I know. Weird, right?

Having looked at what I purchased last year, I was shocked by the fact that 33% of new purchases hadn't been worn (or maybe only once). So I made myself a promise to reduce my spending in 2013 and actually wear the clothes that I have (I know I've said this before, but bear with me, I'm fighting against 20+ years of bad spending habits here).

I'm not going to impose a spending ban (it invariably has the opposite effect and sends me into a spending frenzy - my biggest monthly spend last year was September after a spending ban in August). Instead I'll be trying to stick to a monthly clothing budget. In the light of my clothes spending being over £1,700 in 2012, I'm going to try and limit it £700 this year. This gives me a budget of £58 (ish) each month.

So, how did I do in January?

The top four items pictured below are the result of an eBay frenzy in early January (before the monthly budget was introduced) and totals £19.78. The two scarves on the bottom row fed my scarf obsession and led to the realisation that reducing my scarf intake was going to be tough! The khaki shirt is something I have been keeping my eye open for. These items totalled £34.99.


In all I spent £54.77, and four of the items are pre-loved, so I'm pretty happy with that and I LOVE my new scarves!

In order to succeed in this I think I'll definitely have to avoid eBay, the thrill of winning an auction is too much of a temptation. One day I'll share my most ridiculous eBay purchase with you and you'll see what I mean!

Love

Hello,

It's been a little while. Things have been, I'm not even sure how to describe it, let's say, weird, uncertain and frustrating.

At the beginning of the week I thought I'd got it all sorted. Apparently, I 'misunderstood'. And now I just feel let down, frustrated, angry (not to mention a little stupid).

The thing is I didn't misunderstand, I was mislead and that's how my week, which started off as positive and that felt like a new beginning ended feeling totally screwed up. The situation is worse than before. The good news is that it is getting sorted, there will be a resolution, hopefully by the end of the week. So, maybe next week's Friday Letters will be on a more positive note.




Dear Style Is, The Dream in Green boots that I ordered with my Spartoo prize vouchers have arrived and they are fab.u.lous! Expect to see them in many future outfit posts.

Linking up with Friday's Letter.

Hope you are all well.
Love

Happy Monday (I'm trying to beat my dislike of Monday mornings with a positive attitude and sunny disposition… so far, so good).

It's Inspiration Monday time again from Megan and Nora at Two Birds Boutique. I adore our this week's muse, Alexa Chung. I don't have a dress like the one she is wearing here so I had to go for a shirt that kinda looked a little bit like it teamed with a short skirt. I also tried a faux bob (it's not really working though is it).


May I draw your attention to my boots for a moment, they're a preloved eBay purchase from November last year. I think I like them. I like them teamed with a short skirt, they have a little bit of a heel, aren't too dressy but not too casual either. Do you think they look okay? You can say 'no', I won't mind as long as you say it nicely :)

Having reached the grand old age of 37 - an age at which short skirts are a 'should-I-shouldn't-I?' item - I have a strict set of rules for how I wear a short skirt.

The shorter the skirt the less flesh you can reveal. Cover chest, shoulders and arms. Keep tops semi fitted or loose.

Any skirt above mid thigh always necessitates tights - I'm talking triple digit denier here. No exceptions.

Steer clear of anything completely figure hugging, if in doubt, buy the skirt one size bigger than normal. If still in doubt, don't buy it.

If you're going bare legged, the skirt should sit no more than an inch above the knee - that's short enough.

Bare legs + short skirt = casual flat or low heel sandals, or converse type casual trainers (not the sort of shoe meant for sport of any kind), or flip flops. No crocs. No Uggs.

The higher the hemline the lower the heel should be, unless it's party wear, in which case wear a dress and heels. Same rules apply for length of dress and hosiery as above.

And to think all of these rules are followed subconsciously and simultaneously…

Hope you have a great Monday
Love

Dear Hall, Stairs and Landing, Christmas is over and now I have you in my sights, soon you will be sanded, painted and transformed until you are almost unrecognisable. Then the kitchen gets it.

Dear Self, Stop thinking of new ideas. You can do anything but not everything. Look at the pile of books you have to read, the wool you need to transform in to pretty things, the seeds you have to nurture, the clothes to mend, the recipes to cook. Just. Slow. Down. Pour yourself a glass of wine, relax a while and do one thing at a time.

Dear 2012, I had a list of resolutions, I failed in all but two. You were a pretty good year all-in-all, with lots of 'firsts' - I went on my first blogger met up, appeared on the radio, had a course of acupuncture, tried reflexology, organised my first clothes swap (and more after that) and purchased an original piece of art. We also made lots of plans and 2013 will see many of them come to fruition. So, thank you 2012, it was a pleasure.

Dear Friday, What took you so long!

Linking up with the other letter writers here.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Lots of love

Is it tacky to host a blog giveaway of unwanted holiday gifts? This was a poll run by IFB and it seems to be a close run thing (it was a 51% - 49% split when I voted) and, if you're wondering, I voted 'no'.

It is a fact that we sometimes receive gifts that are, for whatever reason, unwanted. This is not to say that they aren't appreciated, they're just not quite right. We've all had gifts like that.

What would you do with an unwanted gift? Donate to charity, sell at a carboot sale or on eBay, give it to someone else? That has to be better than leaving it in a drawer gathering dust surely?

I don't see how a giveaway really differs from donating something to charity, at the end of the day you're still getting rid of it. And it's better to get rid of something you won't use than have it languishing in a cupboard somewhere.

To my mind if someone enters a giveaway, they want to win what's on offer, so you can be sure that your unwanted gift is going to a good home, were it will be used and appreciated. On the flip side would you mind if your prize was an unwanted gift? And if you're giving away an unwanted gift should you declare it as such or just keep that detail a secret?

For me having things that you don't use / wear / love is a dreadful waste. Passing them on, however you do it, to someone who will appreciate them just seems like the right thing to do. Call it recycling. Does giving away a gift make you an ungrateful person? Perhaps.

I'd be interested to hear what you think? Would you give away unwanted gifts on your blog?

And, just to be clear, this isn't a sneaky way to find out your thoughts before I do a gift laden giveaway ;)

Love

To finish knitting this jumper was one of my resolutions for 2012 and here it is - the finished article, just in the nick of time! I completed the final stitch on December 23rd, I absolutely couldn't let it go into it's fourth year on the needles.


I have to be honest, I'm not entirely in love with it but I was determined to get it finished. It's warm and will do perfectly well for cold days at home. Do you knit? Have you ever finished something and decided that you don't like it?

Linking up, for the first time, with Ta-dah! Tuesday


In other exciting news, I found out today that, I've won £100 of vouchers for Spartoo in the style is ethical oufit competition with this outfit. Check out some of the other entries - I love the upcycled sari dresses of Orange and Apples and Words and Stuff.

Love

During my late teens and well into my time at college I wore black. A lot. Black and denim with a very occasional white t-shirt thrown in. These days I don't think I carry it off as well as I used to (if I ever did!) and so I couldn't bring myself to make like Blake and go all black, so I added my Custard Designs pink bag, just to break it up a little bit.

The boots I'm wearing here are nearing the end of their life. I bought them from New Look eons ago. I wasn't sure about them at first but with the assurance that they were 'lovely' from a trusted friend I kept them. I'm so glad I did, I've worn them so much - I love that they are heeled but are also really quite casual. I've been looking for a similar pair but so far have had no luck (I'm not keen on the wedge versions that are currently widely available). I probably should have stopped wearing these months ago, they are split on the sole and the heels are now worn away but I just can't bring myself to let go just yet…

Do you have anything in your wardrobe that you can't part with, even though you probably should?


Love

I kept a record, month by month, of my clothing and accessory purchases for 2012 (you can see all items here). Taking part in Frugal February made me wonder how much I spent and I was interested to see what I buy and what I wear and use. I'd say it was a typical year of spending although taking part in Frugal February and Only Once August stopped my spending temporarily.

M spending was as follows - Jan £181, Feb was frugal, March £272, April £50, May £86, June £180, July £293, August was Only Once, Sept £309, October £178, November £128, December £74.

Which is a total of ...



Wowzer! I purchased a total of 138 items of which 42% are pre loved, 9.4% no longer belong to me (mostly donated to charity) and 33.3% have been worn / used once or not at all (yet) but this does include a lot of recent purchases, and, just so you know, I'm not counting my ritual of 'wear around the house immediately after purchase' as 'being worn'.
Percentages courtesy of this neat little website, maths is not a strong point for me.

The most expensive one
Kurt Geiger shoes, half price at £105.00. Sadly these are in the 33.3% of 'unworns' but I will remedy this and be back to share the photos.



The most worn one
Simple above the knuckle ring from The Bohemian Collection (previously known as Wired Jewellery). This rarely leaves my finger, silly, simple little thing.



The one I wish I hadn't bought
Stupid, dumb, silly hat. It looks huge on my head, I'm never going to wear it!



The best of the pre loved
It's hard to pick just one item, but at the moment this bag is getting a lot of love. It's Monsoon but I won it in an eBay auction in September for £13.93



The one I was most surprised by
When the peplum trend first emerged it made me shudder. I couldn't think of anything worse than something that flared out over the hips. But I tried it and liked it, once again reminding myself to never say never.



The one I wish I still had
This H&M cardigan just seemed to work with everything. Why don't I have it anymore? It got kittened, thanks to Tinker and her penchant for digging in her tiny, pin sharp claws, I ended up with a big hole on the right shoulder. Shame.



Have you ever kept a tally of your purchases? I've really enjoyed keeping a record and looking back over what I have, what I love and what I no longer own.

What would you do with £1,700 if you couldn't buy clothes?

Love

Dear Christmas, You were fun but I'm glad you're over. Time for some calm and a little normalcy (and a few more weeks of consuming Christmas chocolate).

Dear Resolutions of 2012, Yeah, that didn't really happen did it? I would say I'll try harder this year but let's face it, I won't.

Dear Celebrity Big Brother, You're still on air? Seriously?

Dear Natwest, It's been 23 years but I'm leaving you. That infernal code reader security wotsit was the final straw. And your 'advisor' told me to carry it in my handbag as "it's not very big". Have you seen my handbag? have you? Do you REALLY think I can fit another thing in there!! Tsk.

Dear Santander, Hello, it's nice to meet you. You had me at the idea of using a text message instead of a code reader thing-a-me-bob. And cash back on credit card purchases. I think we're going to get along just fine.

Dear iPhone, I'm so sorry that I dropped you again, this time not only breaking your screen but stopping it working altogether. I have bought you a new jacket, I know it's not very stylish, but it is only temporary. I'm on the hunt for something fabulous for you to wear.

Dear Self, Try eating a piece of fruit instead of chocolate once in a while, do some exercise (just a little) and at the very least crack open the cellophane on that meditation DVD you purchased well over a year ago.

Linking up with Friday Letters here.



Hope you have a great weekend, no matter what you're up to.

Love

Over the festive period I had no Internet at home, the connection is sketchy at best so I tend to edit my photos and publish my posts at work, during my lunch break. So, when I saw that Ceri's Ethical Outfit Competition for Fashion Bloggers, being run to celebrate the launch of Style Is, had a closing date of 31st December I knew there was very little chance of me entering. That was until I saw a tweet announcing the extension of the competition until January 4th. Hurrah!

So, I'm pleased to be able to share this outfit with you. 

This outfit has four ethical elements - the dress, top, scarf and bag. The dress was a charity shop purchase made on my first blogger meet up. It's the first time I've worn it, I love the shape and the pockets - I love anything with a pocket - it's super flattering and so easy to wear. I can't wait for warmer weather so I can chuck it on with sandals and sunnies.


The top is from a clothes swap, the scarf a charity shop and the bag is Monsoon via eBay.

I bought more pre loved fashion over the course of 2012 than any other year. I think this has everything to do with my involvement in the blogging community, my style has evolved, I've been given cause to consider my choices and have been inspired by the charity shop finds of so many of you and this has fuelled my determination to buy second hand.

Have you entered the competition? Do you rock pre-loved fashion?

Love

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a fabulous time seeing in the New Year. My boyfriend and I went to a friend's house, with a few others, for drinks and card games. We spent the first few minutes of 2013 with champagne in hand and fireworks on the TV.

I didn't feel very well for most of the day so wasn't really in the mood to get really dressed up but it did seem like the perfect opportunity to wear my new bronze ASOS sandals (especially because the evening would contain very little standing or walking). With slouchy jumper, skinny jeans and a necklace added, I was good to go.



See the other New Year Monday Inspirations over at Two Birds Boutique.

How did you celebrate the end of 2012?

Love