I know, scary headline, right? But here are some posts from those starting to question whether we really need to be spending crazy amounts of our cash on our wardrobes. 
Some are not buying clothes at all .. others wearing the same clothes over and over (shock, horror, I know) and there’s some links here on wallet-friendly ways to keep buying clothes, just not at retail.
Tamsin Davies in London wore 6 pieces of clothing for a month. My God, how did she know what to choose? I think I’d go for dark jeans, a black singlet top, a black jacket, a white T, black skirt + a my favourite long sleeved coral-coloured top. But this means I only have one jacket! And does the singlet really count as an item of clothing?! Eek! Tough choice …
Heidi Hackemer tried it too – the video of her explaining why she wanted to get involved is great – and she’s stylish enough to get away with her very limited wardrobe for a month.
The Great American Apparel Diet is taking it one step further … asking people to buy no new clothes for a whole year. Eek! I love the Q&A on this on Time’s blog. A whole year?! Seriously, I can’t even think about it. But these girls said they saved thousands and thousands of dollars. What do you reckon you could buy with a years’ worth of savings from not buying clothes? If I included shoes and handbags, I think it would be a small car.
The Clothing Exchange does great, well run clothes swap parties. I’ve been to two clothes swap parties, and I loved them.
This great post explains how to not buy any new clothes for a year … but go nuts on Ebay second hand clothes, and save yourself a fortune.
We’ve already met Marisa … she set herself a challenge to buy only clothes that cost around $1 from junk stores – one a day actually – and transform them into something wonderful. In the last week, she’s been seriously on fire … props to the pink Hawaiian mumu from day 241.
J-Low-Budget August 2, 2010 at 10:45 am
I am obsessed with these challenges, I just don’t know if I could stick to them! Imagine how much time/effort/money/energy we could save by adopting a uniform, and not doing our heads in every morning before we leave the house!
My favourite part about these stories is that no one even NOTICES that some of these girls are wearing the same clothes every day… who are we really getting dressed up for?
Fourth Daughter August 9, 2010 at 9:46 am
I don’t even remember the last time I bought new clothes or even new shoes, I always shop at op shops or make my own or combine these by customising op shop stuff, which I admit is like an addiction in itself, but if I stopped I might save something like $300 a year, rather than thousands of dollars!! I feature my projects on my blog http://stylewilderness.blogspot.com/
Also, how about The Uniform Project where one girl wore one dress for a YEAR and showed her daily outfits… and raised over $100,000 for charity! http://www.theuniformproject.com