For the third year running I'm taking part in A Buyer's Archive inspired by Elise (who has sadly stopped blogging but can be found on Instagram instead), to keep track of my spending on clothes and accessories.

THIS YEAR

The pre-loved stuff.

I really like all of my pre-loved purchases. The grey jumper, £3.75, has lovely long arms, as does the stripe top, £4.75. I do like long arms in the colder months anything that reaches down to the back of my hand is an instant winner in my book.

The floral shirt, £6.00, was from an Instagram sale, it's really pretty and has added some colour to my Autumn Capsule. The navy shirt, £4.00, will be a wardrobe staple. I've been looking for one for a little while. The French Connection embellished dress, £7.00, was the biggest bargain. It still has the tags on and fits like a glove. Now I just need an excuse to wear it.

The new purchases.

My monthly spend would've been quite low if it hadn't been for these new purchases.
The navy heels, £24.99 (sale price) were a completely emotional purchase. Whilst I didn't need them they are pretty versatile and I have a lot of items they can be worn with.

I saw the boots, £45.27, on Pinterest of all places. I liked them but I was in a bit of a rush and ordered them quickly, thinking that if they weren't right I could always send them back. What I didn't realise is that they came from the US. The prices on the website were in pounds sterling, so I didn't realise until I got the dispatch notice that they were going to be racking up some air miles. I told myself that I'd wear them a lot but when they arrived I didn't like them, so they're going on ebay. Lesson learned.


LAST YEAR

All of these purchases were made because I was pregnant and needed larger clothes to hide the early pregnancy bloat. A baby might be tiny in the early stages but the hormones are on overdrive and normal clothes quickly become uncomfortable. Think of time-of-the-month bloating that just keeps getting bloatier.

The gingham top was £4.00 from Cancer Research, it's a size 12 so was roomy enough to hide our little secret.

The jeans pictured here aren't actually the jeans I bought, I'd purchased maternity jeans and a pictures of elasticated over-the-bump bands would've given the game away.

The blue jeans were £12.00, pre-loved from ebay. I wore them a lot, and they came in handy after my operation as my normal trousers were uncomfortable against my stitches.


The Christmassy jumper, £5.00 from a charity shop, was originally from Next. I liked that this was vaguely a Christmas jumper and it was a size 14 and, again, allowed extra belly room.

The black pair of jeans were also from ebay. They're Topshop Baxter under-the-bump jeans, and I paid just £8.00. I don't think these would've lasted much longer into the pregnancy as the elasticated band had already started to feel tight but I wore these whilst I waited for the hormonal bloat to go away, and sometimes in the months that followed I dug them out when I was just going to my Mum's for a roast dinner. They're actually incredibly forgiving as normal trouser, better suited to big dinners than pregnancy, I think.

It's true that clothes can bring back strong memories and all of these items certainly do. I'd hoped to buy most of my maternity clothes second hand, and create a maternity capsule wardrobe using as many of my usual clothes as possible. I'd started to write a post about it, it still sits in draft.


Total for October: £99.51

Total so far for 2018: £501.33

Total at this time last year: £456.88

Left of £600.00 budget: £98.67

So my silly emotional and impulse purchases have put me above my total for this time last year, and leaves me with just £98 for the remaining two months of the year. The purchase of the boots really annoys me but it's a lesson learned and maybe I can make some money back on ebay. If I ever get them listed...


What have you been buying recently?