£1200 per year

[fatgirlswims]

I have this much to spend each year on clothes.

Is it possible to look nice with this amount of money?

I have to buy everything with this from pants and bras to costs and winter boots!
Holiday clothes and travel items, work clothes, gym clothes, event clothes everyday clothes.

I just want to look nice and not a grumpy mess!!

How can I spend this wisely?

Of course it is. Vinted is your friend. Look for styles you like online and think in terms of outfits that go together.

Do you need to buy it all every year?

I tend to buy all of those every few years rather than annually. Last bought winter boots three years back, they were ankle boots and replaced my knee high boots this year.

Gym wear is my most worn clothing and a lot of it has been going strong for over 3 years, again replace as needed. I do buy trainers every 6-9 months but that’s due to wear and tear.

Haven’t bought a coat for last 2 years, maybe will get one next winter.

My advice would be focus on a couple of things you need to replace and start with them.

Do you actually need to buy everything at once? For example, you don't need specific holiday stuff until you go on holiday, and even then it depends on where you're going and what you'll be doing .You might not need anything beyond what you normally wear. You don't need event stuff until you've got an event to go to. What I'm saying is that you don't need to cover everything out of the money you have now.

Plenty enough! Once you’ve got winter boots and a couple of decent jackets/coats then those aren’t going to be recurring annual costs.
Buy well as in decent fabrics and not high fashion cuts and patterns/prints, and think about a capsule wardrobe for summer and winter. Couple of transitional pieces that will see you through spring/autumn.

Do you need to include workwear in that?

Yes, that’s huuuuge amount of money on clothes. I spend less than this and buy high quality.

I replace my winter boots and coat every 2-3 years, my trainers every 1-2 years, new nice handbag every 3-4 years. Then buy 2-3 new items a year at £100-£250 each. Anything beyond that I get from Vinted, usually selling other stuff in order to raise the funds. I never buy fast fashion and vary rarely by from standard high street.

Yes of course, that’s loads. Are you buying a whole new wardrobe every year? Ignore fashion and buy fewer things but better quality.

No I have £100 per month from salary but annualised is £1200

Thanks I'll take all this into consideration!

Gives me hope!

How has this come about, do you not have a starting wardrobe as it were?
Are you starting from scratch? I think trainers and socks, are probably the only thing I replace more than once a year. I bought 3 pairs of jeans this year because my others had worn out but some clothes are 5/10/15 years old. And I don't even buy expensive clothes.
My winter coat for example was £30-40 from new look and it's on its 4th winter. I have a smart coat from Monsoon and that is 10+ years old.
(I would add I'm not especially smart or stylish but I do have a lot of variety of clothes!)

I think it’s plenty if you shop smart. Assuming you’re not starting from scratch, £100 a month would get you one bigger item a month - jumper/trainers etc and leave a bit for small items - t shirt, underwear etc. I’d definitely go on Vinted - a couple of £100 spends in the winter would get you a nice wool coat and a couple of good quality cashmere/wool jumpers.

Might the amount be supplemented by birthday or Christmas gifts or an unexpected bonus? And also presumably this exact amount won’t remain the same for ever?

It’s perfectly possible to dress well on that budget. As others have said, you surely don’t have to replace everything on an annual basis? The important thing is to work out which items of clothing are most important for your lifestyle - and try to acquire the best and must hardwearing versions of those things, whether sportswear or a coat or boots.

Pre-owned sites, charity shops and T K Maxx are definitely your friends here. But also negotiating with any amenable siblings or friends for purposes of borrowing or swapping.

Never waste money on single use clothes. Your goal should be to build up your wardrobe through careful shopping for versatile garments that work together and can be worn everywhere.

Of course, I spend around half that. Clothes should last so buy staples that have years in them even if they cost a bit more. When buying special event clothing try to choose things that can be worn again or consider renting if it's really a one off situation. Even gym wear should last more than a year worn twice a week.

Vinted, charity shops etc can be helpful but avoid fast fashion as quality tends to be poor and if it's "very in" then more likely to be out next year!

I think you need to make a list of what you've currently got, work out what needs replacing, or how frequently you replace things and then work out a rough budget to allocate to items. e.g. you don't need a new winter coat and boots every year but you might need one next year if your current one is old. Gym clothes can last a while but my running trainers last about 3months so that would be about a third of your yearly budget! My summer holiday clothes mostly get worn for one week a year so they last a long time too. If you can't afford to keep buying new things then you need things that are more timeless rather than very current trend.

Lol, I probably haven't spent that in ten years.

Probably spend half that including cosmetics! The fashion industry is the worst polluter after cars apparently.This seems a good amount to me .Spending more this year as Sons wedding.still not more than 1200 though. Ebay ,charity shops and sales for me !

What do you do, @bifurCAT?

I'm a consultant and make a good living, but I just have very low desire for fashion and brands.

Definitely no insult to anyone who 'cares', I do envy those who look good and put the effort in, it's just not me.

I tend to wear out shoes... maybe a new pair a year, no more than £30 or so, and the only thing I wear out are gym clothes. Underwear are basic, clothes are pretty simple... I'm more of a fade into the background person.

It also helps that as a consultant (I won't go into too much detail as it's outing), I drive there and change into new clothes upon arrival, and the rest is working from home in comfy clothes so I don't wear out much.

Thats similar to my budget - but everything isn't replaced in one go each year. Maybe underwear (try Asda) but unless you have lost or gained a lot of weight then most clothing doesn't need replacing each year. I guess shoes and coats are the most expensive here and if these need replacing you will need to save and budget around this.

I tend to buy clothing at Next or Asda so not the very cheapest but not expensive either.

Have a read through this thread. I think it’ll be super helpful to help formulate a plan:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/3797652-thanks-to-s-b-i-m-finally-winning-in-the-pursuit-of-elegance?page=21&reply=141804199

Ah … I asked because even those with a ‘low desire for fashion and brands’ need clothes to cover nakedness, and suitable footwear - so I wondered, for the OP’s sake, how and where you source the things you do buy.

(And of course even people who make all their own clothes would have to spend a significant amount on fabrics and tools!)

I suppose it depends on what kind of work you do, but my work wear for smart-casual office was pretty much the same as I would wear to go out for a pub meal or shopping - so a jersey dress with tights and boots or sandals or smart jeans and a shirt/sweater.

Never waste money on single use clothes. Your goal should be to build up your wardrobe through careful shopping for versatile garments that work together and can be worn everywhere.

Absolutely agree with this. I’m actually towards the end of creating a capsule wardrobe. I had a couple of bits already (like 2 pairs of trainers, black leather ankle boots) but the majority I have had to buy new because of my new shape after DC. I’ve spend about £500 really getting the basics down - good quality T-shirts for layering (Cos), 2 pairs of jeans which I actually feel comfortable in (H&M & Zara), 3 pairs of drawstring wide leg trousers (Zara) & layers - various cardigans & jackets (Zara, H&M). Next stop is bras (again I need a new size after DC) & matching knickers.

A couple of things that really helped me was:

• thinking about what I actually enjoy wearing (for me, that’s wide leg trousers with trainers)
• thinking about my actual lifestyle & what clothes fit that lifestyle (I’m casual 90% of the time)
• choosing a colour palette & uploading everything to an app like Stylebook to make sure everything goes with everything else

ETA: I’ve also avoided anything with pattern (except for 2 striped cardigans) as I feel more put together in plain colours. Now I’ve nearly got the basics down, I’ve started looking a more things to pull outfits together like coloured hair claw clips, coordinated socks (as they are on show when wearing my slightly cropped jeans) etc

Of course. I agree with PP about the second hand route. For example you can pick up gym kit like leggings and tops cheaply in the charity shops so long as you don’t mind if stuff is mismatched. I personally don’t mind and it saves you quite a bit of money. I managed to find a pair of Lululemon leggings this way which I was chuffed with.

Do you buy a full set of clothes each year ? Surelt you don’t need a new coat and boots every year ?

i have a similar budget and i set myself a challenge to stretch my money as far as i can. Through sales and bargain hunting, i saved over £500 last year. i've already saved £180 this year.

ebay/vinted - you can filter by brand, size and new/pre loved condition. i buy a lot of my work clothes from ebay and always go for new with tag items eg boden skirts for £20.

sales - i wait for sales to buy my underwear and nightwear. i bought sports bra in the winter sales for half price recently.

shopping around - i saw some shoes i really wanted, but i didn't want to pay full price for them.. i kept an eye out for offers and found them on the john lewis website in thr sake.

shop out of season - i bought a coat this time last year in the sales and saved it for this winter.