nice.

I was successful earlier this year at completely shutting out any interest in clothes or fashion and I honestly felt happier. So I'm going to try to get back there.

@HelenHywater it's TV shows for me. I follow a show and see a character and like how the costume department dressed them and then I want their entire wardrobe 🤦

It's been a learning curve for me to work out how to dress for MY life and not some fantasy version of me.

I'm getting better at doing stuff like wearing more or less the same clothes but with, for example, red lipstick 💄 and a 🍒 hair clip when I want something different.

I have three main modes, basic clean girl, rock chick and elegant lady. Hair, make up and accessories help me shift my appearance to match how I feel. Especially as I always want to be comfortable. Changing the top or the shoes can shift something too.

I have only really bought essentials like leggings and two Cardigans which wasn't essential.

I have been to ascot and Wimbledon in two of my more everyday dresses and felt comfortable in that choice, didn't feel under dressed.

I think it's totally shifting my mindset. I have turned all my hangers around and I bearly wear 95% of my clothes anyway. I went to a posh do yesterday and wore a Monsoon dress I bought from a charity shop but I don't remember when I bought it. Had lots of compliments for a dress I forgot I had