Away From Blue | Aussie Mum Style, Away From The Blue Jeans Rut

First haul of the year. Nearly made it 3 months without shopping, without even trying! After my December opshop haul I hadn't seen anything I had to have as I was enjoying wearing all my thrifted pieces from December, as well as the new things I got for Christmas. But then I stumbled across the Target end of summer clearance sale, and had some time at the opshops, so I bought quite a few things this month!

What I Bought In March:

thrifted wood and marble bead thrifted necklace with white string
thrifted gold and pastel blue beaded necklace with grey string
thrifted multi strand multi colour disc bead necklace with tassels
thrifted wooden geometric bead necklace
thrifted yellow beaded statement pendant long necklace
thrifted wooden yellow tassel necklace
thrifted silver and turquoise multi strand necklace

thrifted no label black and white leopard print cardigan
thrifted Kmart blue and pink palm print cover up
thrifted no label tropical print tassel cover up

Quite a large haul for my first haul of the year! With the exception of the white denim skirt, which I've been thinking about getting for a while, everything was an impulse buy. That explains all the necklaces!

I had fun browsing the Target end of summer sale with my mum and sister at the start of March. I only picked up two things to try on, both of them skirts, and I decided to buy them both. I thrifted a black denim version of the white skirt from the opshop a of couple years ago and love it, so thought it was worth the splurge on the white one in the Target sale. The leopard print skirt looked really cute and when I tried it on I just had to have it! Perfect for autumn here in Brisbane, I'm also looking forward to when it will eventually cool down and I will get to layer it.

The opshop finds were lucky finds! I'd been browsing their $1 book sale for books for the kids, and while I had a little extra time I checked out the clothes and accessories for myself too. Found one of the kimonos on the scarf rail! I loved the colours and the tassels and I pulled it out to take a closer look when I realised it was a kimono. Whenever I see a kimono in an opshop I add it straight to the basket! The cardigan I couldn't pass up either, although I know it will be a while before it's cool enough to wear it.

The necklaces were a little bit of a crazy buy! To be honest I actually put quite a few back, and just ended up taking these 7 home. Still so many to buy at once.

How I've Worn It:

I have a personal goal of wearing everything I buy at least twice in the month I buy it. It didn't work to curb my purchases this time, but my inability to wear everything twice this month has made me realise that yes, maybe 7 necklaces is too many to buy in one go. At just $2 each though, I couldn't resist!

The cardigan I have not worn, as I expected, as it's just not been cool enough, it's been a hot autumn here in Brisbane. I know it will get more wear when the weather cools though, and I've been looking for a printed cardigan for a while.

The kimonos I was sure I'd get two wears from - I do love a good kimono! I have been in the office much more than expected though, and had a few special events this month I'd pre-planned outfits for I wanted to wear, so I didn't meet my wear twice goal with both kimonos, although I do have plans to hit 2 wears with them this weekend.

The white denim skirt, being worn 3 times this month, was definitely the most worn buy of March!

Yearly Fashion Spend for 2023 So Far:

Since I hadn't bought anything in January or February, the March spend is the only amount added to my yearly spend so far in 2023. The skirts from target were 50% off, and the necklaces were $2 each, so my total comes to $52 spent on fashion so far this year.

And in keeping with my fashion goals for 2023, the majority of my purchases this year have been pre-loved, thanks to that awesomely productive opshopping time!

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If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll recognise this floral duster as one I frequently wear. Unsurprisingly I've reached over 30 wears with it, so I thought it would be a good time to finally feature it in its own 30 ways to wear post.

30 Ways to Wear: Navy Floral Print Duster

30 ways to wear a navy tropical floral print duster from jeanswest | awayfromblue

This duster goes with everything! There are so many bright colours in the tropical floral print that I'm never really struggling with what to wear with it. It was hard narrowing it down to just 30 outfits to share in this post! I love cover ups in summer, for sun protection and also to help with the adjustment that happens when you go outside from bright warm sun into cooler airconditioned indoor environments. I've worn this one a lot in the other seasons too, it's so versatile with jeans as well as shorts.

Cost Per Wear

I bought this Melanie duster in the Jeanswest buy one, get one free sale back in January 2020. Originally $80, it was reduced to $39.99 and I got a $30 tee for free as well. So I struggle a little with knowing how to price it! I bought it with a gift card also.

If I should split the cost across the tee I got, it comes down to just $20. And at 32 wears so far, that works out to 62 cents a wear. (On the other hand, it's $1.24 per wear if you count the purchase price and exclude the tee I got free in the deal). And with owning it for 3 years, it's averaging around 10 wears a year, or almost once a month, which fits in with how often I feel I reach for this duster, which is a lot!

I'll wear it with anything, dresses, skirts, jeans, shorts...so I'm focusing on some different colour combinations in the outfits I've worn it in. Here are the 30 of my favourite ways I've worn it so far. It's definitely a keeper in my wardrobe.

Navy Printed Duster With Blue

The most obvious pairing for me, as blue is my favourite colour, is to wear this navy printed duster with more blue pieces! As you can see in each of these outfits, anything from turquoise to chambray or even baby blue works well with the navy background of this duster.

Floral Print Duster Over Neutral Outfits

With the bright tropical floral print, this duster has so many colour combinations you could wear to match with it. You can also keep it simple and stick with a neutral outfit underneath, to let the colours and print really shine. Sometimes I'll add a bright accessory too, like a necklace or bag, as you can never have too much colour!

Navy Floral Duster With Orange

There isn't any orange in this floral print duster, but I do really like navy and orange together, so I gave the combination a go with an orange top I love. As you can see, I liked it so much I repeated it with other orange pieces in my wardrobe!

Floral Print Duster With Yellow

Another citrus bright with this duster! Although mustard is my favourite shade of yellow, other shades pair so nicely with it, even when not an exact match to the shades of yellow in the floral print. Not everything has to match exactly.

Navy Printed Duster With Red

With a few red flowers in the print, wearing some red with this duster is a nice bit of matchy-matchy. As with the other colours above, I like different shades of red with this, from a bright almost coral red tee, or a burgundy tee or jeans.

Floral Print Duster With Pink

If you look closely, there are a few pink flowers in this print, so as with the red above, it's a good excuse to try all the different shades of pink with this duster. I have a fondness for magenta pink, but I like the non-matching lighter pink shades too.

Navy Floral Duster With Purple

Purple and blue is a colour combination I like. Although there are a lot of other colours in this duster, like red, that I wouldn't pair with purple normally, I have enjoyed wearing different shades of purple with this duster. From the deep purple jeans, to the deep wine purple or even the lilac tee, it's an unexpected combination I enjoy wearing.

Navy Duster With Green

Just like with the purple above, there isn't any green in this floral print. But I like navy and green together, and I've found with the navy background of this duster it works so nicely with any shades of green. Those olive shorts I really like wearing together with this duster!