It's time to say Goodbye to an old favourite.

I bought these skinny jeans in September 2018 and they've been worn 199 times. Was I tempted to wear them just one more time to bring it up to a nice round 200? Of course I was. But they’ve completely lost their elasticity. Somewhere between not being able to fit into them at around 16 weeks pregnant, and then fitting into them again some months later, the elastic gave up. They stretch and bag within minutes of being put on - not a good look! To be honest I'm a bit gutted, I love these jeans, and finding a good replacement is always such a chore!

They cost me £66.15 in the sale, which works out at 33p per wear. I wonder if I had to rent my clothes would I pay 33p to wear these for a day? It’s an interesting thought.

I’m really sorry to see them go, I thought I’d be patching the knees and wearing these for a while longer, but there’s nothing I can do about loss of elasticity. Usually I like to wear my jeans until they fall apart, I patch and repair them until they get to the point of being more repair than denim.

I had plans to reinforce the knees of these with red stiching, and that was just the beginning. Sadly, this is not to be, but they have been set aside for a project that I'll get around to one day.

My search for a suitable replacement continues…

A blue shirt purchased in September '18 has hit #30Wears, as has a stripe jumper that was added to my wardrobe a month later. It's true that it wouldn't take me so long to hit #30Wears if I had fewer clothes, but I don't, so it took me over two years. They're both still in good condition and will continue to be worn for a while longer.

Both my black, and grey jumper took just a little over a year to reach #30Wears. They're both excellent wardrobe staples and are still in good condition so I'll continue to wear them until they reach the end of their useful lives. It's not often that I wear something out completely but I think both of these will be threadbare before I can bear to part with them. 

#30Wears is about wearing my clothes more before I part with them. The point is to buy less, wear what I have more often, and to keep items for longer. Buying fewer clothes is something I'm working on, but I still have more clothes in my possession than I realistically need.

I really like each item and am torn between keeping them all and wearing them until they wear out or donating / selling things I don't wear very often and having a more streamlined wardrobe. The conundrum here is that I wear things rarely because I have so many items, not because I don't like them.

I become weirdly attached to clothes and find it hard to part with them, and I love charity shopping and finding a bargain. I feel my wardrobe is destined to always be bursting at it's seams.

To see all of my #30Wears posts click here.

The #30Wears concept is the brainchild of Livia Firth, you can read more about it here.

xx

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. 

Back in April 2019 I'd worn my skinny jeans 71 times - well over my #30Wears goal! You won't be surprised to discover that I continued to keep a tally of the number of wears these jeans rack up.



They still have plenty of wear in them and currently stand at 145 wears. At £66.15 that's about 45p per wear, but you know I'm going to continue to wear them, as I do all my jeans, until they fall to pieces.

They are starting to show signs of thinning in places - knees, belt loops - but when they do 'go' I'll be repairing them with visible mending.

The 30 wears concept was the brainchild of Olivia Firth, founder of Ecoage: 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!

I was fascinated by this concept and this is why I've been keeping a tally of both new and preloved clothing purchases since Autumn 2017. My biggest question was - how do I know how many times something has been worn? Which is why I started counting...

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

I purchased this jumper back in December 2017, and last week I wore it for the 32nd time. It's something I reach for when I fancy an injection of colour, normally on dismally grey days.

It's earned it #30Wears Badge of Honour, despite my early prediction that it wouldn't last long enough. It pilled very early on in it's life, but then stopped, and never got any worse.

Even though I washed it according the the care instructions, it's shrunk a little and now has sleeves that finish just above the wrist, which is a bit of a pet hate of mine. I like my sleeves to be long, resting on the backs of my hands, or to be 3/4 length, not flirting coyly with my wrists. That said, it's not annoying enough for me to discard it, when worn with longer sleeves underneath, or on days when sleeves can be pushed up, it's more than wearable.



I really like wearing it over my blue shirt, to my mind it works really well, and to be honest this is how I wear it more often than not. This little pink jumper will definitely be around for a while longer.

I've rambled on about the #30Wears campaign in other posts, so I haven't really explained it, but you can read more about it here if you wish.

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

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.

I purchased this H&M jumper in a charity shop in April last year, knowing that it'd fit into my wardrobe with ease. A simple light grey jumper has featured in my wardrobe for as long as I can remember, in fact I currently have three jumpers that fit this description. It would've been four if I hadn't exercised some restraint on my last charity shopping trip.



It's worn all year round. It's slouchy fit makes it easy to sling on over almost anything, often being chucked on over summer dresses in the evenings, it's warm enough to be worn alone in spring, and perfect for layering in autumn and winter.

I've worn this 50 times now and it's still in reasonable condition - not bad for £4.75. It was second hand so it might've even been worn a few times before it was donated, but it was in very good condition when I purchased it, so I doubt it had been worn a lot.

I'm unsure how many wears I should expect from a high street item, is 50 a lot? Or do you think we should expect to wear things more? I'm interested to see how many more times this'll be worn before it wears out completely.

I've rambled on about the #30Wears campaign in other posts, so I haven't really explained it, but you can read more about it here if you wish.

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

You've seen this skirt many times before. It's appearing on the blog today because it's earned it's #30Wears Badge of Honour.

Given that I purchased this in January 2018 I'm surprised at how long it's taken me to reach #30Wears (40 at the time of writing), especially as I wear it all year round.


One of the reasons for keeping a tally was to find out how long it would take me to wear an item 30 times. It's almost impossible to predict. It doesn't sound like a lot but it can take a while if you don't wear something on a weekly basis.


It only took me two months to wear my new jeans 30 times, but that's not surprising as I live in jeans during the colder months, and skirts are worn less often.

The point of #30Wears is to ask yourself if you'll wear something 30 times before you buy it, and to only buy it if the answer is 'yes', but unless you keep count you'll never know for sure. I was interested to find out, especially as this skirt was new and not secondhand.

It still has a lot of wear left in it and I know I'll continue to step into it periodically. My favourite way to wear it is with any of my 3/4 sleeve jumpers, they make great outfits for the autumn and spring seasons. If it's on the chilly side I can add tights and boots, or stick to bare ankles and brogues if the weather permits.

This skirt was most definitely a good buy!

These skinny jeans, purchased in September last year, didn't taken long to earn their #30Wears Badge of Honour. It's not surprising as I stick to uniform of jeans and woollens in the colder months. I have to be honest though this post is well overdue, these jeans have been worn 71 times so far (and counting).

Any pair of jeans that enter my wardrobe last a long time. I dye and re-dye black jeans to extent their life, and patch jeans when they develop holes, but every once in a while a new pair is required. I always look out for jeans in charity shops but rarely find any that I like. I live in hope, I know the perfect pair will turn up on the charity shop rails one day.

I paid £66.15 in the sale for this pair and would happily wear them everyday. They haven't featured much on the blog as autumn and winter tend not to lend themselves to outfit shots in the same way that the warmer, brighter months do. But here are a few outfits that I did manage to photograph, they're a good representation of how I wear them:

I've always been a jeans kinda girl. I spent my teens longing for a pair of Levi 501s, sadly my Mum never obliged and I had to wait until I started work before buying a pair myself. Those jeans were worn until they fell apart, and I was genuinely saddened when I had to admit to myself that I couldn't wear them anymore.

I just don't think you can beat a good jeans and top combination. A pretty floaty top in the summer or a classic plain tee is outfit perfection to my mind. In the winter add a big jumper and I'm happy as Larry. I'm certain that I'll be donning jeans well into my dotage.

I've rambled on about the #30Wears campaign in other posts, so you can read more here if you fancy.

The third item in my wardrobe to gain the #30Wears Badge of Honour is possibly one of the most boring items I own! They've only been seen on the blog once before in a capsule wardrobe montage.

These Gap boyfriend cords were purchased in March 2018 for just £6.49 from ebay. They're pre-loved.

I reach for these on days when I know I'm going to be bumbling around at home alone.

They're very comfortable and easy to wear, if a little on the long side. Living on a farm this means the hems are perpetually covered in mud. But I like long trousers, it's a preference that only can be attributed to growing up in the 80's when 'hoisties' were a real style no-no.

They're a little too big and they're more grey than the advertised khaki (I'm considering dying them) but they've earned the #30Wears Badge of Honour none-the-less, so they deserve their blog post.

I've worn these cords 42 times in total, on this occasion with a black jumper that I can guarantee has been worn more than 30 times (I don't know the exact number as I've only been keeping a tally since October last year), and a pair of suede boots that I'd forgotten about. I found them in a dark corner of the cupboard under the stairs, discovering them is like adding a new pair of boots to my collection.

It's easy to assume that when buying items such as these they will be worn 30 times or more, it's the skirts and dresses in my wardrobe that get worn less frequently. But that is changing, slowly.

I've rambled on about the #30Wears campaign in other posts, so you can read more here if you fancy.

Have you got any such workhorses in your wardrobe?

For a while I've been keeping a tally of how many times I wear recent purchases. It's not as hard as it sounds because of my capsule wardrobes, I print out a list and keep a running tally next to each item. At the end of each capsule I tot them up and add them to a master list.

I'm aware that this might sound a bit daft, but I was interested to find out how many times I wore certain items, and how long it would take to wear something 30 times.

I've rambled on about the #30Wears campaign in other posts, so you can read more here if you fancy.

I blogged about the first item to hit 30 wears back in September '17, and the next item to earn it's #30Wears Badge of Honour is one of my wardrobe staples, a navy jumper. I purchased this in September last year to replace a similar one that had come to the end of it's life.

Here are a few outfits it's been worn with. Teaming it with my green skirt was obviously a favourite  for last year (and I still love it just as much as ever), the red skirt this year. I wonder what I have against putting that navy bag over my shoulder?

In the early summer it teamed really well with a pair of yellow shorts that have still to make an appearance on the blog, and it goes without saying that it has been worn with jeans countless times.

It is starting to show signs of wear, but it has loads of life left in it yet.

I knew it would fit into my wardrobe with ease, and I thought I'd get a lot of wear out of it but if you work it out it's only been worn 2.5 times a month, which doesn't seem like much at all. Am I over thinking this? Probably. But I do find it interesting.

One school of thought it that if you extend the life of a new garment by an extra nine months the environmental impact of that garment is reduced by 20-30% (source). This only works if it's being worn frequently whilst it's in your wardrobe, stopping you from buying anything new.

There are many stats estimating how much of our wardrobes we actually wear and it seems to be somewhere around 20%, leaving 80% unworn. If it's unworn it doesn't matter how long you have it, it's the wearing of it that counts. It stands to reason that if you're wearing more of your clothes more often, you'll buy fewer new garments.

Imagine if we all wore our clothes until they wore out? Or purchased more pre-loved instead of buying new? There has to be a happy medium, but if everyone made a change to their high street shopping habits, even simply purchasing less, the impact would be incredible - in a good way!

I have a few other garments nearing 30 wears, expect posts soon.

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

THIS YEAR

Bras. Altogether these cost £50.00, which seems like an awful lot of money for three such tiny garments. I purchased my first triangle bra with back fastening at around this time last year and I've been looking out for more since then. This style are normally of the pull on over your head variety, but I don't get on with those at all. So I looked for ones with a back fastening. I found them. I bought in bulk. And fought back thoughts of all the much more exciting things I could be doing with fifty quid.

Leather shoulder bag  |  £7.50  |  pre-loved
This filled a hole in my bags. I have very small bags and large shoulder bags but not much in the middle. This is enough to carry all my junk without room for adding yet more junk.

Tote bag  |  £5.75  |  pre-loved
I was thinking of sunny beach days when I purchased this, then the weather turned cooler and any chance of a day spent on a beach in the sun disappeared. So I used it when I went shopping with Mum instead. And I can confirm that it comfortably holds 14 balls of wool.

Red shirt  |  £2.00 in the sale  |  pre-loved
I saw this and thought I didn't need anymore shirts but I went back the next day and bought it anyway.

Jeans  |   £66.15  |  La Redoute
A new purchase. I ordered these from La Redoute and although they're different to how I thought they'd be, I really like them. It's very unusual for me to find a pair I like so easily, normally the search takes a while. I'm very grateful I found these. As an added bonus had 37% off. I never would've paid £105 for them, and even though £66.15 is a lot to spend, jeans are the one thing that I know I will wear until they fall apart. One of my pairs of jeans keeps trying to fall apart but I won't let them, I just keep patching them up. I can't remember when I bought them but I think it was before I met Andy, I paid £45 so they don't owe me a penny, and yet I'm still not prepared to be parted from them just yet.

Yellow jumper  |  £23.00 using a £5 discount code  |  ASOS
Despite believing that I couldn't wear yellow, this actually looks alright, I think, maybe? I'm still not totally convinced, but I'm drawn to yellow at the moment, last year it was green. I wonder what next year's colour will be?

Blue shirt  |  pre-loved   |  £4.75  |  originally from Topshop
This is one of those items I always keep an eye out for. A light blue shirt is so versatile, and this one is a nice thickness and will come in handy over the coming seasons.

LAST YEAR

I made two new purchases - wardrobe staples. At £16.00 each these jumpers weren't expensive, and both get worn regularly. The navy one has earned it's #30Wears badge, and they grey is half way there having been worn 15 times.

The White Stuff shirt with embroidered hearts was found in a charity shop 'Everything-a-Pound' sale. It's really soft and I was looking forward to wearing it, but the size label was creased and what I thought was a size 8 was actually an 18. It's sitting in the to-be-put-on-ebay pile.


Total for September £159.15

Total so far for 2018: £406.56

Total at this time last year: £427.88

Left of £600.00 budget: £193.44

This is my biggest spend of the year by far, but with three months remaining of 2018 I have nearly £200 left of my £600 budget. I'm hopeful I won't go over again. I'd love a new (or new to me) winter coat, and a pair of leather boots but we'll see...

What have you been buying recently?

I usually post a load of outfit photos for these capsule round-up posts, but I didn't take a single photo over winter. I just wasn't in the mood. Winter is probably the least exciting season in terms of outfits as I tend to hibernate in jeans, jumpers, and lots and lots of layers. And the idea of standing outside in the cold taking photos really didn't float my boat.

What I did do over winter was keep a tally of how often I wore everything in the capsule for the three months it lasted. I was intrigued by the idea after promising myself I'd follow the #30Wears rule when buying clothes i.e. if I don't think I'll wear something 30 times or more, I won't buy it.

But that does beg the question, how long does it take to wear an item 30 times? Do I ever wear items 30 times? Do I wear my 'favourite' items as often as I think I do? I decided to find out.

The only item I wore 30 times or more were my wide leg jeans, found in a charity shop in August last year, photographed here in October. I wore these 31 times during the first three months of the year.

It came as no surprise to me that jeans were worn most often. If they're a good fit, my jeans are worn until they fall apart. Of all of the clothes I own jeans are the only things I can say, without a doubt, that I wear more than 30 times.


Next up was long cardy that often served as an extra layer in the evenings, this was worn 27 times.

My long sleeved striped t-shirt was worn 18 times, and shows my penchant for layering in the winter months.

My skinny jeans only got 16 wears, possibly because I've fallen out of love with them. The stretch has gone, so they'll be going off to the rag recycling, but I do know that in the time I've had them (three years) they would've been worn far more than 30 times. I practically lived in these when they were new.

One of my wardrobe staples is this navy jumper, which had 15 wears.

My newly re-discovered leather jacket came out 14 times.

And my bootcut jeans (which have possibly been in my life longer than Andy, and repaired many, many times), and my wax jacket each racked up 13 wears.

My black long sleeved t-shirt had 12 wears, the pink jumper, purchased in December, had 11 wears (and is not faring too well, truth be told).

A March purchase, a pair of pre-loved Gap cords, were worn 11 times (and 5 times already from my spring capsule!).

My beige jumper, another navy jumper, and stripe jumper each got 8 wears. My khaki skirt 7 wears.

An old cowl neck jumper 6, my green jumper 5, and 4 wears for my cocoon cardy, Joules top, pink check shirt, heart print shirt, and red floral skirt.

My floral shirt, grey jumper, green skirt, and black jumper had 3 wears each.

Two wears for my grey coat, twist top, khaki trousers and newest grey cardy.

The only things that didn't get worn are my black mini skirt, my black skinny jeans, and my beige maxi. The later I think wasn't worn due to it being an odd length after I had to take the hem up to repair it. I think it needs to go from maxi to midi in order for me to wear it again... back to the mend pile it goes.

Of course some of these items have been worn before, as this only shows what I wore over three months, from a 33 piece capsule, but it does show how some items can take a while to be worn 30 times.

The idea behind the #30Wears rule is to wear the clothes we have more, and for longer. You can find out more about the idea behind #30Wears here, and I'll leave you with this one statistic, if clothes stayed in active use for nine months longer (extending their average life to around three years), this would reduce their carbon, water and waste footprints by 20-30% (source).

I bought a new skirt in June and decided to try to wear it 30 times in three months. Long story short - I did.

I didn't take an outfit shot every time I wore it, some days where dull and blustery, some days I just didn't get the time, but here are some of the outfits.

It's safe to say that I adore this skirt, it's really comfy and easy to wear. I can always tell if something is going to be a wardrobe hit when I start to wear it immediately. And, c'mon, look at those pockets!

I plan to keep this in my autumn capsule. I've tried it on with boots and, as long as they have a bit of a heel, it looks fab.

What do you think? Do you like?

#onlybuyitifyouloveit #wearitagainandagain

 I've set myself a little goal to work on within the Fast Fashion Fast challenge  - to wear my most recent purchase 30 times or more before the end of the challenge.

Inspired by Livia Firth and her #30Wears campaign which urges us to ask “Will I wear it a minimum of 30 times?” before making a clothing purchase, to challenge the idea of fast fashion.

I purchased this glorious green skirt as a result of one of my mindless scrolling though the ASOS app moments. I wore it the very next day with a pre-loved tee and my trusty Toms. I keep telling myself that these shoes won't last much longer but they just keep going - these have most definitely been worn more than 30 times!

I wore this outfit to the Suffolk Show. The pockets (look at those pockets!!) came in handy on multiple occasions, I was able to sit on the floor comfortably without fear of flashing my under garments, and, as it's a slightly thicker fabric, there was no chance of it billowing up when the breeze got over excited.

I really enjoyed wearing this skirt. I want to wear it a whole lot more, more than 30 times in fact. It's not that it would hang in my wardrobe unworn otherwise, I just want to wear it and stick two fingers up at those who say you shouldn't be seen in the same outfit twice. Clothes are made to be worn and enjoyed time and time again, they're not disposable.

And I do enjoy a challenge of the wardrobe variety.

How would you style this skirt?