I Bought No New Clothes In 2017 - Here's What I Learned And Why I Kept It A Secret

Hello everyone.  I hope you've had a lovely holiday and had time to catch your breath and relax a bit. And if you have a little time to spare I would like to share my first post of the year with you. I promise it's a goodun! I can't believe I actually managed to do it. I also can't believe I managed to keep it a secret for the whole year!

But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start from the beginning.

It was Christmas time last year..no wait, 2016 (!!) and I was searching for bloggers who wrote about secondhand fashion. I found a fair few, but none matched what I was looking for. Many were old and abandoned blogs, some were rarely updated and others had started in an area that caught my eye, but had since moved on in another direction. This brought to mind the old chestnut "be the change you want to see". I mulled this over for a while and concluded that as most things in my wardrobe came straight out of a high street store, with the exception of one or two eBay finds, I couldn't be that change myself. 

That said, around the same time I had started buying and revamping second hand clothes from charity shops to sell in my Etsy shop. I loved the feeling of giving something old a new lease of life, making it a one of a kind item that someone else would love while also helping to keep it from landfill.
And that's when the idea of challenging myself not to buy any new clothing for a whole year came to me. It seemed like a no brainer given the new direction I was taking the shop in and also, how could I expect other people to embrace second hand fashion and not see it as icky if I wasn't doing it myself? But I doubted my willpower and was reluctant to make my intention public in case I ballsed up in the first month, yet I really wanted to give it a go. So I decided to jump in and just not mention it to anyone. 

The start was easy, which I had expected as it was new and shiny and the novelty was fresh.
Then in the spring we moved and I forgot all about it. And I mean completely. So completely in fact that the memory didn't return until Alessi went back to school in the autumn.
I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing when I remembered, (kitchen, knee deep in laundry) and to say I was angry at myself was an understatement and I realised in that moment just how much I had wanted to see it through.
Here comes the best bit though and where it gets interesting. As I cast my mind back to work out just how badly I'd fallen off the wagon, I was amazed to find that I hadn't. Not even a little bit! The swing from extreme anger and disappointment to elation was so sharp I gave myself mental whiplash.

I sat down and wrote out a list of all the new items of clothes I'd gained during that period. They were all second hand from eBay, bought in a charity shop or gifted to me by friends. Nothing had been new. I was over. the. moon. Not just because I had managed to stick to my challenge, but because I had managed to do so without even consciously thinking about it! That was back in September and for the next few weeks I basked in a smug glow of how easy I found this and how good it was and oh wasn't I doing well! And then I got a little carried away and started taking things further.

By this point I needed some new clothes. Not in an "oh I'm bored of my wardrobe, it needs updating" way, more in an "oh all my clothes have holes in them, but I will not buy myself anything else because I. AM. AWESOME!" kind of a way.
Ok that wasn't actually my inner dialogue, but with hindsight I feel that it should have been. I had become a self righteous wanker frankly. Luckily however, thanks to the whole keeping it a secret thing no one else had to endure this. So I continued to wear my tops and trousers with the holes and ignored the water getting into my boots and told myself that I was doing just fine. I kept reasoning that I could make do and mend, but in reality there just wasn't enough time.
And don't forget that the now funny, but then not so much irony to the whole thing was that I was putting in a lot of time and effort making pretty things for the shop while all of this was going on.

I can laugh now, in fact I am. But at the time I had started to grow quite resentful and I didn't even stop to ask myself why. In fact it wasn't until I thought about writing this post that I started to dig deeper in to how I felt about it all.
I realise now that I did take it too far towards the end. The challenge was to only buy secondhand, (with the exception of underwear and if necessary, shoes) not to stop buying clothes altogether.
That said I'm glad I did take it that far as I have learnt so much from the experience. Mainly that I won't be doing it again.

So to round up, here's what I learnt from the whole year.

1) Shopping in charity shops can be a nightmare if you aren't prepared

If I go in with no idea of what I'm looking for then more often than not I will come out with something I don't want or need. It might seem like a faff, but look in your wardrobe, have a think about what you need and then using that as a guide, go and look for it. DO NOT be afraid to leave empty handed. I do that now more often than not and am much happier as a result. It means that when I buy something, I really do like it and will want to wear it again and again.

2) Use changing rooms!

I'm speaking from bitter experience here. I hate changing in shops, but I've learnt the hard way that you need to know how an item feels when you're wearing it. Not just to make sure it fits, but to check out how it moves on your body, it's texture and simply how it looks on you as opposed to the hanger. Top tip: when trying on tops, jackets, dresses etc, always cross your arms over your chest, then raise them above your head. This pulls the fabric taught as you move and will tell you how comfortable the item will feel as you move about.

3) eBay can be a bit of a gamble

People aren't great at providing measurements, usually you just get a size, 10, 12, 14 etc. If you don't have a standard sized body (for example I'm petite and even petite sizes can be a little big on me) then you will need to dig a little deeper to find out if clothes will actually fit when you get them.
Also colours can be different than pictured and don't get me started on the amount of times I've received items that honk of perfume.

4) Buying new is not a crime

Probably my biggest take away from this whole experiment. In fact next year I will be buying new occasionally and already have a few things on my wish list. While I will continue to buy secondhand as my first preference, sometimes I will need something new and I feel that as long as I do so thoughtfully and use a bit of common sense it's fine.

5) You can have a lot of fun revamping secondhand clothes

This is another big lesson that I'm taking away from this whole experiment. At the start of the year I put so many things that I loved back on the rail just because it wasn't quite right size wise. I want to prioritise more time to work on my own wardrobe in 2018 so I will be able to alter anything that isn't quite right. I might even start posting some tutorials if there's a demand for it.

And there you have it. My not so dirty little secret is out and I'm already looking forward to more charity shop delving this year.

So what about you? What are your thoughts on buying secondhand? Do you find buying second hand icky or a lot of fun? Do let me know, you can find me over on Instagram or Twitter and I love a good chat.

x

A plastic-free aisle? Yes please!

Have you heard about the Plastic-Free Aisle campaign?

If not then it pretty much does what it says on the tin. It's campaigning the UK's supermarkets to provide a plastic-free aisle so customers can chose to buy food without all the unnecessary plastic packaging.
And it needs YOUR help! The more support it gets, the more likely it is to happen so if you haven't already please, please, pleeeeease give them your support and help make this awesome idea a reality. You can support them in any of the following ways:


1)  Follow on social media, Twitter here, Instagram here or Facebook here

2)  Make a short video of yourself saying "My name is [insert name here]. I am a Plastic Addict but I am ready for change. I want a plastic-free aisle." Then email the recording to addict@aplasticplanet.com so it can be uploaded to their website. 

3)  They have a petition that you can sign here. 

4)  There is also another petition which is unrelated to the campaign, but as it's basically calling for the same thing it's definitely worth signing too. You can find that one here.

Please do get involved, even if only to follow them on social media somewhere.
This is such a good idea which could easily make a major difference to how much single use plastic is generated here in the UK.
And don't forget to also shout about it too. Share the petitions on social media or make and share your own video. Let your friends and family know about it and urge them to support the cause as well.

And lastly, if you would like to find out more about the campaign and the folks behind it, you can do so by visiting A Plastic Planet's website here. 

Thank you friends!

Slow Fashion Outfit Of The Day

Before I kick off this post, I quickly want to invite you to join my newsletter mailing list if you haven't already done so.

Each month I'll be putting together a collection of things for you to make, do and read whilst also giving you updates on what I've been up to each month, including a monthly challenge. The first one is due to land on September 1st and if you would like to receive it, simply sign up using the form at the top of this page. Also, if you have any ideas about what you would like to see included, let me know! I would love your feedback.

Now then, back to the post..

For ages I've wanted to start a series of slow fashion outfit posts, then over the weekend, out of nowhere I had the urge to share the outfit I was wearing on my Instagram Stories and I was blown away by people's reactions to it. It's given me the oomph I needed to get on and start this thing so here it is folks, my first slow fashion outfit post.

This was the outfit I shared on Saturday. Please excuse the poor quality, it was fresh off the Insta Stories press. As you can see it's nothing fancy. I just wanted something warm, comfy and nice enough that I didn't feel flumpy in it. Flumpy is a thing.

Sandals: New Look from 6 years ago
Jeans: Charity shop
Top: Ebay
Cardigan: Vintage
Necklace: Handmade by yours truly

And this was my outfit from yesterday. The sun came out!

Sandals: Same as above (I pretty much live in these and flip flops over the summer..when the weather is behaving)
Skirt: Charity shop
Top: H&M
Headband: Handmade

As I was taking these pictures I realised that so far this year I have only bought two brand new items of clothing - leggings and underwear. Everything else has been secondhand. So seeing as I appear to have accumulated a wardrobe consisting largely of secondhand, upcycled and handmade clothing, I can't see any reason not to continue with these posts now. I'm even feeling less awkward taking pictures of myself which was a massive hurdle before. Although maybe I need to do something else with my feet! 

So until next time folks, take it easy.

x

The Challenge

When we moved we knew that one of the biggest sacrifices we were going to have to make would be a financial one. And in the limbo month between putting our house on the market and holding the open day, I decided to keep mind occupied by planning the different ways we could cut back and live off of a smaller income.

I'm so glad I did that, even if it was just a way to distract myself from stressing about what we were doing at the time. Having been here a month now we are at the point where we're getting a solid view of what we can expect in the bank each month, and what needs to come out. Note the word "needs" there. Because we have been a bit silly these past few weeks. Not ridiculously so, but silly nonetheless. There's room for improvement on both sides and I've decided to start blogging about this as a means to stay focused and hold myself accountable.

Over the next few months you can expect to see a slight shift on this blog from the odd dressmaking post and other random witterings. I mean these will continue, I am a dressmaker after all and I do love a good wittering. But I will also be writing more about living more frugally. And I don't want to stop there either. One thing I've wanted to do for a while now is live a more greener lifestyle too. In some ways I already am. I'm cutting down on the amount of plastic we buy, replacing broken plastic things with non-plastic alternatives, recyling blah, blah. But as living a greener way of life ties in rather nicely with frugal living, it just makes sense to me to combine the two.

So what can you expect from this blog now? In a nutshell, my experiences (successes and fails), any tips I think are worth sharing, the odd tutorial and I would really like to start a sustainable fashion series too. I'm thinking outfits comprising of secondhand, handmade and refashioned clothes. This will mean of course, getting over my awkwardness of being in front of the camera. I'm not sure I'm loving that part of the plan so much to be honest, but I'll give it a go.

Basically, I just love the idea of showing that being green doesn't mean being crusty and living frugally doesn't mean cutting out the fun.

Whether I'm up to this challenge or not is another thing, but it's one that I really want to try and I would really love it if you would join me and follow my progress. And if there's anything you would like to see me cover, please let me know!

Natural cat repellents for the garden

Spring is definitely in the air now. The sun is warmer and a little higher in the sky. The birds are back, singing and visiting the bird feeders and unfortunately, so are the cats.

Some neighbouring feline fuckeries (apologies cat lovers) have decided that our garden is the perfect spot to take their morning constitutional. Well I've got news for them.

So the other week, when Dan took Alessi to the park I embarked on a mission to make up the perfect cat deterrent.
I concentrated on two separate concoctions; one made with black pepper and the other from orange peel. Apparently cats don't like the smell of either. Fantastic.

So off I went. Boiling up pots of water, adding orange peel to one and the black pepper to the other. Then came the draining and decanting into spray bottles. The black pepper mix made me sneeze so much I thought my head might blow inside out. I took this to be a good sign.

And that was basically it. Making up the deterrents is a pretty simple game. But were they any good I hear you ask?

Well yes, it appears so! The cats used to visit the garden every single damned day. It's been just over a week now and while they are still visiting my garden, they're not 'lingering'.

I've witnessed it too. The come, they sniff, they move on. It's a beautiful sight.

A couple of points worth mentioning if you plan on making some yourself is not to bother using a spray bottle with the pepper mixture. I found that despite draining it through a muslin cloth twice, enough sediment still got through to cause problems with the bottle's pump. Which was annoying.
It's much quicker and easier to to boil up a big pot, let it cool and use a watering can instead.

Also, I've been using the deterrents every other day, but you'll need to do it daily if the weather is wet. Otherwise it'll just get washed away and you may end up right back where you started.

Someone told me yesterday that old coffee grounds can be used in the same way so I might give that go next.
What about you? Do you know of any similar natural cat deterrent recipes?

Spider Mite - the battle rages on

Some of you might remember this post from September last year when I mentioned what an utter nightmare I'd had with spite mite. Well the buggers are back and this time, they're looking to take down my beloved grapevines.

This is my sunny sit spot. Even if it's too cold to go outside, I can sit in here and get my shot of natural light. I can sit down with the door wide open and watch Pip play outside and it sounds so soothing when the rain hits the roof too, (unless of course it's pelting down in which case it's just plain deafening). In short, it's my happy place at this time of year, guaranteed to make me smile.

..Unless I look up and see this. The first sign of spider mites. They live on the underside of leaves and feed on the chlorophyll which causes the leaf to turn mottled as shown in the picture above. If left untreated, leaves will eventually turn completely yellow and drop off the plant. Fine cobwebs along the stems and leaf corners are another sign. So far I can't find any of that, but a quick search did uncover a fair number of mites and yellowing leaves. They are definitely back and growing in numbers. 

You can use chemical bug sprays and last year I have to admit to being so desperate that I actually tried one. It was fairly effective, but bloody hell...almost a week after I sprayed the stuff I watched a spider crawl across the conservatory floor. It didn't even make it to the other side.

And yes, I had mopped the floor after using the spray! To add insult to injury, it didn't even clear the spider mite, they just regrouped and marched on.

Therefore this year, I'm using a much softer solution. Water and washing up liquid. Easy. 

I've read that it works, but the trick seems to be frequent spritzing. Spider mite thrive in dry, arid environments and that's my conservatory to a T at this time of year. I'm hoping the solution won't just kill the spider mite, but will also be non-toxic to the grapes and of course, allow Pip to play in there safely.

The big question is who will win the war this year, spider mites of me? 

Me. The answer is me.

Eco Wood Polish

1 lemon

2 tbsp water

3 tbsp olive oil

Mix the ingredients into a spray bottle, shake well, apply to a dusting rag and you're ready to go. Here are some before and after photos which, other than a little cropping, haven't been edited.

BEFORE

AFTER

Bish, bash bosh. The amount that this makes was enough to polish my tv unit and coffee table. It's so easy to throw together so I only make the polish up as and when I need it, also I'm really not sure how long it keeps for.

As you can tell from my 'before' photo, sometimes a fair amount of time can go by between polishings!

It's not easy being green

I have a confession. I'm a bit of a tree hugger. Actually I'm a lapsed-but-now-re-embracing-my-inner-Eco-geek type of tree hugger. When I was about eight I used to take myself on what I called 'nature walks'. I would go out looking for things to add to my wildlife collection and if I saw an animal or bird, I would put a tick next to it in my wildlife book. I found it difficult to persuade anyone to go with me - I really can't think why.
When I grew up I wanted to be whatever it was you had to be in order to save the rainforests. I had no idea what that was, I just imagined myself living in a tree house surrounded by brightly coloured birds and monkeys.

At sixteen, I swore I would never drive a car, use disposable nappies if I had kids or use choose fashion over ethics. At thirty three I do or have done all of those things. I haven't saved the rainforests and the tree house has been replaced with a terraced house. Eight year old me would be crushed and sixteen year old me simply disgusted.

The truth is, it's bloody hard to be green these days. Properly green I mean.
A couple of years ago I was soaking up all the information I could find about self-sufficiency. Until it quickly dawned on me that it wasn't even remotely realistic unless;
a) we moved,
b) we paid off our mortgage and
c) we were both 100% in. Note the emphasis on the word "we".

The thing is, living in a terraced house leaves you rather limited regarding the space needed to grow your own food. Having a mortgage means being dependant on that office job and most importantly, if you're living with someone who thinks Ecover is a disease and would rather chew his arm off than use it well, you're stuffed basically.

But I want to have another stab at this green living marlarky. Not just because I'm a bit of a hippy and I really dig this shit man, but because I want to set a good example to Pip. And because even being self sufficientish and greenish is better than nothing.

And that's what I would tell sixteen year old me. As for eight year old me. I'd give her a hug and tell her not to give up on that tree house. There's still time.