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Purchases for the month of July. Shopping whilst travelling is always inevitable, and before leaving for Europe I put together a wishlist of things that I wanted to pick up or that were missing from my wardrobe. While I didn't manage to get everything that I had on my wishlist, I did manage to tick a number of boxes.

In a somewhat curious event, I managed to come home with a suitcase lighter than the one I went over with (having taken over a few things for my parents), which should give an indication of how little I actually did buy. Missing from above are a couple of light summer jackets and linen t-shirts, as well as a couple of jackets and skirts I managed to nab off eBay while I was away.

Instead of buying a number of small things to fill up my suitcase, I opted to hunt out a couple of quality items I'd been wanting instead - as well as continuing my love affair with the breton stripe top - to avoid post-holiday shopping regrets, something that has plagued me many times after a large trip. Now, I just need to wait for the weather to warm up and the rain to go away so I can get both those pairs of shoes on my feet!

 

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img 1 - Liam floral blouse, Topshop peplum top, Diva spike necklace, Karen Walker lace-ups, Topshop loafers
img 2 - Karen Walker bandit dress, Glassons pants (black & floral)

Purchases for the month of June. Considering that I head off to Europe in a few days, I still ended up buying a number of things. It has me wondering how many things one person could buy in the space of the year, should they wish, and how much of that is actually necessary.

I finally managed to track down a couple of pairs of pants that I could wear both with heels and without, something that had eluded me for some time. On top of that, a couple of eBay purchases which taking into account their RRP were a steal, and a few things from Topshop, as I chose to reconsider taking a pair of ballet flats overseas in favor of a pair of loafers, which are far sturdier and less likely to slip off my feet as I dash through cobblestone streets. The mere fact that I opted to get these loafers in not only one, but two colours (the price drop to 20GBP made this an easy decision), may seem excessive, but I am constantly on the look out for comfortable flat shoes which for me was justification enough.

And lastly, when is a girl like me ever going to resist a sale? While I've been trying my best to ignore online sales (N-A-P excluded), I picked up the grey version of the T by Alexander Wang jumper from Revolve - now, more so than ever, I've realised the importance of owning a swag of jumpers in the winters as I find it hard to warm up on chilly days. I also paid a visit to Karen Walker, and snagged a few things I'd had my eye on; I must say, out of all the sales, hers are always the best.

Did you grab a bargain in the winter sales?

 

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Purchases for the month of May. The above image, or lack thereof of my personal purchases, should be a hint at how little restraint I appear to have had this month. One "small" Topshop order, and one Ashley Fogel sale were where most of the damage (in terms of numbers) was made. After this month, I've finally realised that I'm not the type of person who can just 'stop shopping', no matter how much I wish I was, as it appears to be just wishful thinking.

It will probably come as no surprise that I have little inclination to share the total number of purchases, although it could be argued for the sake of continuity that I should. It's had me contemplating the necessity of some, if not all my purchases, and the resilience to refrain from spending in what is essentially a consumer-driven world.

Some of my purchases, were things I had been keeping an eye out for, either for the purpose of wearing it over winter, or because I had missed out on it when it was in the stores. Others serve more as a novelty, injecting some extra colour or interesting prints to the generally muted palette in my wardrobe. I was also forced to once again pull from the depths of my wardrobe garments that I did not often wear, or was on the fence about, to sell so that I could make up some (or hopefully all) of the cost of my purchases.

It is times like these that I genuinely admire those who seldom buy things, or are extremely careful in their choices, considering all other options before finally pulling the trigger. This isn't to say that I regret buying the things that I did, but I do wish that I didn't want so much. I suppose you can't have everything!

 

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J Crew blouse, ASOS lace dress, Mimco necklace, Karen Walker shorts, Acne blouse

New purchases for the month of April. Like last month, April also resulted in eight new additions to my closet, a number that I was hoping not to reach. Very few things tempted me on eBay, which meant that the majority were purchased new. Reading over my list, it's a lot easier to identify that the things I did buy new, were ones that had a a limited window of opportunity to purchase, or miss out completely. It always gets me, how that little bit of information can make something seem more enticing, or more appealing than it really is. Here's hoping it was not that case in my experience.

By far my best purchase had to be the Acne sleeveless blouse, which I had no idea it existed until it showed up in one of my daily eBay searches. I had bought the long-sleeved version of this blouse a year or so ago, but found it difficult to wear often as it never sat properly on my shoulders. Now this is no longer a problem for me, and I'm happy to retain the best qualities of something I was rather fond of yet seldom wore.


Three of my purchases are not yet nestled amongst my other belongings, all for different reasons. One being a cashmere cardigan that is currently on layby. The second being a purchase I just made on eBay and is - with some luck - jetting across the sky on its way to me. And the final of the three, while paid off, is involving some patience on my part until I travel to London in July so that I can pick up my pair of black velvet Charlotte Olympia kitty flats, a purchase I have been wanting to make for over a year now. Better late than never I figure!


It's ironic that as we head into winter, my mind still appears to be dreaming of warmer climes, as I gravitated towards shorts, summer dresses and blouses over more sensible items like warm jumpers and thermals. I imagine that with the cold setting in, my purchases for the months ahead are likely to include merino, wools and cashmeres, all much needed, and somewhat lacking in my closet.

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img 1 - Isabel Marant Etoile grey knit dress, Lover lace 'Christina' dress
img 2 - Karen Walker breton stripe t-shirt, Karen Walker denim skirt, Celine black 'Cabas' tote
img 3 - ASOS grey suede aviator jacket, Karen Walker paperbag waist dress

New purchases for the month of March. As I have probably mentioned a few times, I’ve been making a concerted effort to shop smarter, so that I can both cut down on what can quite often spiral into out of control shopping habits, and also form a wardrobe that is completely wearable for my lifestyle, and full of pieces that I love. This has meant that I’ve started keeping track of all the purchases that I’ve made, and also considering whether I really need something. I tend to get a little obsessive-compulsive when it comes to lists, and my desire to keep my wardrobe total under 100 allows me to limit myself somewhat. I suppose this means shopping will eventually become a one-in, one-out process, but thankfully I’m not there yet.

This past month has resulted in eight new purchases (one of which isn’t pictured, as it is currently on its way to me in the post), which is four more than I was expecting. Unfortunately you can’t predict when something you have been hunting for will pop up on sites like eBay, and as my new habits aren’t supposed to be restrictive, I decided to just “roll with it” and not deny myself. My biggest revelation is that only one of the items I bought is new, and that was essentially an item I had ordered a few months back. I’ve been avoiding making purchases in the shops, bar picking up any outstanding laybys, and instead turning to websites like eBay to track down what I think has been missing from my wardrobe, with much success.

I’m still continuously re-evaluating my wardrobe, yet what I’ve found is that I’m coming to a point where there isn’t anything I wish to part with. Over time, I imagine that my tastes will evolve slightly, and I will eventually decide to part with things that today, I wouldn’t imagine getting rid of, but I hope that day doesn’t come too quickly. Getting dressed with ease every morning is something I’ve been relishing!