Thrifty 365 challenge

I posted this post or a version of it on sunday morning and it disappeared (so frustrating)...so here I am trying again. After not buying any RTW clothes last year I decided to join in with Sarah's thrifty 365 challenge.



She is something of a creative powerhouse, I don't know how she manages to do so many challenges and sewalongs along with the rest of her life! Her challenge gives me the chance to carry on with what I was already doing last year (ie not buying new RTW clothes) but to expand upon it in a coherent way and to examine further our spending habits as a family. Other bloggers are also doing this, such as Ms Scruffybadger and of course Ali is examining her consumerism and working out what to buy through her Fashion on the Ration challenge. Zoe has already sparked interestng debates in her comments section with her thought provoking articles.
Red dress for £2 - it is huge and currently a bit grubby but I think it could have good refashion potential. Look at the great button and pocket detailing.

Buying only second hand clothing or making my own clothes has quickly become the norm for me and it is odd how it has become just part of life for me not to buy new RTW clothing. Here in my cosy little corner of the internet it seems that lots of other people are in agreement but out in the Real World, not many of my friends and acquaintances do buy second hand.


Anyway, looking back at January I think I may have fallen into a pattern of buying too much even though it is second hand. The only bits that are not useful though are the teacups...they are just pretty.
So this is the spends for January,
January:

• Ikea duvet cover and pillow cases to use as fabric for sewing £4
It's the pink /red fabric under the teacups in the photo.


• Two small wooden cd racks for childrens' story cds. £1 each
Green and white dress - on examination I think this one was home made.


• Two 1960s/70s dresses £2 each - great for a refashion


• One pair jeans for me £3 (worn a lot already)


• Three canvas belts 50p each for bag making
  
• One chess set £3 (Teaching T to play chess last year was a great, great, great idea but we had a cheap plastic set and have broken and lost several pieces)
  
• Two teacups and saucers £1

The dresses and the tea cups came from a nearly new sale that is held once a month for a local church. I blogged about it in December, I saw the green and white dress in December, didn't buy it and then thought about it for the next month! The sale has clothing and household stuff, videos, toys, shoes and bags. One of the best bits about it is that when you come to pay, an elderly man with a big beard and not many teeth sizes up each purchase before declaring a price. An elderly lady writes all purchases down in pencil in a note book and does her sums. This is the kind of shopping environment I like! Plus some more elderly ladies are on hand to serve tea and cakes.

And just a note - have other UK residents noticed how charity shops are changing? Not all, but some are becoming so smart, with colour coded clothing displays, and increased prices. A friend of mine who is a veteran charity shopper thinks it is due in part to Mary Portas's BBC series, unfortunately I don't think you can see this anymore on the BBC iplayer but here is a related news article (and another interesting critique here) last year on revamping charity shops. I still like the junkier, more eccentric charity shops which have a distinct whiff about them.

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