During March it dawned on me that my concern wasn't with the amount of money I spend on clothes, but with the amount of clothes I have that rarely see the light of day.

At the beginning of 2013 I set a monthly budget of £58 but when you consider how much you can buy second hand for that amount, it wasn't going to help my over-stuffed wardrobe.

Last year I spent August wearing all the items that I'd either worn once or not at all. It was a good exercise but I soon fell back into my habit of reaching for jeans when I stumble out of bed in the morning.

Time for another wardrobe cull
I read somewhere that if you ask yourself 'would I buy this if I was shopping right now?' and the answer is no, you should get rid of it. That doesn't sound so hard...

Sort out the staples
My wardrobe does lack some obvious staples - black trousers, black blazer, white shirt, jeans. I'm not worried about how much I spend on these (within reason), as long as they are good quality and will last and if I can shop ethically - all the better.

One in, one out
Should I instigate a 'one in, one out' rule to stop my wardrobe slowly filling up after it's cull? I'm not going to be able to stop clothes shopping altogether - I enjoy it too much and simply don't have the will power!

What do you think?


So, what did I buy in March? A scarf, a white shirt (one staple ticked off), a RND t-shirt, a black tunic - a charity shop purchase originally from M&S Portfolio collection and a stripey t-shirt for BDIB.

'Total' £56.23

Or that was the total until I gave into eBay temptation - I promise I only went on there to have a little looky-see for BDIB - and then there was that sale in H&M...


Actual total £109.73

Whoops. 

In the spirit of 'one  in, one out' I popped few scarves, a jacket and a maxi dress into a bag ready for my next clothes swap. Anyone fancy coming along to that? It's in Ipswich Hospital on April 6th, it's to raise money for a local charity, let me know if you want more details...

Love

The return of Bloggers Do It Better. The theme is B&W Stripes - the idea was go big or go home. I found the-most-fabulous maxi dress on eBay - perfect for this challenge and a mass of bold stripes in all directions. The end of the auction drew near and I was ready to make it mine. And then my Mum phoned. Game over.


So I was left with no choice but to wear this. A sorry excuse for 'going big', but there you go. I'll know next time I'm bidding to ignore the call and focus on the matter in hand.

I'm off to London today, attending three press events for The Modern Girl's Guide. It's lovely to have an insight into the lives of real fashion bloggers!

Love

Dear Blog, I've been neglecting you and I'm sorry. I've just been so darn busy! Setting up as a freelance graphic designer is fun, it's exciting, it's something I've be wanting to do for the longest time, but, heck, it's exhausting! There isn't a day goes by when my emotions don't go from 'oh my god, what am I DOING?!' to 'this is where I belong'. For the last two days I've been at my desk from 7.30am - 11pm,  I have a crick in my neck from a bad night's sleep and I feel like I haven't been outside for such a long time. But, you know what? Today I'm loving it.

Dear Cast of The 39 Steps, Watching you in the Criterion Theatre at last weekend was so much fun. It was clever and witty and thoroughly engaging. I even got Mr WoJ to agree to come to the ballet AND an opera with me. I think he was swept up in the moment, so thank you, on all counts.

Any recommendations on what we should see?

Dear Sheraton Park Tower Hotel, You're good, really good. Shame my boyfriend didn't realise that the mini bar was automated and charged £22 to the room within minutes of arriving (a miniature bottle of gin and a jar of cashew nuts, in case you're wondering). But, hey ho, it was funny and we had a great stay, it was so nice to get away and spend some time together (not something we get to do very often).

Dear Weather, Seriously!!

Dear Sophie, Have you seen that BDIB is back? Yay! And although I only have one of this month's Scavenger Hunt photos I'm determined to get them all!

Dear Blog (again), This is the 300th post, time for a follower giveaway soon?

Linking up with Friday's Letters



I hope you're well, I'll be catching up with blogs and commenting over the weekend (fingers crossed). Can't wait to see what you've all been up to!

Love

I love Red Nose Day and always get involved in one way or another. This year was no exception and, like many other bloggers (and non bloggers for that matter), I took the opportunity to relieve TK Maxx of one whole English pound by uploading a piccy of myself in a RND t-shirt.

Using the app, my '50 Ways To Wear' entry was simple - jeans. Jeans with waistcoat (first time of wearing - hurrah!) and a jacket. The balloons were posted to me out of the blue, I suspect due to being a previous fundraiser, so I thought I'd put them to good use (and unintentionally terrify my girl cat, Tink, in the process).

I would like to point out that I am wholly miffed that the cute giraffe t shirt was only available in children's sizes. I love giraffes more than Tommy Cooper, Marilyn Monroe and, yes I'm going to say it, even more than The Beatles. So, take note Ms McCartney, next time I won't be so nice about it!

Did you do something funny for money?

Love

Yay! My iPad sleeve arrived and as promised - here it is.


I was beginning to wonder if it would ever get here. I've obviously been spoiled by the rise of next day delivery options. I ordered this on the 19th Feb and it arrived yesterday. That's 1, 2, 3... *counts in head* 23 days!

Still, it was worth the wait. Previously I've been using a £4 knitted sleeve (delivered overnight) but it had a tendency to slip off if not handled sensitively. But, this one is fab! It's smooth and soft and really nice to handle (I keep stroking it) and it has a tab to help you extract your iPad easily. It's jolly lovely, made from cork and if iPad's ever become obsolete it'll make a jolly lovely place mat.




This is where I got it from - Pelcor. I can see myself indulging in few more cork based products. I mean, what freelance graphic designer doesn't need an A4 paper wallet made of cork?

Do you own anything made of cork?

Love

A little on the late side but here are purchases for Feb. The month went by so quickly that I didn't really get my shop on... that said I still managed to buy nine items! I had a wardrobe cull and found plenty of things to donate to charity, so I don't feel too bad - my wardrobe still has slightly less in it than at the beginning of the year.



Dress, £6 in the sale, TU and jumper, £12, George
Both were purchased as I dashed around food shopping, they just caught my eye. I haven't worn the dress yet but the jumper has been worn a few times - I love it - the stripe of neon is just the right amount, it's going to be the perfect Spring / Summer knit.

Charity shops finds - grey jumper (TU) £3, cardigan (M&S) £4 and top (Warehouse) £2.50.
The jumper and cardigan have been worn a few times, both are great for layering but the top is rather summery so hasn't been off the hanger yet, I love the colour though and think it'll look fab with some cute black shorts.

Wedges £19.99 New Look, I've been looking for something like these for ages. They're from the wide fit range and are SO much more comfortable than standard fit. I wore these almost immediately.

I also had some credit on my Very account so I'm not counting these in my monthly budget but I picked up some fab dresses...

Vero Moda dress
Worn to Somerset House, The Style Lounge and Sonata Lingerie Fashion Show during LFW. (If you're interested in reading more about them you can do so here, here and here). It's an easy shape to wear and very comfy but the sleeves are a little nondescript so I'm going to have to alter them in some way.

Swallow print dress
The pattern and mix of colours in this are the reason for this finding it's way into my basket. This may well be my dress of choice for a stage show in London at the weekend.

South stripe maxi dress
This is definitely one for summer but I couldn't resist, I love stripes and it's so, so soft!

February total £47.49 - £10 under budget.

Do you have a clothing budget? Any tips for sticking to it? I have been seriously tempted by many new season items recently...

Love

When I saw this Two Birds inspiration photo (top right) I thought I didn't own anything with spots, however, on closer inspection of my wardrobe I actually had two dresses (of the wedding guest variety), a scarf and this top. I'd forgotten about all of them - isn't that awful?


I found this (Monsoon) top in a charity shop back in November. I hadn't worn it before and it seemed a shame to wear a pretty top for pottering around the house (mopping floors mostly) and doing a spot of gardening but the sun was out and I wanted to wear it. It's a very cheerful colour and matched the Primroses that I was planting out - how's that for co ordination?

Socks was enjoyed the sun, he sat near me and rolled over to indicate that I was to rub his tummy several times, before strolling back to the greenhouse, hopping up onto the bench and snoozing some more. I wish I was a cat.

Apologies for the arm across my face, the pesky breeze kept blowing my fringe into my eyes and eventually I decided to let it win.

I fixed my tripod btw, I glued it back on and managed not to stick myself to anything! Progress!



Love

Dear Accessorize, Can you please add a drop dimension to earring descriptions on your website? Please. I just can't tell from an image on a white background how big they actually are. I'm not a fan of big Pat Butcher style earrings, I prefer something more subtle. I was certain that what I had ordered would be of the less-than-an-inch-drop variety but I was wrong. And now, thanks to the fact that I can't return earrings for hygiene reasons (which is fair enough) I have two pairs of earrings that I will never wear and I'm £20.00 poorer to boot.

Is a drop dimension too much to ask? Or do I have to refrain from buying earrings online? Shame as my local Accessorize shop isn't much bigger than my cupboard under the stairs and obviously holds limited stock...

Oh, and you sent me the wrong purse. I ordered one with stripes, not sequin birds. *sigh*

Dear Weather, Please warm up, please warm up.

Dear Self, Please remember that you don't have to be at your desk for 12 hours a day in order to prove that you are working hard. You're doing just fine. Now, remember to eat and go outside once in a while...

Dear People with Young Children, Not all restaurants are family friendly. If you let your kids run around, shrieking in a restaurant they will think that it is okay do so so. It is not. Teach them that a restaurant is a place for staying in your seat, using your 'indoor voice' and displaying good manners. My parents managed to make me understand, so I'm sure you can do it too. If you can't, please go to Pizza Hut. Thank you.

Dear Cineworld, Turn the heating up please, I can concentrate and the enjoy the film all the more if I can feel my toes.

Dear Style At Every Age, Thank you for bringing Amaretto and cranberry juice to my attention. My best friend also thanks you (despite our hangovers).

So here we are at the end of another week. I had great fun at the clothes swap last weekend. I picked up some great bits that I can use for my next swap and found a rather lovely summer dress for myself (yep, I absolutely do need another summer dress (no I do not)). I'll post my latest swapping finds soon - as soon as I find a minute!

Linking up with Friday's Letters



Have a great weekend

Love