I've been on another spree this month, mostly pre-loved charity shop finds that were too good to be left in the shop!

THIS YEAR



M&S v neck top £3.50. A classic wardrobe staple.

Lace top £3.00. Something a little bit unusual for me, but I thought would be nice to dress up jeans.

Christmas jumper £5.99. I've been looking for one for a few years. This was exactly what I was after. It's so soft and warm and as it's not overly Christmassy I can wear it into the new year too.

Sequin top £6.99. Something for the Christmas festivities.

Grey jumper £4.75. I love a grey jumper and as mine last one found it's way into a charity bag last year, this is an excellent replacement.

Tu Premium check coat £12.50. I did buy a check coat last month too, but this was too nice to be left in the shop.

Twist front t-shirt (not pictured) £1.50. Another staple, and half price in the sale.

George check shirt £1.90. Good for dress down days, with lovely long sleeves and made of the softest cotton.

Coated jeans £4.99. Purchased on a whim in a last minute ebay auction, I actually really like them, and they'll satisfy my hankering for a pair of leather trousers - which I've never seen in a charity shop, and I'd probably never be brave enough to wear anyway.

And a few new purchases, boring but necessary, two bras totaling £11.00.

LAST YEAR



Pre-loved grey jumper, £3.75. This was only worn a few times before it was put back in the charity bag. It didn't sit well over jeans and I knew I wouldn't wear it much as a result.

Pre-loved stripe top, £4.75. This has been worn a lot, I love the long sleeves but it's also really nice in slightly warmer weather as it's a thin material.

Pre-loved floral shirt, £6.00, was from an Instagram sale. I've only worn it a few times so I'm considering putting this in the charity bag too.

Pre-loved navy shirt, £4.00. I bought this knowing it would be a good wardrobe staple and I was right. It's not worn a lot but comes out when I need something I can rely on. I wore it with a big skirt on Christmas Eve last year and with shorts when the sun started to shine. It's pretty versatile.

Pre-loved French Connection embellished dress, £7.00. I've only worn this once, to a dinner and drag show, but it was perfect.

Navy heels, £24.99 (sale price). These were worn once and will be going on ebay as soon as I can get my act together, I just don't wear heels as often as I used to so I don't see the point in hanging onto them.

Boots, £45.27. These went straight on ebay as they didn't fit well and I couldn't be bothered to return them to the States (I didn't realise they were coming from the States when ordering). I sold them for £30.00, so I made some money back at least.


Total for October: £56.12

Total so far for 2019: £361.85

Total at this time last year: £456.88

Left of £500.00 budget: £138.15
This is a good amount to have left at this point in the year. Historically I don't do much clothes shopping in December, so if I can keep my spending under control in November I can easily come in under budget.

Items purchased: 61 (pre-loved: 54 / new: 7)
My goal was to buy fewer than 63 items but I doubt that'll happen. I'm meeting up with Sophie and Kezzie soon which always entails much shopping!


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

1. Tucking in
I wanted to eat in a restaurant every day for seven days, be it for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. This is something I tried to do during the week of my birthday last year. I failed, partly due to lack of planning, and partly due to eating waaaaay too much on day one!

I did better this year. I started with a meal in Ask with my Dad that ended with ice cream filled profiteroles, the next day I had my traditional birthday cooked breakfast with Andy. I then had Afternoon Tea with my Mum and a friend. Then lunch with some friends. Next year I'll get the full seven days!



2. Getting crafty
I wanted to make use of a bag of fabric scraps I'd been collecting. I'd seen an idea on Pinterest and had a go myself. I love the result and plan to make more...



3. Going Coastal
I'd planned to spend an entire day at the beach. I didn't manage a full day but I did visit Southwold with family twice in one week. Each visit included digging large holes in the sand with my nephew, a picnic, an ice lolly, paddling, and beach cricket. On the second visit I swam in the sea, it's the first time I have done this in years!



4. Rocking it
I wanted to paint and hide a #stoneofjoy or two for someone else to find. I hide the first one at Latitude Festival in a tree. Moments later a young girl spotted it and she excitedly pointed it out to her father. The miserable old git told her to leave it. But when I passed back that way later that evening the stone had gone, so it's out there somewhere...



Once the first one had been painted I was hooked, and six more followed, but I keep forgetting to take them with me when I go out, which is a significant hindrance to my plans...

5. Day tripping
I'd hoped to take a trip to Snape Maltings and Marlsford Mill. I didn't make it to either place.



6. Finishing off
The bedroom redecoration needed to be finished. I had three tasks to complete, the first was to paint a pine shoe rack white to match the rest of the shelving in my wardrobe. All the little nooks and crannies made it fiddly but it looks so much better now.



Next I needed to tackle painting a chest of drawers that I spilled nail polish remover down the front of. Once I started progress was swift. The result? I bloody love it!



Whilst varnishing the top of the chest of drawers I also sanded down and varnished a mirror, one reason being it had a few scratches that I wanted to deal with, the other was to match the rest of the furniture in the room.

7. Visibly mending
I had some jeans, a parasol, a picnic blanket, and a large bag that all need attention. The jeans will be an on going project, as as soon as I mend one hole another appears!



The parasol didn't get mended but the picnic blanket did. It was a victim of a beach fire that started spitting out red hot rocks that had been thrown into the flames over the course of the evening. They burned through and, in some places, stuck to the blanket. It was it's first outing and I wasn't going to throw it away. I'd put it in the cupboard at the end of the summer last year vowing to mend it.



I created some waterproof patches for the reverse of the blanket by fusing together some plastic bags, these were stitched on with a sewing machine. On the front I made it a little more pleasing to the eye by handstitching different coloured circles of felt.



The bag had split around the top seam. My Mum gave me this a few years ago and it's been used for storing wool and various knitting projects.



I mended the bag using some leftover pieces of cross stitch aida patched onto the inside, and some material scraps. It's not perfect but it's good enough to store wool, and with luck it'll last a while longer.

8. Baking goodies
I wanted to make a giant Jaffa cake, and Bourbon biscuit brownies, I got as far as buying the ingredients. But baking is more of an autumnal pursuit, right?

Another eco swap I've made in recent months is perfume. I discovered this on Instagram, and there are a number of reasons I have for for switching to this brand. One, it uses minimal packaging. Two, it doesn't contain palm oil. And three, it is made with all natural ingredients here in the UK.

Eden Perfumes offer a large number of fragrances matched to those you can find on the high street, but without the excessive packaging and nasty ingredients.

The first one I tried was No.051 which is equivalent to Narciso Essence by Narciso Rodriguez. The first time I wore this was to a family gathering, and on hugging my cousin hello she exclaimed 'you smell delightful!', you can't ask for a better reaction than that.

I've also tried No.401 a sweet oriental vanilla scent equivalent to La Petite Robe Noire by Guerlain, and No.419 a womanly floral scent equivalent to Paloma Picasso by Paloma Picasso.

I was concerned that the scent wouldn't last long but I'm happy to say that I can still smell these on my skin when I go to bed.

The 30ml bottles are all a very reasonable £18.00, and 50ml are £24.00, a fraction of the price you'd pay for these scents on the high street. What's more they offer a refill service. You can return the bottles to be refilled at the cheaper price of £15 for 30 ml, or £20 for the 50ml bottles.

I don't think I'll ever buy perfume from the high street again.

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.