Welcome back to the monthly recap of my No Buy Year and happy Ladies’ Privilege Day! (lol) ✨ This month has been quite something. Three important things have happened this month concerning this experiment:
I’ve decided to retire the paywall of the posts and turn off paid subscriptions for this newsletter. (All explained here)
I’ve discovered a fantastic way to buy clothes without any money (and no crime involved!)
I’ve had a HUGE wardrobe crisis.
I’ll go straight to the second point because it’s pretty cool. I told you last month how I wanted to know more about the Shrub Coop’s Swapshop. They have a fantastic perk for members: when you donate your preloved items they give you back 20% of their value as tokens. You can spend these at any time in their second-hand shop. 1 token is worth £1. So I took all the clothes that didn’t make the cut when I did my last wardrobe cleaning l and got…67 tokens. That is…£67 guys!! ✨✨✨ I went last Saturday to use some of my tokens and after perusing for a while, I found a white shirt from Marks & Spencer, another silky white shirt from H&M, a vintage navy cardigan from Marks & Spencer, and a black tank top from Mango - and I only used 16 tokens. I am beyond happy! This means that I can go there now and then and take a look at what they have, knowing that I am not breaking the rules and that I will scratch the itch whenever I feel like shopping.
If you live in Edinburgh I recommend you stop by or check their website, and take part in the many events and workshops they offer. 🎀
And to find these four pieces was fantastic, because a couple of days before I had a wardrobe crisis like never before. After doing the fantastic wardrobe cleaning I mentioned before I was still feeling like something was missing, and after some time I was able to pinpoint the two causes:
I have lots of wardrobe gaps.
My body has changed and I haven’t fully accepted it.
I don’t have a single jumper that sits on me perfectly. And I’m very picky about the length and the neck of jumpers, a detail I seem to forget every time I come across a pastel/cosy jumper in a charity shop. Most of my trousers make me feel uncomfortable after an hour sitting at my office’s desk. And the list goes on. This only had one solution on my mind: being ruthless with my clothes and embracing minimalism. So I am doing yet ANOTHER wardrobe raid and reducing my amount of clothes to only those that make me feel good. Will that be one jumper and two dresses? Who knows. Maybe! I don’t need six cardigans if four of them make me feel like a 65-year-old accountant with a hunchback. I don’t need coats that are gorgeous but don’t close on my hips because the diarrhea I usually have after getting cold from wearing my coat open when is freezing is not very fashionable. Accepting that my body - like any woman’s body - has changed is liberating me in many ways, and one of them includes rethinking my own wardrobe. And it’s a journey, guys!
I had to start from the basics and get new bras. I´ve gone up a size and I was sick of my boobs overflowing. Three tits might be an interesting name for a PornHub category, but not the look I like to go for when I put a top on. So I spent two hours in Marks & Spencer finding the one true bra that would make me feel like a new woman…and then I bought two more in a different colour. In an ideal world, I would have a massive breast reduction tomorrow - I’m taking one that would make me forget what bras even are!- but this gurl plans to have some babies in the next few years, so there’s really no point in getting rid of your tits if they are going to go loco again the minute you get pregnant…There's also a chance you will not be able to breastfeed after the operation, and that would also make me sad.
Let me just do a quick…
Fuck.
Anyway, now that I think I’ve tackled the issue of using the wrong bra size, I feel ready to do the next thing, which is to put my wardrobe to the test and Marie Kondo the shit out of it. The mastering of one’s personal style is a long journey, and I’m just starting to discover that. I used to be a massive clothes hoarder, but now I am ready to embrace minimalism if that means it will help me accept my body better.
puts it perfectly in her piece What does body image have to do with minimalism?:If you trust and respect your current body, you’ll naturally want to clothe it in only things that make it feel good and you’ll have higher standards for the things you allow into your wardrobe.
And no, this is not some Wow so you’re going to dress in black and white because you feel a bit fat now? Jesus, no. It’s more like I’m going to have super high standards with anything I bring home with me because I want to feel precious and comfortable. Kind of like when I started dating.
And that’s an important thing to remember, ok? Because I also need to have high standards with the clothes I get for free, otherwise it doesn’t make sense. Since starting this challenge I’ve gotten some free pieces from clothes swaps and hand-me-downs from friends and family and because I am Spanish and we LOOOOOVE free stuff, that means sometimes I catch myself adding to my wardrobe things that are not 100% working for me. So it’s important to keep an eye on that! 👀
So yeah, this month has been very interesting in terms of my relationship with the clothes I already have and my body - I am ready to figuratively burn most of my wardrobe to ashes and start building one that really works for me now. It’s exciting! I wouldn't have been able to do this exercise of reflection if I hadn’t had this self-imposed shopping ban. I would have probably gone on a charity shop crawl to try and fix what was wrong with my wardrobe by adding even more pieces.
So I am happy and grateful that I am giving myself the space to think about all of these things. Things that might seem superficial to some, but to me are important because I love clothes. No shame in that.
See you in the next letter! 💖
totally resonate with how disappointing it can be when your body is changing and your wardrobe no longer works for you :( excited you found a clothing swap solution in the meantime!! sounds like such a cool place
I love that store/clothing swap! I wish we had something like that here in New York. We do have some active buy nothing groups and even free fleas but it's not quite the same!