What I Bought & How Often I've Worn It
Just like last year, the majority of what I bought in 2023 was preloved. And unsurprisingly, after the year that was 2023, being somewhat of an emotional shopper, I find myself with a long list of purchases to share. I had a massive declutter and re-evaluation of my wardrobe that resulted in a lot of pieces leaving, as I searched for new pieces that fit into my lifestyle a bit better. I donated a lot and sold some things at local fashion markets too to make space for all these new buys. Last year I bought 18 things. This year, I added 54 things to my wardrobe. Mostly accessories, but still, a lot of shopping!
Of course, everything I bought has been worn at least twice. I set myself the goal of wearing everything I buy at least twice in the month I buy it, to make sure I'm buying things I'll actually wear and use and that work in my wardrobe. It's always interesting to look back on what I bought and see how much wear it actually all got over the year too.
Things Bought New:
- Target animal print ruffle hem mini skirt - 8 wears
- Target classic denim skirt in white - 6 wears
- Cle The Label Amelia tank in indigo - 5 wears
- Cle The Label Charlotte tee in ombre rose - 4 wears
- Kisschasy United Paper People 2023 tour band tee - 3 wears
- Kmart linen blend textured black tank - 4 wears
- blue and yellow daisy resin earrings - 3 wears
- Kmart teal tank - 3 wears
- Kmart short sleeve cotton modal tee in tulip pink - 2 wears
Opshop and Preloved Buys:
Things that I picked up from a rare browse on ebay, or a lucky opshop find or buy at the second hand markets.
Accessories:
- thrifted wood and marble bead thrifted necklace with white string - 9 wears
- thrifted gold and pastel blue beaded necklace with grey string - 4 wears
- thrifted multi strand multi colour disc bead necklace with tassels - 4 wears
- thrifted wooden geometric bead necklace - 8 wears
- thrifted yellow beaded statement pendant long necklace - 5 wears
- thrifted wooden yellow tassel necklace - 8 wears
- thrifted silver and turquoise multi strand necklace - 3 wears
- thrifted metallic clay bead necklace - 7 wears
- thrifted flat peach statement bead necklace - 6 wears
- thrifted flat navy statement bead necklace - 15 wears
- adjustable coral flat bead necklace - 6 wears
- red multi strand beaded statement necklace - 3 wears
- gold beaded statement multi strand necklace - 4 wears
- thrifted pastel pink and wooden hexagon bead necklace - 8 wears
- thrifted chartreuse necklace - 2 wears
- Mimco gunmetal twisted bracelet stack - 5 wears
- thrifted red dinosaur skeleton earrings - 6 wears
Cover Ups:
- thrifted Kmart blue and pink palm print cover up - 2 wears
- thrifted no label tropical print tassel cover up - 7 wears
- thrifted Cotton On maroon wanderlust floral border cover up - 5 wears
- thrifted Cotton On navy zig zag cover up - 3 wears
- thrifted no label leopard print cover up with waist tie - 2 wears
- thrifted Shein black floral print cover up - 2 wears
- thrifted pastel Paisley print cape - 2 wears
Winter Pieces:
- thrifted Dotti black cocoon cape cardigan - 9 wears
- thrifted no label black and white leopard print cardigan - 7 wears
- Witchery black belted moto leather jacket - 8 wears
- thrifted pink ombre tassel scarf - 2 wears
Tees:
- thrifted black scoop neck H&M tee - 5 wears
- thrifted Kmart short sleeve cotton modal tee - 4 wears
- thrifted Marcs navy lurex detail foil tee - 4 wears
- thrifted target crew neck tee coral red - 2 wears
Jeans and Shorts:
- thrifted Atmos&Here white straight leg jeans - 4 wears
- thrifted Kmart turquoise linen shorts - 3 wears
- thrifted red denim shorts - 5 wears
- Nobody Denim mustard short shorts - 2 wears
Dresses and Skirts:
- Orange Sherbet Zoe tiered dress in geranium print pink - 6 wears
- thrifted no label floral print babydoll dress - 4 wears
- thrifted colourful geometric print maxi dress - 4 wears
- thrifted peach and white floral print tiered sundress - 6 wears
- thrifted JayJays white maxi dress - 2 wears
- thrifted ruffle hem leopard print midi skirt - 5 wears
Preloved Bags:
No surprises there that I focused a lot on accessories and cover ups when shopping! They are great final pieces to add to staple outfits to make them seem a little different each time.
I made the most of the special "fill a bag" sales and 50% off days at my local opshops to have a browse and quite often come away with a new purchase or two. And of course all the items I donated from my wardrobe resulted in a few more browses where I'd often pick up a necklace or accessory!
Of course I already hit over 30 wears with my thrifted Rebecca Minkoff vintage Cupid satchel in dark navy blue. It is SUCH a good sized bag and being a neutral it goes with everything, so again, no surprise it was my most worn item of everything I bought this year. Definitely a go-to bag for me. One of the volunteers came up to me in the opshop the other day to say she remembered my excitement over my bag find when I stumbled across it and wanted to see if I'd found any other awesome finds since! I was able to share with her how much I still love and enjoy wearing the bag - even if I wasn't wearing it that day she spoke to me. Benefits of a personal style blog and a daily diary of outfit photos to look back on!
Sticking to My Fashion Budget:
The best thing is that my total spend comes up to $441, which shows that while I doubled what I bought last year, I was able to be well under budget by shopping preloved more often and searching for things second hand before buying new.
Fashion Resolutions For 2024
These fashion related goals for 2024 are very similar to last year, as I feel they worked well for me then too.
Continue to not buy any more hangers. When I set up my wardrobe room of my dreams, I replaced all my hangers with velvet ones. And I refuse to buy any more hangers. If something enters my wardrobe, something has to leave to make room. This has been working well for me so far.
Shop second hand more - there is already so much stuff in the world, I don't need to add to the demand for it by buying new when there are plenty preloved pieces out there to discover.
Buy less - this was my goal last year and I didn't meet it, buying a lot of items in 2023! But I'm hoping I can meet this goal this year as I'm very content with the state of my wardrobe at the moment.
Spend no more than $1,000 on fashion - something I've been able to do consistently the past few years, thanks to frequenting opshops rather than retail stores.
Start up my 30 wears series again - something that became tricky as I worked through my wardrobe this year and sold or donated older pieces. I'd love to hit 30 wears with more of my wardrobe this year though. I still think we should aim to wear everything we buy at least 30 times. It minimises the environmental impact that went into making clothes and it's better for the budget to rewear more often.
Have you set yourself any goals or resolutions for your spending on fashion in the year ahead?
I had hopes of listing and adding up what I bought last year but I did not keep it up. Most of what I spent was with the money my mother in law gives me to spend on myself most month. I did spend a little of my money too. I have thrifted in several months so that is a main goal for me, to get back to it.
ReplyDeletewww.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
I love how organized you are with your shopping. Tracking down everything, counting the wears and all that. I'm not as organized, but my blog helps me to keep track of my purchases. I usually link up my clothes to previous posts, so I know I'm wearing most of the things I have. As far as sustainability goes, I did really well last year. The only purchases that were not second hand were clothing items I had to buy as a part of my new work uniform (our school decided on a black and white dress code), but that was just basically two sweaters and a pair of pants. I already had the shirts at home. When it comes to second hand items, I bought maybe 7-8 things and I wear them all!
ReplyDeleteI always love when you put these reviews together, Mica! You did so good with wearing these pieces often and it inspires me to want to get more wears with my wardrobe! I would love to see your 30 wears series, too.
ReplyDeleteMy fashion goal is to add some staples that I can mix and match with other pieces that I already love. I am so bad about buying clothes for myself, I've had many of my things for years. My style has definitely evolved and I feel like getting my own closet to reflect that would be so nice.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you a very happy New Year! :)
Make Life Marvelous
Great job sticking to your annual budget, Mica! I have been limiting my shopping as well and focus mostly on purchasing second hand these days, too. Cover ups, robes, and kimonos are the things that always get me though. I cannot resist them even when they are full price! Unfortunately, I rarely find kimono robes in my local thrift shops. I think I might be the only person in my area who wears them! Haha. Happy New Year to you!
ReplyDeleteShelbee
Well done for sticking to your budget and buying mainly preloved Mica! xxx
ReplyDeleteLots of great buys this year, especially keeping under budget! And all your 2024 goals are a great way to curb spending but allow you to shop for some fresh pieces!
ReplyDeletelove all your fashion finds, the handbag is def my fav, what a good find! also such inspirational goals for 2024! hope you have an awesome 2024!
ReplyDeletexoxo, midori
https://www.midorilinea.com/blogs/midori-linea/my-new-creative-outlet-for-my-daughter-hannah
That's brilliant. I just move the things I wear to one side of the closet vs the other but I have no count of how many times that outfit has been worn.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year Mica! It's great that the majority of what you bought in 2023 was preloved and you were able to stick to your budget. I'm going to stick with my plan to buy less and buy better. I want everything I buy for my wardrobe to be timeless and well made pieces that I can wear as long a possible.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on spending under 500 last year. Happy New Year.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amysfashionblog.com/blog-home
I used to do 30 wears series and I even blogged about them! I haven't done one in YEARS, tho. I love your idea of not buying any new hangers. I have those velvet hangers too and I like the idea of not overbuying and then needing more hangers.
ReplyDeleteCarrie
curlycraftymom.com
Happy New Year, Mica! And agree with the other comments...super awesome that most of your purchases were preloved. Truly inspiring:)
ReplyDeleteI'm proud of you for committing to your resolutions...and keeping them, Mica! Your listing does show that you wore your Stella bag only 13 times - a typo? - that's my favourite new bag of yours.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a wonderful Christmas and very Happy New Year! I'm amazed that you read so many books (saw your comment).
Great goals for this coming year! I really try to stick to one in-one out rule as well. It helps thing from getting to overwhelming!
ReplyDeleteSuch a great idea to not buy any hangers - getting rid of something to make room for something. I love that! You are super organized with your shopping and wearing of items. Love it!
ReplyDeleteI really need to start keeping track like this! I know of a few new items I bought last year that I didn't end up wearing much at all and others I feel like I have worn so very often... perhaps if I track what I like I can figure out why I still keep those items I am less than in love with!
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