With Wearing It All Summer complete, I moved onto Wearing It All Autumn. I didn't know how long I'd keep it up for as the deeper into Autumn we got the more the weather thwarted my efforts to take daily outfits shots outside, my efforts to take photos inside has always been fruitless, but I continued for as long as I could.

I don't rejoice in the arrival of autumn, I prefer the warmer months when I can go out without a coat, the first time I wear a pair of socks after the summer always elicits a sigh of resignation, no more sunshine for a while...

I like jumpers, scarves, lighting the wood burner but letting go of summer is always a bit of a trial. This year it seemed that summer vanished overnight, replaced by howling winds and lashing rain. There was no gentle transition.

By the time I'd started week four of my autumnal Wearing It All, and I'd given up on trying to wear just one layer or going sockless. I wore scarves, and three layers on some days.

I started this challenge with a haircut. I did it myself, after watching a number of YouTube tutorials I decided to give it a go. It looked OK (it now needs another trim). I've yet to find a hairdresser that cuts my hair exactly how I ask them too, so in terms of getting what I wanted it's a success. Sure, it wasn't technically brilliant, but it was good enough, and I saved myself £35 and half an hour in a chair wearing a face mask, making small talk.

So, five paragraphs into the post, here's week one of Wearing It All Autumn. The first two days saw the last of the sunshine. I actually took off the long navy cardy and pottered in the garden relishing the feeling of the sun on my skin. But the next day it started to rain, then the wind got up (see day 5) and it didn't get much better.

Day 3 and 4 I wore one of my new tops. With the Summer Wearing It All challenge I know I have to wear something different everyday otherwise I wouldn't stand a chance of wearing all of my warm weather clothes. The summer challenge caused a lot of washing, and it took me a while to work my way through the resulting ironing pile! But as I have fewer cold weather clothes I can wear them more than once. I normally rarely wear something just once and then wash it, unless I dribble my dinner down the front (which happens more often than it probably should). I'm happy to wear something 3 or 4 times before dropping it into the laundry basket, especially if it's been worn with something underneath. How many times do you wear your clothes before washing them? My Aunt will wear something a maximum of twice, but my Uncle will wear something all week - if my Aunt lets him get away with it :)

The rain continued into week 2.

Out came the thicker layers, I did try to go bare ankled on a few days but usually by midday I'd pulled on a pair of socks and some slippers. It was socks weather from this point forward.

I went out twice during week 2, you can tell by the fact I'm carrying a bag. One was a trip to the supermarket, the other a trip to the post office, charity shop, and garden centre. I filled the boot with plants, some for the garden, others for the hanging baskets. I was so focused on the plants that once I'd wandered about outside I was half way round the inside before I realised I'd forgotten to put on my face mask. I was mortified and hoped no one had noticed. There were only a few other customers, and I hadn't been in spitting distance of anyone (not that I spit, it's disgusting), but I still felt awful, I'd been so engrossed in my own thoughts that simply hadn't registered the fact that I'd passed from outside to in.

Week 3 and I grabbed all of my jumpers and cardigans out of storage, and every last item of summer clothing was stored away. The long mustard cardigan is my most recent clothing purchase. I'd popped to my local charity shop after my friend told me that they're getting loads of items donated but not much custom. I'd hate to see it close so I made a few purchases - every little helps right?

This is where I stopped photographing the Wearing It All challenge, the weather was miserable and didn't allow for daily photos so whilst I still tried to wear as much of my wardrobe as possible, I just didn't document it, and I'm sure there's only so many photos of me standing in front of a wall that you can stomach.

We're well into winter now with icy cold winds and gales, overnight frosts that last all day and the threat of snow. It's rather nice not to have anywhere to go at the moment.

I hope you're all well, take care, and keep warm!
xx

I purchased just one item in October and then nothing in the final two months of 2020. I bought a mustard yellow cardigan, £7.50 with the original tags on, from a charity shop. It took me a tiny bit over my budget but I've reduced my spending so much this year I'm still really pleased with the final total.

LAST YEAR

I purchased a lot in October, November and December in 2019.

In December my first purchase was a new black jumper from Next, £15.00, which has been worn 30 times and is still going strong. A preloved blue long sleeve tee (not pictured), £2.00, was purchased to wear as a PJ top and shows little sign of wear so far.

On the same shopping trip I bought a preloved green jumper, £3.75, which hasn't been worn as much as I thought, but it remains in my wardrobe to be worn again.

There was just one purchase in November, an orange jumper, £2.50, bought during a charity shop rummage with Sophie and Kezzie. It's been worn 15 times so far and each time the bright cheery colour has made me smile.

October bought a bumper crop of preloved items my way.

A black M&S v neck top (not pictured) £3.50. Lace top £3.00. The closest thing I will ever get to a Christmas jumper, £5.99. Also purchased for the Christmas festivities was a stripe sequin top, £6.99, but this was worn in the summer too. Grey jumper £4.75, this one is a particular favourite of mine. It's been worn 42 times so far.

The Tu Premium check coat, £12.50, hasn't been worn much (I haven't been out much this autumn / winter) and I still need to replace it's ugly button, but I think it'll be around for a while.

A black twist front t-shirt (not pictured), £1.50, turned into a forgotten purchase. I think it's somewhere in the suitcase under my bed...  and a check shirt (which can be seen below), £1.90, that was a pig to iron was relegated to the donation pile, after being worn 15 times. I later saw it in my local charity shop with a £3.99 price tag!

I wasn't sure about these coated jeans, £4.99 from ebay, but I've grown to like them.

And finally two bras (not pictured) totaling £11.00.

 

Final total for 2020: £205.85

Total at this time last year: £400.10

Left of £200.00 budget: -£5.85

Items purchased: 20 (pre-loved: 16) (new: 4)

My aim had been to buy just one item per month this year but I didn't always succeed. The final tally was 20, but given that some years I've bought over 100 items it's still a big improvement.

For the fifth year running I'm keeping track of my spending on clothes, shoes, and accessories with A Buyer's Archive.

I'm not sure if I'll continue with A Buyer's Archive next year, 5 years seems like a nice number at which to draw things to a close. One of the aims was to keep track and reduce my spending and I've managed that so maybe I'll just keep a note throughout the year and write a round up post in December.

I hope you celebrate the New Year in style this evening, Happy New Year!

xx

The warm weather already seems like a dim and distant memory doesn't it? Thankfully the last few weeks of my Wearing It All Summer challenge had enough warm days for me to wear a few more items from my Summer wardrobe.

Week 10 saw two days wearing DIY clothes, but the other days I focused on items I hadn't yet worn. I'd been waiting for the weather to warm up and the week started out warm enough to wear a sleeveless shirt, and then a knee length dress. I'm keeping the dress but the shirt (kept twisting) and the jeans (just a tad too tight) have already been donated to charity.

Week 11 started with my very long wide leg trousers. Now that I'm thicker around the middle than when I purchased them they sit higher up so aren't as trip-hazard long, but they could still do with being taken up. Which I will do, along with some mending that's needed around the waistband (a result of treading on the too-long hem).

It was lovely to wear my paisley dress again, I used to wear this a lot and it always reminds me of our honeymoon. I don't like the grey tee paired with my new-to-me stripe skirt so it's an outfit that won't be repeated. The final few outfits of the week allowed me to wear my old black jumper a few more times. I keep thinking 'this will be too tatty to wear soon' but it just keeps going.

Week 12 The dresses were both birthday presents, I liked the red one paired with jeans when I wore it but now that I look at the photo I don't like it nearly as much. The final days of the week were deliciously warm and allowed me to wear a few of my summer tops - something I didn't think I'd be able to do. It was nice to be able to enjoy a few days of sunshine. I was aware that each sunny day could be the last one of the year, and spent time outside to enjoy it before autumn made it's presence felt.

The challenge got me out of my habit of wearing the same items on repeat, and it helped me slim down my wardrobe a little, which hopefully is something I can continue to do over the coming weeks. Whilst I'm not someone who rejoices in digging my jumpers out of storage, it will be nice to continue with the challenge wearing my cooler weather clothes.

I finished my Wearing It All Summer 2020 challenge yesterday. I've shared weeks 1, and 2 and 3, and weeks 4 - 6, so here are weeks 7 - 9.

These are the final few weeks of August, turning into September. Week 7 was a week of dresses. The final three were ones I had in the pile of stuff waiting to be listed on ebay, but I tried them all on first before doing so. I'm keeping the white one, it's about 5 years old and this is only the second time I've worn it! But I love it so it's staying (this could be my favourite outfit of the summer). The navy dress with what looks like a dolka dot pattern (it's actually raindrops) has a peter pan collar and a narrow band of pin tucks up the front, it's lovely. I picked it up at a clothes swap years ago but this is it's first wear. I think it's a little too short though so I won't be keeping it.

The burgundy polka dot dress hasn't been worn before either, I purchased it in 2016 and have no excuse for not wearing it, it's been saved from ebay... for now...

The only dress I'm not keen on out of these is the floral midi dress, which is a shame as I purchased this online at the beginning of lockdown, and I loved it when it arrived. I'm going to try it with different shoes, possibly add some accessories but if that doesn't work it'll go on ebay.

During Week 8 I actually went out! (you can tell by the wearing of a face mask). The first instance was just to the supermarket to pick up a few provisions. Day 5 was a photo an hour and a trip to the seaside for art galleries, and tea and cake.

Many tops worn over this week are rarely worn, the pink v neck top and black dress are items usually worn at Latitude (easy to wear and do not crease), but the blue dress is a new-to-me purchase, picked up from a charity shop on my way home from Aldeburgh the day before.

At this point I was starting to run low on clothes that hadn't been worn for the challenge that I could wear, I needed more sunny days so I could finish wearing all my summer tops and shorts but that wasn't to be...

Week 9, the weather was less than ideal and definitely not shorts weather. I took the opportunity to wear my recently purchased preloved stripe midi skirt again, which has knocked my green skirt off it's top spot, and it was lovely to wear my navy jumpsuit again.

I'm thinking the green dress is destined for ebay, it's pretty but rarely gets picked over my other dresses and I don't have the room to keep them all. The point of this challenge was to purge my wardrobe and it's worked to a certain extent, but I still have items I'm dithering about. Even though I want to wear all my clothing items as much as possible (ideally 30 times or more), if  something doesn't work I'm not going to wear it, so there is no point in keeping it.

I'll post the final update in a few days. In the meantime I've turned my attention to what to do next...

The last time I mentioned my Wearing It All Summer 2020 challenge was back in July. I've shared weeks 1, and 2 and 3, so a catch up is in order. If you have no interest in my daily outfits, look away now.

Week 4 was the last full week of July. The challenge has given me the opportunity to weed out the items in my wardrobe that I don't like, and those that aren't working. Each item is being assessed and I've already donated a number to charity and listed other items on ebay without wearing them for the challenge. Some items I picked up and simply thought a very definite 'no', and that was that. Other items I'm dithering about. 

I realised that my decision to buy only one clothing item per month this year, was partly due to not having room for any more clothes. I want to wear everything as much as I can but if I don't love something, or have a use for it, then it needs to go. A purge is long overdue.

From week 4 the green cords are going. I bought them from ebay, they're preloved and have been worn over 30 times. I dyed them last year from khaki to dark green, which I like but I just don't wear them anymore.

The other items are a mix of hardly worn, and worn a lot. The wide leg jeans, yellow maxi, and navy jumper have all been worn over 30 times. The jeans worn on day 5 and 6 are over 11 years old, and patched so many times I always wonder if they'll survive their next wash!

Week 5 took us from July into August. I decided to wear my face mask in any outfit shot taken on a day when I'd need to wear it, to keep a record of when I venture out, which as you will see isn't very often. This instance was a trip into town, my first since March. 

During this week the temperature started to rise and it finally started to feel a little more like summer again. Dresses and skirts came out of the wardrobe, and I dared to bare my arms. The khaki maxi dress has been mended, I'll tell you the story in a future post, and the skirt worn on day 6 and 7 was one of the three items I purchased in town earlier in the week.

Week 6 starts and ends with tops I bought on my trip into town in week 5. I'm not completely sure about the navy / orange vest top but I think I'll persevere. If I decide against it I have a few people in mind who might like it. 

The weather really started to heat up over the course of the week, hence the wearing of shorts on 4 consecutive days. I could've worn shorts on day 3 too, but I left early for a trip to the beach when it was still overcast, and I didn't trust it to warm up much. I wore the mask for a minute when I went inside to buy ice cream. The day before I'd been into Tesco, popped to the Post Office, and thoroughly enjoyed wandering around a garden centre for the first time in months!

The burgundy heart print shirt has been mended recently too. I sat down one Saturday and mended a number of items, which was such a satisfying way to spend an afternoon.

I'll leave this here and catch up on weeks 7 - 9 in another post. I still have items unworn (and some new-to-me items to wear!).

How are things with you?

Two items to add to the #30Wears Badge of Honour list. They're both good wardrobe staples that have plenty of wear left in them, despite being worn a lot.



This F&F jacket has been worn 44 times since I purchased it in April last year (a month in which I purchased rather a lot). I was on a charity shop rummage with Sophie and someone brought it into the shop whilst we were in there. I spied it on the counter and liked the look of it. Before the staff could even hang it up, I asked if I could have a closer look, I checked the size and enquired about the price, within a minutes of it being donated I was paying for it and happily popping it into my shopping bag.

I wore it that day. It was a day of the strangest weather. We had sun, rain, wind, hail and, I think, even a tiny flurry of snow. The extra layer was most welcome.



These pre-loved (but almost brand new) boyfriend jeans were purchased in May last year and have racked up 52 wears.

Do you ever automatically team two items together? It seems that since I found a pair of heeled burgundy boots in September last year, I haven't worn these jeans with anything else! I have a green jumper that until very recently was only ever worn with a particular pair of wide leg jeans. It seems I'm a creature of habit.

Anyway these jeans need to be worn with a heel as they're rather long in the leg, I've tried to wear them with a roll up but it just looks daft, they're too wide. These jeans and my burgundy boots go well together, why mess with a good combination?

---

The 30 Wears concept was the brainchild of Olivia Firth, founder of Ecoage, the idea is that the next time you want to buy new clothing or accessories, ask yourself if you will wear the item at least 30 times? If not, don’t buy it!

To see other items that have earned the #30Wears Badge of Honour click here. 

I share all of my charity shopped clothing purchases in my Buyer's Archive posts, but I rarely share all the other things I find. There's a wealth of loveliness to be found on the charity shop shelves.

Here are a few items that came home with me recently.



Stoneware Pot
When we moved in and realised we didn't have a single drawer in the kitchen I purchased a wicker cutlery holder to put on the worktop. After eight years of daily use the base was broken and full of holes. I had a rummage in the pantry to see what I could use as an alternative.

I found a utensils pot that once belonged to my Mum and Dad, I think it was one of their wedding presents, and a large stoneware pot that I'd sometimes use as vase (purchased from a charity shop some time ago). Both were perfect for larger cutlery items but my teaspoons needed somewhere to live.

My next charity shop rummage offered up this ideally sized little stoneware pot, decorated with a rather attractive looking cow. To keep them all together I put them on a round wooden tray we'd been given on our wedding day. I rather like the overall effect.



Teddy
I'm not really a teddy bear kind of person, I just have two soft toys from my childhood, and a giraffe that Andy gave me for my 40th birthday. But this little chap just looked like he needed to come home with me, he cost all of £2.00. He sits in my office, surrounded by books. He seems happy.



Glasses Case
I lost the case I'd been given free by my optician, I wasn't too bothered as I'm not known for putting my glasses away anyway, but on occasion I do need something. I picked up this pretty zipped case for just £1.50. 



Ceramic Bird
At the beginning of the summer I went to The Suffolk Craft Society Summer Exhibition with my Dad. A collection of these little birds by ceramic sculptor Mary Wyatt were on display, and I so very nearly parted with £25.00 to bring one home with me. A few weeks later I spotted this one on a low shelf in a charity shop for £5.00. Needless to say I didn't think twice.

What have you found recently?

In April this year Glamour magazine wrote that on average we wear an item of clothing just 14 times in the UK (not that they quoted the source of the findings). In France it's higher at 30 wears.

30 wears is also the number that Livia Firth, Co-founder and Creative Director of Eco-Age, puts on a purchase, saying "The biggest message is every time you buy something, always think, “Will I wear it a minimum of 30 times?”. If the answer is yes, then buy it. But you’d be surprised how many times you say no. That should tell you something about how the current model in fashion is unsustainable - and needs urgent change." (source)

I started to keep a record of how many times I wore new and new-to-me items back in October 2017, so I could see the items that were worn 30 times or more, and how long it took me to do so. It'll come as no surprise when I say that I've become fascinated by the amount of times I wear an item of clothing.

As well as keeping a tally of the number of times I wear certain items, I also keep a tally of my spending on clothes, shoes, and accessories in A Buyer's Archive. This has made me aware of how much I buy, and spend, and how much either never gets worn or is worn only a handful of times.

I've been doing this since the beginning of 2016 and as a result I've changed my spending habits. The biggest, if somewhat gradual change, is that I buy fewer new items from the high street, preferring to choose used instead.

Not only that the way I shop has changed too. I'm much more aware of what's in my wardrobe, and what I'm most likely to wear time and time again. Give me a well fitting pair of jeans and I'll wear them until they fall apart. Give me a summer dress that has fussy sleeves, that I can't put a cardy over, and it'll languish in the back of my wardrobe for most of the year.

Before I'd never question how many times I might wear something, or how long I might hang onto it. When I hadn't worn an item for a while I'd donate it to charity or, on rare occasions, sell it on ebay. And there's nothing wrong with that, but I want to reduce my consumption as much as possible.

When I started this blog nine years ago, fashion was very much disposable to me, and it's not something that I questioned. But more recently I began to feel the need to question it, to make changes to limit my contribution to the damage the fashion industry has on the environment.

I'm pleased with how my attitude and spending habits have changed over the years, but there is always room for improvement. I still feel I buy too much, and don't wear what I have nearly enough.

Having completed a Wearing it All wardrobe challenge over the summer, I was made aware of exactly how many clothes I own, carrying on that challenge into Autumn highlights this further.

So, I'm pondering a limit of buying just one item a month for 2020, switching my focus to making the most of what I currently own, and getting more of my wardrobe up to 30 wears and beyond.

You know I like a challenge, and this would be my biggest yet.

The Slow Fashion Season challenge is now over, which means, for me, Wearing It All 2019 is over too. SFS was about buying no new clothing for the three months of the summer, and my Wearing It All idea was to wear a different outfit everyday for the summer. I managed to wear all but a few of my many summer clothes.

















I'd almost given up on having a proper summer, we'd had so much rain, lots of drizzle, and were battered with high winds. The temperature wasn't bad, it allowed for bare ankles and arms, but it was less than ideal. It gave me the opportunity to wear a few of my many shirts, and a few jumpers got an airing too, but for August the weather was a disappointment.



Until the final week when the sun returned! It was so nice to be treated to several days of gorgeous weather that coincided not only with my birthday, but also with Andy's sister and her family coming home for a visit. We went to the beach - twice - swam in the sea (I can not remember that last time I did that in this country), spent a very enjoyable afternoon in the garden playing in a paddling pool and throwing myself down a makeshift water slide. And we camped out in the back garden, toasting marshmallows over a campfire, none of which would've happened if the weather hadn't been so good.





My shorts came out in force, and I tracked down all my sleeveless tops. The weather was glorious!

The khaki dress and the red floral sleeveless shirt are birthday gifts from Andy. I briefly wondered if accepting gifts of new clothes broke my Slow Fashion Season pledge. I decided that I didn't buy them so it doesn't count. I love both items and know they'll be worn a lot. There is no such thing as disposable fashion in my house.

This is everything I wore over the summer, except for two outfits worn at Latitude, and the scruffs I wore to decorate in.

This challenge has made me wonder if it's time to rethink my seasonal capsule wardrobes. The reason I started them was to stop those moments when I looked into my overstuffed wardrobe and declared that I had nothing to wear. I wanted to streamline what I had, which I did, and then I stored out of season and non capsule items under my bed.

It worked, living with a capsule wardrobe simplified things but it has lead to a lot of lovely clothes languishing in an old suitcase, out of sight. I wasn't willing to part with a lot of things because I liked them so much, but I also continued to add items to my wardrobe. I now probably have more clothes than before I started the capsules. It's time to start wearing more of my wardrobe, and shopping a little less!

I've decided to continue Wearing It All into the autumn.

It was sale season in the charity shops this month and I picked up a few lovely items for the end of summer, and, nearer the end of the month, a few items for the coming season.

THIS YEAR


Laura Ashley shirt £2.00
I love this but I'm not sure I'm going to keep it.

Heart vest top £1.00
This is such a sweet little top, it's been worn twice already but has been put away until the weather warms up again.

Shorts £2.00
Another bargain, worn once before the sun left us again.

Long tunic top £2.00
I didn't get a chance to wear this and it could actually be a dress, I'm sure I'll wear it as a top and a dress next year.

Winter coat £11.50 (it was actually £12 but I found 50p in one of the pockets when I got home)
This is originally from Next and would've been £80.00 if I'd bought it new. I've been keeping an eye open for something like this.

Burgundy boots £12.00
After finding a fabulous pair in December '17 and then selling them earlier this year due to their uncomfortable nature I was delighted to find these. They've got a smaller heel, making them far more comfortable, and they don't have suede parts meaning I can wear them in any weather without worry.

My autumn wardrobe is shaping up nicely.


LAST YEAR

Bras. Altogether these cost £50.00. They do their job but I haven't worn them as much as I thought I would. The white one is a sod to fasten so is often discarded. Bras are such a boring thing to have to spend money on.

Leather shoulder bag  |  £7.50  |  pre-loved This is a really nice bag and was used a lot until I found a wonderful leather tote bag in February this year.

Tote bag  |  £5.75  |  pre-loved
This is great for charity shopping and beach days alike.

Red shirt  |  £2.00 in the sale  |  pre-loved
I seem to have accumulated a number of shirts over the last few years, this one has only been worn 8 times so far.

Jeans  |   £66.15  |  La Redoute
A new purchase. I knew these would be worn a lot and the total currently stands at 107 times, and they're not anywhere near reaching the end of their useful live just yet...

Yellow jumper  |  £23.00 using a £5 discount code  |  ASOS
This is about to be dug out of my wardrobe for another season. It's been worn 22 times so far and I'm looking forward to wearing it again.

Blue shirt  |  pre-loved   |  £4.75  |  originally from Topshop
This one has been out of the wardrobe 20 times in the last year. It's a really good staple.


Total for September: £31.50

Total so far for 2019: £305.73

Total at this time last year: £406.56

Left of £500.00 budget: £194.27

Items purchased: 51 (pre-loved: 46 / new: 5) my goal is to buy fewer than 63.

With three months to go and nearly £200 left in my budget I'm hopeful that I can stay below a £500 spend this year. I know this total has everything to do with the fact that the vast majority of purchases have been pre-loved.

I'm not sure I'll buy fewer items than 63 (which is my lowest number of purchases since records began in 2012) because plans are afoot for another charity shop rummage with Sophie and Kezzie, but I hope it won't be far out.


For the fourth year running I'm keeping track of my spending on clothes and accessories with A Buyer's Archive.