Friday 27 February 2015

The buyer's archive: February


Elise did a great post recently comparing her fashion buys from last January and this January, and being a right nosy so-and-so I loved reading it (it is also from Elise that I've nicked the title of this post/series). I particularly liked the idea of tracking the items coming into my wardrobe and being able to see, a year down the line, what is still well-worn. So here I am with a Buyer's Archive for February.

After finishing the four month spending ban at the end of January, suddenly having license to buy sent me over the top in the shopping stakes. Not helped, of course, by the fact that a lot of places were still having sales. That being said, a lot of what I bought this month went straight back to the shop, however the following managed to make its way into my wardrobe this month:

H! by Henry Holland for Debenhams navy skater dress, £27 (with 10% discount code)
I'm still somewhat unsure about this dress. It should be an instant winner as it ticks SO many of my boxes - Peter Pan collar, daisies, skater shape, navy blue - but on, it's not entirely 'right'. A bit too long for my tiny legs, for a start, but I think it'll be better without tights in the summer.

Striped Boden jumper via charity shop, £7
I actually might have bought this just at the tail end of January. I'm not crazy about the colours, but the cashmere blend is super cosy and comfortable so I've been wearing it around the house a lot.

'Riots Not Diets' Tote bag, £5
This had been in my Etsy favourites for a while, and when I saw it reduced to half price I immediately ordered two - one for me and one to send to Rebecca. I can't see it on there now, but it was from Tea Please.

Converse trainers via Very, £25
My beloved old Chuck Taylors are literally falling apart, so I grabbed a Groupon deal and got a brand new pair from Very for a lot less than their ticket price.

La Redoute collar top £9.50
La Redoute bird cardigan £14.50
I saw these items on Tigerlilly Quinn recently and fell in love - of course, it's a bird motif and a Peter Pan collar, fer crissakes - so I was pretty chuffed when the cardigan appeared in the sale, while I managed to pick up a discount code giving me 50% off the top. I have worn the top almost non-stop since it arrived last week and the cardigan is perfect with a navy skirt I bought for work and never wear, so hopefully these are two items I'll get a lot of wear out of.

ASOS blazer, £30
ASOS grey marl fine knit slouchy tee, £12
H&M skinny trousers, £25 (not pictured)
This outfit came about after attending a work meeting. 150 teachers from three local schools, and almost every woman - myself included - was wearing the same thing: a printed skirt or dress with a cardigan and a jazzy necklace. Now, there's nothing wrong with that at all, but I just felt so bored looking at us all! So I decided to hunt out a more chic teacher outfit for days when I feel like looking a bit smarter. Of course, the first time I wore it to school everyone commented on it - variations on "Ooh, have you got an interview or something?" - so I haven't worn it again since!

George at Asda striped crochet collar jumper, £14 (not pictured)
Have you ever seen a more Janet jumper than this one?! The combination of stripes with a crochet collar meant I snapped this up as soon as I spied it.

Total spend on clothes in February: £169, which is a fairly scary amount However, for what I got - two jumpers, a dress, one cardigan, two tops, a blazer, a pair of trousers, a pair of Converese and a bag - it seems relatively good value. Let's see, though, just how much wear I've got out of these items a year down the line.

Meanwhile, to make room for these ten things, I sent eight items to the blogger clothes swap (post to follow soon), and two dresses, four skirts and a jumper to eBay.

12 comments:

  1. I went a bit overboard this month too, must be a February thing! Some great bargains you've found, I like the tote very much! I always like the look of Henry Holland's stuff but have similiar issues with it not fitting quite right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so in love with that tote! Can't wait for it to be summer so I can start using them (it's far too rainy at the moment to trust my camera to a canvas bag!)

      Delete
  2. I think it's good you're using the tactic of getting rid of things at the same time - I definitely need to work on that part! :) also yay for more people joining in!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks again for the idea! Yeah, if I wasn't also getting rid of things there'd be absolutely no room in my wardrobe.

      Delete
  3. I really want that skater dress and bird cardigan!! Big spend but you got a load for your money. I love this series on Elise's blog too, so looking forward to seeing if you're still wearing everything next year :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I'll be interested to see what turns into a wardrobe staple and what passes through and ends up eBayed or given to charity fairly quickly.

      Delete
  4. The skater dress looks ace and I like the look of the white la redoute top (collar crush anyone?). Also, I like the bird cardi, I say it all the time but my cardi colour selection is downright boring (black, blue, green, grey) need something more bright for spring.169 may sound a lot but it's a pretty big haul.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My friend Lesley laughs at me for having a cardigan for every occasion, but I really do have a drawer full of a rainbow selection of them! This pink/purple shade fills a gap in the rainbow.

      Delete
  5. I like these buys and like that you got rid of stuff at the same time. I really want some new brogues but have a perfectly decent pair right now and therefore have no reason at the moment to buy new ones (even though they are so pretty)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There would be literally NO room for anything new if I didn't always get rid of stuff. I sometimes look back on things I used to own and wish I'd never eBayed them, but that's life, and my wardrobe space is v limited (even though I use a good 80% of the clothing storage in the house!)

      Delete
  6. Sigh, the usual case of the disappearing comment! I basically said I LOVE the cardie and PP top! I haven't bought from La Redoute in a few years but they always have some classic cute items!x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hell yes to riots not diets. And that bird cardigan is making me green with envy.

    ReplyDelete