So much for not buying any more clothes now I'm not working. This month, I have once again spent money on a few items of clothing.
The first purchase this month was from the out of town charity shop that I like to visit when I do the weekly shop. I saw this pair of beige coloured canvas trousers for sale for £4. They looked like they'd hardly been worn and were from the BDG brand which I believe to be Anthropology. I think they are men's trousers, but I tried them on and they fitted quite well and for £4, I found it impossible not to buy them, so I did. I have worn them already and they are very comfortable and easy to wear.
The next purchase I made, was this dress that I purchased on Vinted. I'd been wanting this particular dress for a while. It's the same as one that I already own in black and really love, but I found it on Vinted in a dark Green/Teal colour and decided to go ahead and buy it, as I know I will get a lot of wear out of it.
The black version I've had about 18 months now, and it was bought at a car boot sale for £1. I've worn it so many times and still love it, but I've put a bit of weight back on and it's starting to feel a bit snug. Not so snug that I can't wear it, but just a little tight in places. The green dress I bought, I thought was a size up, but it was wrongly listed as such and is the same size as my black dress. Regardless, it should be a lovely festive colour to wear this Xmas. It cost £8.34 in total, which is still a good price. I have altered the sleeves, as I didn't like the button cuffed three quarter sleeve that was on the dress originally.
I also bought an accessory this month, namely a brooch. I purchased it on LB and I's big day out at the Knit & Stitch show. On the way home, before changing buses, I dropped into a Crisis charity shop and saw it on sale for £5. I've admired these vintage waterfall type brooches for a while, so it was hard to resist. I didn't realise when I bought it that it did have a bead or two missing which was disappointing, but probably explains the low price, so I decided to add a bead I had in my collection, which is a contrasting heart shaped bead in a lovely pale blue. I thought it would add a bit of individuality and would disguise where the beads were missing. Here's a picture of it:
I've already worn it a couple of times on my black velvet jacket when I've gone out for the evening and I really like it. I used a voucher I was given when I left work to pay for this item, so I've now got just £8 left to spend on the voucher, but I can only use it in certain charity shops, so I won't be able to spend it unless I make a point of visiting one of them.
The next clothing items that I bought this month, were a couple of things I bought from the same out of town charity shop as the trousers. The first was this sleeveless sweater for £4. It is acrylic, but so are most of my sweaters. It's very hard to find decent wool or cotton sweaters in charity shops in my experience, so I made an exception to my usual rule of buying more natural fibres to buy this. I do think that I'll get quite a bit of wear out of it though and it is in very good condition. I'm not too keen on the split front, but I can live with it.
The second item I bought, was this red linen mix dress from Next for £5. It is a little summery, but it can be worn with a long sleeved t-shirt underneath to layer it a bit. It is a 70% viscose 30% linen mix, but I loved the colour. It's lovely and bright and cheerful and it has pockets, lovely sleeves and a lovely tie neck. I may wear it in the autumn, but if I don't it will come in handy to wear in the spring. In addition, it looks like it is a very simple construction and I would definitely consider re-making it in another possibly heavier fabric. I think it would be easy enough to do. Sometimes you just have to weigh up whether you'd regret it if you didn't buy something and in this situation, I tend to just go for it and buy it.
My final clothing purchase this month was this navy COS blouse, that I bought from a charity shop around the corner from where I live. It was quite an expensive purchase for me at £12, but blouses from this brand do retail between £65 and £95. I really liked the weight of the fabric, which is 48% cotton/48% polyamide, and has a slight sparkle to it. The neck and sleeves are gathered and I think really flattering. I don't actually like the length of it on me though, so I'm thinking of shortening it, hence the pins in it. I've subsequently done this and will post about it separately. (Please excuse the creases, it was scrunched up in my sewing basket for a week awaiting alteration)
So, in total, I've spent £33.34 on clothing and accessories this month, which doesn't include the brooch, as it was bought on a gift voucher. This total is very slightly less than what I spent on clothing last month and probably half of what I used to spend when working, so I'm making progress, slowly.
Did you buy any nice clothing or accessories in October?
