After achieving No Buy July I've been sticking firm to the Slow Fashion Season #FashionDetox challenge, which means buying no new fashion pieces from July to September. I'm really wanting to achieve that goal, and didn't see myself even doing much thrifting or second hand shopping for the 3 months, shopping that's allowed under the rules because it's not newly made.
But then I stumbled across a preloved bag for an amazing deal and just like I did in June, and March, and February... I impulse bought another handbag 😂 Maybe I need a handbag detox!
What I Bought:
This beautiful bag is the Rebecca Minkoff quilted jumbo Love bag in cobalt. It's a bag I've considered a few times over the years but the cheapest I've seen it on sale was $190 and I eventually thought too long even at that price and missed out on it. Being petite and wary of bigger structured bags I didn't want to spend a lot in case it was too big for me. It currently retails for $539 at David Jones so I'd always thought it would be a bag I wouldn't add to my collection.
But then I saw this second hand on Gumtree for just $50 - and knew I had to try it at that price! I do think it is a bit big for me, and I can't wear it crossbody like I do with my other love bags as it's down at my knees! But while it won't be a permanent addition to my handbag collection I plan to enjoy it for a while, the colour is amazing.
Given I don't see it being a staple for me and that I've found it a little tricky to style so far it's an impulse buy I probably shouldn't have bought, but I was so curious about this style and it's nice to have a jumbo Love bag to try. It also brings my total purchases so far this year to: 5 items of clothing, 4 bags and a wallet! 🤣 Definitely a bag buying year this year! They have all been second hand bag buys so I'm still just under budget.
How I've Worn It:
If I was in the office more this would be the perfect office bag I think, but we are still under hybrid ways of working with it meaning working from home most of the time. I've tried to work this bag into more casual outfits, with varying rates of success. I'm determined to make this bag work though, it's just so beautiful!
For this month's 30 ways to wear post I'm sharing some of the ways I've worn this pretty purple cocoon cardigan. Each month I take a look through my blog archives to see what pieces in my wardrobe I've hit 30 wears with, to put together these posts.
I don't track my wear count with spreadsheets, or apps, I'm not that organised! It's just me regularly taking a pic of what I wear each day and putting it on the blog. When I search for previous ways I've worn things I can see post counts and identify items that are at or close to 30 wears. Because I'm on Blogger which is run by Google I'm guessing the post search function I get behind the scenes is better than Wordpress? Seems to be Wordpress users mostly that don't understand how my blog archive can tally how many times I've worn things. It's so easy to just query for "Jeanswest Peggie kimono cardigan in purple mulberry marle" as I've labelled this cardi, and I get all the times I've worn this cardigan counted for me. Thrifted pieces are a little trickier as I don't know the official store colour names or descriptors but I try to give them unique names so it's easier to search later. Been blogging what I wear each day for almost 10 years so that's a lot of outfits and pieces being worn I can find!
30 Ways To Wear: Purple Cocoon Cardigan
This Peggie purple cocoon cardigan is just perfect for our milder temperatures in Brisbane - not too thick and warm, which makes it perfect to wear on its own, or to layer with on a really cold day. And even though it's 6 years old, it's still in perfect condition!
Cost Per Wear
I picked this cardigan up in a Jeanswest sale back in June 2015. I wasn't a big cardigan wearer until after the boys were born and I realised how it was much better breastfeeding a baby in winter in a cardigan than a jacket with big buttons or zips! Since then I have embraced them more, but it still has taken me 6 years to reach 32 wears with this cardigan. Pleased with how long this cardi has lasted in my wardrobe though, and it has lots of wear left! It is a thin, fine knit so I'm really just lucky it hasn't snagged on anything to get a pull or a hole, and the "hand wash" setting on our washing machine has helped make sure it's not damaged in the wash. I'm sure using that wash setting and never using a dryer is why I find high street or fast fashion pieces last years and for 30+ wears in my wardrobe.
As it was a "extra % off already discounted items" sale buy, it was just $17.49. I don't remember the original price as the email receipt only has the final price but I think that was a pretty good deal! It works out as 55 cents a wear so far too which is awesome. There are a few colour combos I like to wear with this cardigan, and some outfit pieces it makes a great topper for, so here's 30 of my favourite ways I've worn it!
Purple Cardigan As An Extra Layer
This cardigan was great for winter days back when we used to work in offices. Light enough to add as a layer under a thicker coat or trench to add extra warmth on the commute, and a great topper on its own in the office one the coat was off. Was a nice little hint of purple in all the layers too.
Purple Cardigan To Bring Colour to Neutrals
This deep purple is a great way to add more colour to a neutral outfit. It works well here with the black and white outfits to add some brightness without being too bold. It's nice to just let the cardigan be the only touch of colour in an outfit too sometimes.
Purple Cardigan With Pink Outfits
There are a few colour combos I frequently wear together. Pink and purple is one of those. As you can see from the pics this pretty purple is so nice worn with magenta pink, and so I like wearing my magenta pieces like the jeans and midi dress with this purple cardigan.
Purple Cardigan With Blue Outfits
Another go-to combination for me is purple and blue. I like all shades of blue with this cardigan, from pale blue chambray to a darker navy, it's a nice completer piece to add to a blue outfit.
Purple Cardigan Worn With Other Purple Pieces In An Outfit
Matchy-matchy makes me happy! With this purple cardigan though, I don't have any other pieces in this exact shade. So it's more monochromatic matchy-matchy in these outfits, that I think works just as well. All the different shades of purple, from the jeans to the scarves or the little mini MAB tote bag, look great together.
Purple Cardigan and Prints
Sometimes it can be tricky to layer an outfit that has a lot of print in it if you want to avoid print clashing. A block coloured cardigan like this one is the perfect layer then as it introduces even more colour to your outfit but doesn't compete with any printed pieces. You can see how good it looks here with small things like tartan scarves to bigger statement pieces like chevron print jeans or a Paisley print dress.
Purple Cardigan Worn With Shorts
In spring and autumn when it's not quite warm enough for bare arms and bare legs together legs light cocoon cardigan like this is the perfect topper. Not bulky so it's easy to take off and put in a bag if it warms up, but warm enough to keep you cosy in the cooler mornings and evenings. Shorts and cardigans will always be a staple outfit formula for me in those in-between seasons.
Purple Cardigan Worn With Dresses
The cocoon shape of this cardigan doesn't limit what I wear it with. Just as it's worked with jeans and shorts and skirts above, it works really well with dresses too! Both shorter dresses and maxi dresses are a great base for a cocoon cardigan. And colourful or printed dresses let me try out some different colour combos with the purple too!
Short and sweet what I bought post this month! While I made it through April and May without making any fashion purchases, June ended up much like March - I stumbled across a handbag on eBay I'd been thinking about at a price I couldn't resist, so I made another impulse buy.
What I Bought In June:
I've you've followed my blog since the early days this bag may look a little familiar to you - I had a pink version of this bag in 2012/2013 that I often regretted selling! As mentioned in the video I'd been thinking about it lately and searching a few sites for it, looking at options when I got rewarded at work with a gift card a few weeks ago, that spurred me on to buy this!
You haven't seen this pop up on the blog or even my Instagram yet. I'd been trying to find a place that could fix up the weak point on the strap around the local area, so it wasn't being worn while I was taking the strap out to the cobblers. No luck with that sadly, as I talked through in the video, but at least I have a few places in mind to go to if the strap does snap, ha!
I'm really looking forward to wearing this. I have my "wear twice in the month you buy it" rule for all new purchase that this bag hasn't met, but given the colour I know it will work with a lot of things in my wardrobe. I did get it right at the start of June but between authenticating, cleaning it up, trying to find a cobbler, the rain and our little 3 day lockdown we had in Brisbane recently there hasn't been a chance to wear it before I drafted up this post.
In lieu of a how I wore it, these are the pics I texted to my bestie when I tried it on immediately after it arrived!
