May’s Acquisitions

Hmmm do I count all the things I have acquired since being paid on the 27th?? Honestly you would think that I had a lot more money than I do. I was one of those mildly mad people who were waiting in an online queue for the Irregular Choice Star Wars 2nd release of shoes, I got some and I will show them next month.

I only got one item of clothing during May and that was using the remaining money on the gift card that my sister kindly got me for my birthday in January. I was sensible and realised how often I was reaching for my trusty Braintree black leggings so bought another pair. I knew that these fitted perfectly in a size 12 and are lovely soft bamboo material, maybe in the future I may try to make my own leggings but that is further down the line. I also really like buying basics from somewhere like Braintree as many of their dresses and tops are not very my style, lovely as they are. They also have great underwear, tights and socks – I will be buying another pair of tights for winter I reckon, my chevron ones served me very well last winter and were super cosy.

I also bought a dress from the lovely vintage inspired brand Tara Starlet, everything they sell is made in the UK which is great. I bought the petrol blue Peggy dress and the construction and fabric were lovely. Unfortunately a few too many cakes and my lack of exercise due to this ‘itis’ that is still hanging about has meant that I am a bit bigger than usual and so my normal size didn’t fit. I toyed with the idea of buying a size up as this was meant to be for a friends’ wedding but really I know that I will lose this extra weight. In fact currently I am cutting back on my cake and crisps in an attempt to help this while I can’t burn off my calories. So I returned it, I would definitely order from Tara Starlet again and currently everything in their sale section is under £20.

This is the grey version but I just love this outfit

Finally I also bought a few things for the sewing machine, namely a walking foot, ball point needles and a twin needle. I have been using these in my sewing class to sew with jersey on my ‘normal’ machine, I did pay a fair bit for my walking foot which I know I could have got a cheaper version on eBay but I really want to sew more with jersey so thought I would just go for it. After I bought these pieces, I was able to sew bits and pieces of my dress at home which helped me spend longer on the trickier parts in class. I will do a full post on my finished dress but I have to say I am pretty pleased and getting more chuffed with it as the days go on.

So May seems like it was a frugal month however I ended up skint by the end so if someone can explain what the heck I was up to I would be pleased 🙂 June has already seen me ordering some clothes like a loony but hopefully I have found some jeans! Oh and some “essential” shoes – silver glitter, Hans Solo on the sole and a droid on the toe. Definitely essential 😉

 

April’s Acquisitions

I mentioned in March that I was no longer doing the clothing ban challenge. I have continued to be part of the group on Facebook as they share interesting articles and are a friendly bunch. I have tried to cull my wardrobe and have put away a load of clothing under the bed so my wardrobe is much smaller and is worn constantly. Technically I *might* be doing a capsule wardrobe but it doesn’t feel that way yet as I am still working out what pieces of clothing need to be in my wardrobe. For example at the moment I do not like any of the pairs of jeans I have, I have 3 pairs – 1 skinny pair which tore at the crotch and were really unflattering but I could tuck them into my boots and I like stomping around like that, 1 longer length bootcut pair which are fine but I don’t like with trainers and rarely wear heels except at work – on the plus side these are Howies jeans and therefore are great quality, brilliant except when you don’t really like them 🙂 and finally 1 pair of baggier jeans which make me feel like I am back at Uni, when I studied not you know where I work. However, I have gained a fair amount of weight recently and until I have that under control it seems pointless to shop for any clothing let alone jeans. So on that note…

Joining the Ethical Fashion Collective

I follow the blogs of Mel Wiggins and The Owl and the Accordion written by Victoria, both are great blogs and have interesting, thoughtful pieces along with show casing various ethical brands and top tips for eBay shopping. Last week I read about an idea that they had come up with together (don’t you love it when you find out your favourite bloggers are friends!), the Ethical Fashion Collective and it immediately intrigued me. Basically it is an idea to save some space online to show off and share information about ethical fashion – this includes vintage/second hand/articles/small brands/big brands – you name it! The idea is to do this on the 1st Friday of each month, and I love it! While I have my own reservations about the phrase ‘ethical fashion’ and prefer ‘ethical style’ I see no need to prescribe that to others and I’m excited to join in.

I Made a Skirt!

So I made a skirt! Then I finally took some pictures of it. I am really pleased with this skirt actually, I think it fits really well and has turned out to work with nearly ever top I have.

Fashion Revolution Time!

Friday is Fashion Revolution Day. It is held on the 24th of April each year to raise awareness of the problems that exist in our fashion industry. It reminds us of how divorced many of us have become from how our clothes are actually made and reminds us to look a little deeper into our clothing purchases and ask #whomademyclothes?

It is held on the 24th of April as that is the anniversary of the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh where 1133 people were killed and over 2500 people were injured, the majority working in the garment industry. All at once images were across all media showing us the people who made many of the clothes that stock our shops, clearly depicting and answering the question who makes our clothes. But two years on once again it feels as though they have disappeared from sight and even when garment workers are depicted in media it often feels as though they are shown as one mass of people and not skilled workers who created items we enjoy wearing. As I have mentioned before I have only made one skirt but the time and effort that went into that makes me have so much respect for people who work in the garment industry.

January – A Month In Clothes Purchases

Hmmm ethical style yes, sustainable style- not sure this month will show me at my best on that front. January has flown by for me and somehow I have also managed to end up filling my wardrobe with new things. Mainly brand new ethical purchases but I reckon I may have to take an enforced break from clothes consumption. I can’t believe the tally I ratched up, with that in mind I am going to try and take a rough tally each month to try and pinpoint my consumption habits and reduce them. I am definitely a sufferer of ‘Oh that item will definitely complete my wardrobe and I will never buy again’ syndrome 🙂

A New Year and Some Old Challenges

A Challenge for Every Month didn’t really happen last year. I think I achieved 6 out of 12 (see below for the gory details), a 50% success rate! I am one of those people who tends to look at everything slightly negatively (just mainly when it comes to myself, not the world 🙂 ) and analyse things endlessly. I think reflection is a wonderful thing but endless analysis of your life can tire you out and can sometimes lead to inertia. To help me quite that frame of mind I am going with a 50% success rate and looking to achieve the remaining 6 this year. I think last year at times I found it difficult to devote time to some of the challenges I really wanted to get my teeth into so I procrastinated on them. Also there is the inevitable fact that sometimes after spending all day online in my day job sometimes I really don’t want to look at a computer screen when I get home. To counter that I am going to do more writing of my posts in notebooks prior to writing online, I have always done that especially for horse riding posts as I can often do that immediately after my experiences. Also who out there doesn’t love using a notebook?? I am also excited to keep up with some of the challenges I did complete last year. For example the mending and the months of not buying, plus the alterations of items that I no longer wear.