I've begun to notice that over these past few months I've been buying less and less. I used to be the queen of shopping. If there was a shopping Olympics, I would have been a gold medalist every time. These days I wouldn't even qualify. I've become disillusioned with the post-shop feeling. What was once a feeling of pure satisfaction, now so often leaves me feeling guilty.
Why is this? The obvious answer would be to do with money; spending on things I don't need. Although that isn't the whole reason; it has a lot to do with how clothing has become so dispensable these days. Ever heard yourself say 'I've got nothing to wear' when in reality you have piles of perfectly good and probably very nice clothes? I definitely have. My second thought is the quality of the items we purchase is also often quite poor and yet they're still fairly expensive, especially in our everyday high street stores. Now, maybe spending that much on something of that quality would be justifiable if the manufacture of these items was not done by underpaid and undernourished third-world citizens, but alas, it is not.
In relation to this, there are some high-street stores taking a step in the right direction. For example I know that H&M apply very strict working conditions in their factories to ensure all human-rights are catered for. Hopefully other stores will follow in their footsteps, some I'm sure already have.
Now, I'm not just writing this post to tell you why I've fallen out of love with shopping. I want to tell you lovely people about an idea I've had. In short, I have decided to try my level best to not buy any clothes for the next sixth months (yes, this is going to be hard...I'm not sure I have the restraint...ahhhh panic).
'Why!?' I hear you exclaim. Well, it's a bit of an experiment really. Firstly, to see if I can actually do it and mainly because I have so many clothes that it just seems ridiculous to be buying more. Something I have thought about a lot is one of the main reason I think we buy ourselves new clothes so often is because it is an expression of who we are (see my previous post 'Fashion; what it means to me' for more on this) and well, simply because it is fun. So to allow this creative outlet to still flow I have made some compromises.
1. If I'm feeling bored of my wardrobe I can always make something new out of something old. This way I'm still, in effect, getting something new but I'm not adding to what I already have.
2. I can swap clothes with friends. I actually did this a few months ago with my old housemate, Matilda. We had rooms opposite each other and we took over the space in-between with all our clothes that we never wear any more, but couldn't quite bare to let go of. Both of us found we had really rather a lot, and also that we much preferred each others clothes. It was such a great way for both of us to refresh our wardrobes without spending a penny! You can even do this with a group of you, pack a suitcase full of all of your unwanted clothes, head over to someone's house, spread everyone's clothes out and just have fun. Make an event of it!
3. Borrow things! Okay, I do this anyway but I felt like I should still include it. Borrowing things from friends is such a great way to save money, especially for nights out where you buy something and then wear it once because you feel like 'everyone has seen it' or something (says the girl who just wore the same top three nights out in a row... not ashamed).
4. Pimp it up- just like that awful (but amazing) tv programme 'pimp my ride' but with clothes and probably a lot less extreme. Maybe it'll be a simple as adding a belt, or maybe I'll encrust it in Swarovski diamonds and build in some speakers (or not, but you get my gist).
So there we have it. I am not going to buy anymore clothes for sixth months... let see how that goes...gulp.
But before I go, I'll leave you with some advice from the oh-so-wise Vivienne Westwood;
Wish me luck,
Becca x
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