A New Approach to Clothes Shopping
Just a heads up, these photos were taken for a different blog post that I then decided that I didn’t want to write, so I’m using them for this one instead, that I very much do want to write, even though they have no relevance whatsoever to the subject matter!
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about ways of shopping sustainably that aren’t:
Never buying clothes ever again
Exclusively buying clothes from sustainable fashion brands
Only shopping second hand
Each of these, especially the first one, feels too restrictive to me at the moment and when I try and put any of these methods into place, they are never successful. The truth is, I love shopping; I love clothes and I love getting dressed and new clothes do provide me with a lot of satisfaction, inspiration and genuine happiness.
Maybe this is materialistic- in fact, I’m sure it is. But having been brought up in a material world, as Madonna put it 15 years before I was born, it’s difficult and I would say impossible to just snap out of it, especially if, like me, fashion is the thing, or one of the things, you’re most interested in, and if, like me, it helps you to form your identity and is the source of a lot of your self-confidence.
So I’m trying to let go of any methods or mindsets that are completely abstinent in their approach, not because they’re not necessary, they completely are, but because, for me, they don’t work and I am desperate to find a sustainable way of approaching shopping for fashion that really works.
But although sustainability and the fact that our planet is in imminent danger is at the driving force of my new approach to shopping, it’s not the only reason for it. Having begun to clear out my wardrobe quarterly, I’ve noticed how many pieces in my wardrobe have been worn only a few times. I know a lot of people struggle with buying things for a particular events and only wearing them once but personally, I don’t find that this happens to me. My issue is the impulse purchase; the “oh it’s only £8 in the sale and I like it, why not?”
Well, why not is because this type of purchase is always the one that I’m getting rid of when I’m clearing out my wardrobe. These bargain pieces are the ones that fill up my wardrobe and make me feel like I’ve got nothing to wear, because all of the pieces in my wardrobe that I truly love are buried by these items of clothing that I feel more or less indifferent towards, after the gratification of finding such a bargain, that usually wears off within a few weeks.
Not only this, but these types of purchases are the ones that encourage fast fashion retailers to keep making cheap, disposable clothes that they can sell and make for cheap prices, in bulk and in the least sustainable, and most cost-effective way.
So, I’ve decided rather than having a wardrobe full of A LOT of clothes that I like, I want to have a wardrobe full of a selection of clothes that I love. Not a capsule wardrobe by any means (my bulging wardrobe doors will tell you that), but I am definitely taking some tips from the philosophy of the capsule wardrobe, the main one being that quality is better than quantity.
And I have decided that, for me, there is no real way to tell if I truly love a piece of clothing other than the price. I am never going to spend £80 on something (and that is A LOT of money for me on a student budget) unless I love it and know I will get lots of wear out of. And so, despite my limited funds this is the way in which I want to shop.
My plan is to buy one or two expensive pieces per month, ideally from sustainable brands but I am not going to feel endlessly bad about it if they do end up being from high-street brands or non-sustainable brands, because I know they will be sustainable purchases in that I will wear them for a long time and look after them well.
But because of my aforementioned shopping addiction, one or two pieces just aren’t going to cut it for me. I’d love to tell myself that they will, but realistically, if I set myself this target, I’ll only end up in and amongst the Topshop sale racks on my way home from uni buying those very pieces that never stand the test of time in my wardrobe. Getting dressed in the morning is often my favourite part of the day and I know I will feel the urge to buy more if I don’t have new pieces in my wardrobe to style, it’s not a sustainable mindset but it’s not something I can change overnight either, so I’m trying to find sustainable methods to deal with it.
The method I’m currently trying is that, along with my one or two expensive pieces a month, I’m also allowing myself to do as much second hand shopping as I want, and trying to visit charity shops at least weekly. If I slip and buy one or two high-street pieces a month at a lower price point, again, I’m not going to punish myself. One or two is better than four or five and I hope that, with time, I will stop buying from fast-fashion retailers altogether!
But, in reality, I’m not going to be able to afford many new clothes anyway after my investment pieces (I’m thinking of spending either around £80-120 on one item or £50-£60 on two items), so hopefully that will mean I have no choice but to abandon the high street and head to the charity shops.
So far this month, I’ve bought a dress in the & Other Stories sale for £26.55, obviously not a great start but it was a classic piece and I would like to think that I would have bought it at full price if I had the money to do so, and that it will last a long time in my wardrobe because of its timelessness. I have also spent £50 at Uniqlo on a jumper and a skirt (£25 each) but, again, both are great quality, classic pieces that I really don’t think I will grow tired of. Finally I bought a vintage playsuit that cost £19, which is in line with my new approach because it’s second hand.
So, clearly things aren’t going completely to plan yet, although Uniqlo and Stories are definitely better than lots of other fast fashion brands because they produce less clothing, but nevertheless, their sustainability credentials just aren’t good enough. I’m struggling with my investment pieces because I find it difficult to know when it’s the one I should be buying and I so I put the purchase of in case I see something I like more, but then this leads me to the high-street because I need to fulfil that space in my wardrobe (or the shopping urge) elsewhere. So maybe I should just be going with my gut instinct with investment purchases- any tips on this are welcome!
Anyway, I hope I can keep you updated on how this new approach to fashion goes, but so far this month (and during August) I’ve definitely bought less new clothes than I normally would, so my mindset must be changing, now my purchases just need to follow!
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A Percentage Breakdown Of My Winter Wardrobe by Brand
Links in the post marked with a * are affiliate links.
Hair Ribbon- Urban Outfitters
I’ve been spending lots of time over the past couple of months thinking about the pieces in my wardrobe. It’s definitely been inspired by learning more about capsule wardrobes and although I don’t think a wardrobe that is limited to 37 pieces (or whatever the amount is) is for me, I’m trying to ensure my wardrobe is filled with pieces that spark joy, as Marie Kondo would say, and make me excited to get dressed in the morning!
After thinking so much about my wardrobe over the past couple of months, I thought it would be interesting to divide it up into brands and calculate the percentage of space different brands take up in my wardrobe. This is probably the most maths-y thing I’ve done since my GCSEs, so excuse me if there are some errors. But I thought this might be something interesting to see for other people too, as it not only allows you have a nose around my wardrobe but it means I can share my favourite brands (they’re nothing out of the ordinary) with you all!
So, before I started this deep dive into my wardrobe, I made some estimations based on what I thought my wardrobe would look like in percentages. Oh and I didn’t include shoes (as most of my shoes are by specific shoe brands), only pieces of clothing, bags and scarves. I’ve also excluded loungewear and sportswear as, again, they’re mostly by specific loungewear/sportswear brands. Here are my estimations anyway…
20% Topshop
15% ASOS
15% Second Hand
15% Zara
10% & Other Stories
10% New Look
15% Other
So I wasn’t totally off with my guessed but I definitely wasn’t 100% accurate. To do the actual ‘calculations’, I put all of the items by one brand onto a rail, counted them and photographed them (I’ve linked to any of the items that are still available). Here are my actual results, starting with the top 5 most featured brands in my wardrobe…
(DISCLAIMER: some of my clothes are at Uni but I couldn’t really justify bringing them all home for one blog post. But I’d say the clothes in this wardrobe are the ones that make up my winter wardrobe, because I haven’t missed anything that’s been at Uni for the last two months.)
Rust t-shirt* (gifted), Light Wash Kick Flare Jeans*, Black Straight Leg Jeans*, Black Kick Flare Jeans*, Navy Coat* (I used my gifted Topshop voucher to pay for some of this coat, the rest I paid for with my own money)
1.Topshop - 17%
Unsurprisingly, Topshop is the number one most featured brand in my wardrobe and Topshop pieces make up 17% of all of my clothes. I wasn’t surprised about this one, only that the percentage wasn’t higher! Topshop has always been my go-to high street brand since I started buying clothes for myself and I feel as though I can always rely on them for trendy pieces that will, mostly, stand the test of time. Plus, I’ve been partnered up with them for the past couple of months so a few of the pieces I own by them are gifted, boosting the percentage a little.
As you might be able to tell, I love Topshop denim. Four out of my six pairs of winter jeans are from Topshop (the other two are second hand). Not only is their jeans sizing accurate but they have a wide array of styles, all of which have a little bit of stretch to them, which I like as comfort is always my number one priority. I also love Topshop outerwear and I have two faux leather pieces, a blazer and a proper winter coat from Topshop, all of which I get a lot of wear out of!
I was surprised that only one of my knitwear pieces was from Topshop, although I do absolutely love this cream knit, so maybe I have been neglecting Topshop’s knitwear? Let me know what you think of their knitwear if you’ve tried it!
2/3. In joint second/third place is Zara! Again, I was kind of expecting this one. I don’t feel as though I can rely on Zara as much as I can with Topshop. But when I do have a good root around one of their chaotic stores, I always find a gem.
Clearly I’m a big fan of their neutral colour palettes, which I wasn’t really aware of until putting all of my Zara pieces onto a rail. But I also really love their t-shirts, which is something I definitely knew beforehand. Zara t-shirts are usually always 100% cotton so they last for ages and fit so well. Plus they’re so well-priced, it’s kind of ridiculous! I also love Zara scarves as they stock them in great, on-trend prints, plus, they’re usually so big that they can double up as blankets.
2/3. Sharing second and third place with Zara is my selection of second hand clothes. Some of these are vintage pieces, some of them I’ve found in charity shops and others I’ve picked up on Depop. There isn’t as much of a theme with the second-hand pieces, for obvious reasons. Although I do love vintage jeans and the two pairs featured here are some of my favourites ever.
This rail is perhaps the one I look at most fondly, as all of these pieces have memories attached to them. That’s one of the best things about second-hand shopping. I’d really like to make the second hand section of my wardrobe a bigger one, not only to make my wardrobe a little bit more sustainable, but because of how much I love all these pieces and the way they make me feel!
4. I’m kind of surprised ASOS wasn’t higher up on this list! I really get my use out of their premium yearly Next Day Delivery and I’d say most of my purchases are made from ASOS. But I realised I buy a lot of branded clothing items from ASOS (many of which make up my ‘other’ category) so my clothing items by ASOS’ own brand aren’t so extensive.
These two bags are my absolute favourite bags and if ASOS does bring them out in another colour, I will 100% be picking them up! They’re a great size and just look super chic in my opinion. I also really like ASOS knitwear for affordable options as, although their shapes and styles aren’t always the most interesting, they create really good basics that are super comfortable.
5. And finally, in fifth place, we have & Other Stories. If I had the money, my entire wardrobe would be made up of Stories pieces. But, alas I do not! So 7% of my wardrobe will have to do for now. I’m kind of surprised that it’s such a low percentage but I think it’s just because I get so much wear out of these pieces that I feel like I have more Stories pieces in my wardrobe than I actually do.
& Other Stories’ knitwear is actually fairly affordable, compared to some of their other items, and it’s such good quality and fits brilliantly. I’d really like to invest in some of their outerwear as it’s just so beautiful and of a really high quality but, sadly, I don’t have the funds for that at the moment. Maybe next year! Or when I’m no longer a student…
So those are the top 5 brands that make up most of my wardrobe but I thought I would just quickly go through some other brands that are part of my wardrobe, but feature less heavily…
6% Urban Outfitters
5% Pull & Bear
4% H&M
3% New Look (again, I must just be getting a lot of wear out of my New Look pieces as I thought this would be higher)
3% Warehouse (I was surprised about this one as I don’t think I’ve ever stepped into a Warehouse store- I think most of it has been ordered from ASOS)
2% Mango
2% COS
20% ‘Other’ (mostly brands that I only have one or two pieces from such as Uniqlo, Primark, random brands that I’ve discovered on ASOS, Nobody’s Child, Miss Selfridge)
So there we have it! My winter wardrobe in percentages, by brands. I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, not least because it took me about 2 hours to go through my wardrobe like this! But, in all seriousness, I really enjoyed making this post and going through my wardrobe in this way, so let me know if you’d like to see some similar posts!
I’m thinking I could divide up all of my seasonal wardrobes in this way (although the UK doesn’t really have autumn or spring so maybe I can just do it with winter and summer) and maybe even divide my wardrobe into percentages based on the different pieces I own (e.g. t-shirts, blazers, knitwear etc.) Please do let me know if this is something you’d like to see!
Like I said, I’m never going to have a capsule wardrobe but being aware of what’s in your wardrobe is a great way of ensuring you make more responsible choices when it comes to buying new clothes. How aware are you of your wardrobe? Do you think you could accurately guess the space that different brands take up in your wardrobe? Let me know in the comments or on social media!
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Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks
Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks
Despite the fact that more and more people are trying to make better sustainable and ethical choices when it comes to shopping and the fashion industry, charity shopping is still so underrated. Some people think it’s pointless and that they won’t find anything they like, others just can’t get past the stigma that perhaps still surrounds it (that stigma being that charity shops are for old people). But I’ve been making the most of charity shops for the past couple of years and have found some incredible pieces there (including my favourite ever pair of jeans photographed here), so this post is an attempt to try and convert those of you who still aren’t buying from charity shops and to help those of you who already are really make the most of them.
All the pieces on this rail, and the ones on my body, in these photos are some of my favourite pieces I've bought from charity shops and many of them are some of my most worn and loved pieces, from this faux fur coat, to my favourite pair of jeans to the various pieces of knitwear. And the best bit? I didn’t pay over £10 for any of them. The majority of them cost under £5. The jeans I’m wearing that I’ve definitely worn over 100 times cost a mere £2 times- how’s that for cost per wear?
There’s definitely a knack to charity shopping, although some of it is just luck, in order to avoid going home empty-handed, so I hope these tips will help you crack it and encourage you to head down to your local charity shop next time you have a free afternoon...
1. Carve Out Time
As a general rule, you’re not going to be very successful if you only ever ‘pop in’ to a charity shop when you have 5 minutes. This is because, firstly, you’re not allowing yourself much time to root through all of the clothes in there and, secondly, you’re not going to be in the right mindset to do so.
I always plan my trips to the charity shops, sometimes days in advance. Doing this usually means that I get excited to go charity shopping, which means I’m very much in the mood for it when the time I have allocated myself comes around! I think this is essential and it's the main reason why I always plan. It means you’re very willing to dig through piles and rails of clothes to find those gems and makes the ‘chase’ enjoyable rather than frustrating. Also, because you’ve carved out this time purely for looking round charity shops, you won’t feel guilty about it or like you need to rush yourself, making the experience even more enjoyable!
As well as carving out time, visit charity shops as regularly as possible! They're constantly getting new stock and obviously the best stuff is going to go the quickest so the more often you can get there the better. I try and spend an afternoon there at least monthly but I would do so weekly if I had the time!
Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks
Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks
2.Ignore The Sizes and Always Try On
This one is an essential for all kind of second-hand shopping. If you’re checking the size of everything to see if it will fit, it’s going to be a time-consuming and frustrating shopping trip for you. If you see something that you like but you’re not sure it will fit, take it into the changing rooms and find out for sure.
The black trench that I’m wearing in these photo is a size 16 (I’m a size 8-10 for reference) but it fits just as I’d like a trench to fit. I actually almost didn’t take it into the changing rooms with me because of the size but I’m so very glad that I did!
Sizes change over the years and so does the way in which we like our clothes to fit. This means that you can’t browse a charity shop like a high street store because the clothes generally aren’t made for current sizes or current 'trendy' fits. Obviously this is a general rule as there is some more recent pieces of clothing in charity shops too but even with these, as I do whenever I’m shopping really, I tend to ignore the sizes as they’re literally just a number that many brands get wrong!
3.Dress Appropriately
As mentioned, trying things on is really important so you don’t want to be wearing an outfit that’s super difficult to get on and off. You also don’t want to be wearing shapes and colours that you don’t usually wear as you’re looking for things that will fit into your wardrobe, so wear an outfit that is fairly representative of the pieces in your wardrobe.
I tend to wear a really basic outfit, usually my favourite pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, my go-to coat and my Vans. It’s easy to get on and off and I can generally tell that, for example, if a shirt doesn’t look good with my jeans, I’m not going to get any wear out of it. Or if a pair of jeans don’t work well with my Vans, I’m also probably not going to wear them. Wearing an outfit you like that is made up of staple pieces means that you’ll be able to see how any pieces you’re trying on will fit into your wardrobe.
Oh, and always bring a belt! As I said, sizes don’t really matter. Some things you’ll try on might need a belt or a bit of tailoring so to make life easier for yourself just always have a belt with you so you can check if things would look better slightly altered.
Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks
A beautiful blouse that I picked up in a charity shop in Barcelona whilst on the hunt for polka dots.
4. Look Out For Colours and Prints
Usually clothing in charity shops isn’t presented very well. Racks are packed full with so many items of clothing that you can barely really see any of them individually. So it’s not really necessary, or possible, to look through every single item of clothing. Instead, just look out for colours and prints that you like. Maybe even figure out a colour palette that you’re trying to incorporate into your wardrobe or that you're already wearing a lot a before you go and then look out for these colours. I certainly did this before my most recent charity shop trip where I picked up the camel top I'm wearing and the camel jumper on the rack and I've already got a lot of wear out of both the pieces!
Doing this means you don’t have to look through everything and can find things that are your taste simply. Obviously there might be other things that stand out to you that don’t fit into this colour palette and obviously don’t feel as though you can’t buy these, buy whatever you want! But by having a colour palette in your head it makes the experience a little less overwhelming and more productive.
5. Location, Location, Location
All charity shops are worth visiting in my eyes because you never know when you might get lucky, but they do vary in price and stock depending on the location you find them in. City centre charity shops tend to be a bit more expensive- I think this is because the people who work there might be more aware of how much the clothes they receive are worth and also just because they're generally busier. I also feel that the good stock goes very quickly from city centre charity shops because of the aforementioned reasons.
The best charity shops, in my opinion, are the ones in small towns, preferably a residential area where lots of elderly people live, as not only does this mean that there will be A LOT of charity shops but it means that you're more likely to be able to find vintage pieces and things that haven't been worn as much because of the huge amount of clothing these branches receive. There are at least 8 charity shops in the small area where I live when I'm at home and these are always my favourite charity shops to visit as I'm always the most successful here.
Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks
Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks
So, here's my tips summarised:
Carve out time to visit charity shops
Visit regularly
Ignore sizes
Always try on clothing items
Wear staple, basic items on your visits
Wear clothes that are easy to get on and off
Always take/wear a belt
Choose a colour palette and focus on looking for that
Favour charity shops in residential areas over city centres
Forget the stigma around them because they're an absolute goldmine!
I hope this post has been helpful, whether it's encouraged you to make a visit to your local charity shop or has given you some new ways to improve your already regular visits. By choosing to buy clothes from charities instead of from the high street every now and then you're protecting the environment, your bank balance and giving money to worthy charities rather than the likes of Phillip Green when you're shopping on the high street.
Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks
Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks
Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks
Charity Shopping Tips & Tricks