It was the chance discovery – just before Christmas – in the depths of a cupboard, of a beautiful and much-loved cable-knit sweater, that did it. It had been hand-knitted in a soft black and white marl by my late mother about 16 years ago. Wearing it again was akin to meeting up, after many years, with an old and very special friend. Perhaps the equivalent of a "Sarah Lund" jumper, I was overwhelmed by the compliments it attracted.
Realising how many other garments are squidged into oblivion between well-worn current favourites; clothes strictly for work; and treasured, lavender-scented vintage clothes handed down through my family, I had a think. As I discovered old favourites I had simply forgotten about – the Japanese-style polyester bomber jacket I wore as a teenager to a Roxy Music concert, a Bet Lynch-style fur swing jacket from Chelsea Girl that is miraculously back in fashion – I realised this could be fun.
So, on New Year's Day, I set myself a challenge. To make up for the above-inflation 6% leap in rail fares that will give me a good pummelling in the pocket, I have decided not to buy any new clothes – indeed, any clothes at all – for a whole year.
And to make it even harder, that will apply to shoes and boots, underwear and hosiery. In the spirit of "make do and mend", I will repair anything that needs it.
I will even resist the temptation to buy second-hand from charity shops – including my favourite on London's Marylebone High Street. It will remain nameless here, dear readers, as it is far too good a secret to share. Even "swishing parties" – or organised clothes swaps – are out, as the idea is not to accumulate any more.
Female friends are shocked and even horrified. One told me that I am completely mad and cheerfully predicted that, given my love of a bit of retail therapy, I would not last out the month.
Admittedly, a visit to the new Westfield Stratford city shopping centre this weekend with my teenage daughter and a group of friends beckons, but I refuse to feel threatened by the "70% off" sale stickers. The thrill of the chase and the feeling of satisfaction from a new purchase in a pristine shopping bag are a quick fix that I am sure I will be able to resist. Just.
My mother's adage was: "Never throw anything away" and, as a fashion historian, she accumulated so many vintage items over her lifetime they ended up in an archive at the University of Staffordshire, where they are enjoyed by a new generation of students.
An audit of the clothes I now have stuffed into boxes, bags and cupboards, reveals that her philosophy clearly runs in the genes and I am certainly in no danger of running out of clothes. More than 50 pairs of shoes, eight pairs of boots, 26 coats – to my embarrassment, I gave up after that.
They are high street labels, rather than expensive designer brands. In the past, for example, I have succumbed to the temptation of (and enjoyed) the quick retail fix – the thrill of dashing into Zara during a lunch break and seeing a bargain of a coat that I just had to snap up.
The problem is, it can lead to unintentional stock-piling. So, while many women may admit to owning a few "little black dresses" I seem to have the equivalent of a Tardis full of little black coats. I'm obviously one of the 92% of Britons identified by Marks & Spencer – which encourages people to donate unwanted clothing to Oxfam – who admit they cling on to stuff they never wear.
Shopping channel QVC estimated last year we hoard an estimated £1.6 bn's-worth.
Am I being too ambitious? Could I be forced to knit my own underwear or dip into my husband's stash of T-shirts? Admittedly, I am fortunate that my size has stayed pretty much the same over the years.
My colleague, Patrick Barkham, rose to the same challenge to reduce his carbon footprint in 2010 and told me: "I did pretty well – honestly! – but I had to buy a new raincoat in North Wales after I lost mine."
For me this is not a sacrifice, but what I hope will be a liberating experience, freeing me from the curse of the shopping mall. Not only will I relish the challenge, but I think I will actually enjoy giving my old clothes a new lease of life. Watch this space.
Comments
7 January 2012 12:46AM
Doesn't anyone have exciting new year's resolutions any more? Mine's to learn how to make an origami frog. I should get my own column.
7 January 2012 2:50AM
This article demonstrates (to me at least) why I should have stuck to reading the paper version of The Guardian; if I'd come across an article such as this in the past I would have grumbled a bit to myself about the vacuousness of it, but acknowledged that journalists have a job to do like the rest of us, and sometimes that means doing silly things.
But now I can't help pointing out that this article seems obviously designed to appeal to a few people who know they buy more clothes than they really need, but mainly to illicit a range of responses from readers who will profess varying degrees of outrage about middle class London media types and vintage clothing.
As for me, I do possess various items of clothing, including undergarments, which are more than a year old.
7 January 2012 3:22AM
I'm tempted to join you in your resolution.
I like buying new stuff that's the current fashion, but my recent review of my budget has been an eye opener. It is perhaps easier just to rule out new clothes for a year rather than try and budget around items I think I need.
Not sure it could extend to undies and hosiery though - partly because I just bought two bras in the sale, but also, I've no idea how to mend 10 denier tights - surely people don't do that??
7 January 2012 8:00AM
My first thought was, lucky lady to have space for 26 coats in her wardrobe before you even get on to counting all the other clothes!
My second thought was similar to keyboardaddictagain: clothes I could just about get by for a year without buying new ones, but tights? Holes in the toe you could mend if you are determined to stick with it, but ladders that run up the leg, not so easy.
Mind you, you could perhaps start a new trend and say they were 'designer tights' with individual embroidery, no two pairs alike - or just wear one of your many pairs of boots.
I assume Rebecca is not planning any major lifestyle changes which involve changing body shape - I have bought a lot of clothes in the last three years but largely because
a) I managed to lose two and a half stones and
b) suffered some health issues in 2011 and put a stone of that weight back on and found to my horror that many of my new clothes wouldn't fit, and the old ones had all gone off to the charity shop.
This challenge would be impossible if for example you were expecting your first child in 2012!
7 January 2012 8:46AM
The tights is an easy one - don't wear them! I'm not averse to the idea but simply find I don't need to. When I lost weight, I didn't change my wardrobe either (although perhaps in hindsight I should have done).
For a start, it's just a habit to break. Then I suppose the things is to buy versatile, durable pieces. I've just bought some new jeans and a jacket for instance, the last pieces being 10 years old or more but "classic" so never fell out of style.
Don't forget dyeing as well - the faded black jeans, fading underwear etc.
What this lady is very coy about is numbers. This is a "Money" page, for goodness sake. But no indication at all of how much it'll save. This is rather playing up to the stereotype of the women and shopping - oooh, it's all such nice stuff, no need to bother my pretty little head with dirty, nasty cash.
7 January 2012 9:18AM
socks always seem to thin out and get wholly in my experience
7 January 2012 9:37AM
As a bloke I could cheerfully get by without buying any new clothes for five years. What's more nobody would notice. What is obscene is that there are people who cannot think of anything better to do than shop, shop, shop to buy clothes that may get worn 2 or 3 times. Usually such items are made by exploited labour, but purchasers of such items would rather they were cheap than ethically clean. We all know it goes on, but what is to be done, when self, self ,self is the only mantra that the modern consumer seems to know. With some genuflection towards fair trade you can get more than enough to get by and you might sleep better at night.
7 January 2012 9:39AM
Not buying clothes for a full year is probably quite tough for those that have to be smart at work all the time, particularly for women.
As an academic it is pretty easy to do-and something I've done without thinking on occasion. Last year I needed a shirt for when I needed to be 'smart' and some jeans because of knee holes in my other pairs (from nappy changing and playing on the floor). This year I shouldn't need anything. Which is just as well given that 3 pairs of start-rite children's shoes means I can blow >£100 without thinking.
7 January 2012 9:49AM
Not sure I could go a whole year....but looking at my wardrobe, I seem to wear the same stuff anyway, so in theory I should be able to....interesting challenge.
One thing I do do is 'one in, one out'. I started this when I realised I had more jeans than a Gap store! So whenever I buy a new black jumper, or new t shirt, I put an old one into Oxfam. That tends to stop the wardrobe bulging.
7 January 2012 9:54AM
If you are a bloke like me it is very easy to restrict clothing to what is needed.
It's not a question of austerity, just common sense and practicality.
That simple if you're not being judged by other blokes all the time or don't have kids to clothe.
However it would help if we could reverse that pernicious "because I'm worth it "dogma. How much tirrelevant at is bought on account of that stupid vanity?
7 January 2012 9:55AM
tat that should read...and tat it too often is.
7 January 2012 10:53AM
Easy. I'm sure that 'Work' drives a lot of clothes purchases - I became s/e 10 yrs ago. I have 2 suits, 2 smart shirts a handful of ties and 1 pair of smart shoes - most from then, and they really do look good, being worn on average 2/3 times a month only.
Most days its jeans and sweatshirt and I've enough of those to see me out.
Most people don't repair anymore - darning socks is (almost) unheard of. Things DO repair - not endlessly, but getting an extra few months wear then relegating items to gardening wear seems to me to be natural. It's not a question of being mean or penny pinching, I think we as a society have just become too 'throw away'. Maybe austere times will force some to look again at what is important and what isn't. Trouble is most people haven't the basic skills to repair things anymore (clothes being only one example) and will happily renew rather than repair.
Ask yourself this - when did you last wash your own car (rather than take it through a carwash or let the supermarket washers loose on it; last wash your own windows; last maintain your own car (oil change etc.). All symptoms of the same thing?
7 January 2012 12:06PM
This article reeks of self-importance. 'Can I become an even better person by nobly forgoing the latest fashions? Oh, but what on earth will I do with all my masses of money?'
Except for absolute necessities (underwear, gloves) I didn't buy one new item of clothing last year. For most of it, I didn't have a job. I couldn't afford to go buying items of clothing that I didn't really need. I didn't even bother with the Christmas sales.
I stitch up my socks when they get holes in, and keep my summer clothes boxed up until the right season comes along, and vice versa for winter wear. I'd love to buy new clothes, but I don't have money to burn.
7 January 2012 12:16PM
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7 January 2012 12:47PM
With the amount of clothing you already have, of course you can go a year buying nothing new.
7 January 2012 12:57PM
Make do and mend is definitely the theme for 2012, but some of us have been doing it for years. Something that drives me mad however is the high number of charity collecting bags I get through the door (at least one a week) asking for clothes, shoes and handbags only. Nothing else. No toys, books, bric a brac, DVDs. How many clothes do they think I have? I have lots of books and other stuff I could donate but they don't want any of that, only clothes etc. By the time I decide something wearable can be disposed of no one else would want it, believe me. In the last year only one charity was willing to accept non-wearable items in its collecting bag, and they failed to collect the full bag from my doorstep (AGE UK, I'm talking about you!).
7 January 2012 1:00PM
I could easily manage not buying any new clothes for a year as long as we were talking outerwear. Tights and undies would be an issue though as would footwear. Whilst high heels and boots can and do last for years and years I get through a couple of pairs of " sensible" work shoes and a pair of equally sensible sandals a year because I walk a lot and am in a job that requires much standing and driving and hence demands comfy footwear. I have heels and soles replaced as needed but even so the shoes soon become not smart enough for work and need replacing.
I can and do make do and mend and have clothes well over twenty years old. I confess that things with a button off or a hem down or a seam coming adrift tend to get left in the mending basket for weeks or months until I get a virtuous fit and spend an evening catching up. I also confess that life is too short to replace broken zips.. if they can't be mended the garment tends to get binned
( the prices charged by dry cleaners to replace zips are often make it just as economical to replace the garment in the sales)
7 January 2012 1:03PM
Some of those "charity" bags may have been businesses who sell your donated clothes on, and donate a tiny percentage to a charity. I think most actual charity shops will want books and bric - brac too. Beware the ones who don't!
7 January 2012 1:21PM
If she has still got clothes from her teenage years then she probably does not need to buy any more clothes ever again (with the exception of underwear).
I too am not buying any clothes for a year, but I started my challenge in December.
My brief to myself is:
1) to wear what I have got. I don't need anything. Make do and mend.
2) save money/tighten belt to balance/compensate for my expenses going up and my income going down.
7 January 2012 2:07PM
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7 January 2012 2:38PM
vslvsl - you must be a guy, right?
Most guys I know would have the same number of coats as you say. Girls would be different.....I've got 10 off the top of my head, prob a few more lurking somewhere. No doubt someone will comment about how bad that makes me, but really, is it so bad to have 2 brown, 2 navy, 2 black plus a couple of leather ones (ie winter and summer in both colors)?
Just back from town, and this article made me think twice about yet another navy cardi, even though it was in the sale. Will see how long I can last...!
7 January 2012 2:40PM
The problem is, it can lead to unintentional stock-piling
That’s not necessarily a problem, provided you have enough storage space. With commodity prices and inflation rising, it’s good to have a stash of wearable clothes which you can dip into when you’d rather not spend money on new. Check out the book "Reconstructing Clothes for Dummies" for some ways(some sensible, some bonkers) of recycling untrendy old clothes,
Some of the vitriolic comments on here are a bit much. The writer is a lady with a lot of clothes, not a serial killer ,for goodness’ sake. I find that much criticism of women’s shoe-buying tends to come from men whose own expenditure on beer and sports gives them very little scope for feeling morally superior- not that another person’s shopping habits are any of their business of course.
7 January 2012 3:12PM
Alexandria - I get at least 3 a week. At least. Someone should follow the collectors and do some investigation on them.
And then hopefully find something criminal and get them banged up.
7 January 2012 4:15PM
I'm a girl - 1 dog walking coat (used to be main winter coat until a doggy accident meant it needed washing and now smells when wet) - useful for keeping treats, poo bags etc in pockets. 1 waterproof coat for autum spring, bought when dog walking coat was main coat now surplus to requirement. 1 combi coat incorporating rain coat and fleece. 1 black jacket for 'posh' things (doesn't black go with everything!!). So 4 coats for me - 1 not really needed and 1 only required for the lifetime of the dog. I neither envy nor scorn your amounts of coats but I don't necessarily think it's a 'girl' or 'guy' thing.
7 January 2012 4:55PM
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7 January 2012 5:14PM
So - she has enough money to buy lots of clothes - assuming she hasn't got into debt and her future is planned for, why shouldn't she spend her money on what she wants?
I have at the odd time spent silly money on individual items, but in general am pretty frugal, but as long as spending fits properly within their salaries then why not spend it? If no-one spends money, no-one earns it off the back of that. I would love to know if these detractors never spend money on stuff they don't absolutely need , like more than a basic car or a fancy holiday or maybe restaurant meals (No-one need restaurant meals, do they?), or buying books instead of borrowing them - the list goes on)
Personally I have too many clothes stored away, but at no more than 2 or 3 items per year for the last decade, it's down to being old and never chucking away (slightly OCD?) rather than profligacy. For the past 2 years I have been on either no income or just enough to cover basic bills and have been glad that the old heavy clothes that I'd not used for years due to hot flushes could now be dragged out now that I can't afford to turn the heating on.
I do feel that there is more to life than constantly buying clothes, but it takes all sorts. If the journalist should 'get a life' then maybe the self-congratulatory detractors should as well?
7 January 2012 5:18PM
Relax everyone, it's a great article and hardly akin to harming anyone.
7 January 2012 5:27PM
Why don't you just go the whole hog and become a nudist
7 January 2012 6:15PM
This article it seems to me is about more than clothes. More simply it is abourt living within your means.
However I suspect most find it hard to break the cycle of treats, rewards, and entitlement and with it increasing debt. (well at least if personal debt headlines are to be believed) What must irk many is that as the price of say gas goes up they have less for non essential items which they are addicted to. Gas is no fun !!
4 years ago I changed from an out of control entitlement mindset to reduce a staggering amount of non mortgage debt debt (from an amount = 350% of my disposable annual salary to about 40% and still falling.) I earn just over the annual wage so it was the hardest financial adjustment I'd ever made. Life was sickening. Worse than my times on the dole actually.
However life is so much easier when you ditch entitlement or at least have a healthier attitude towards it.
If you can afford it you're worth it, if you can't you aren't.
7 January 2012 6:47PM
agreed
7 January 2012 8:13PM
The prominent LK Bennett bag in the photograph (in the print edition of the paper) said it all for me. 26 coats?!
I think I may have bought a few T shirts in 2011 but it would be very easy not to buy any clothes for several years. And I am not a man.
I buy clothes when I need them. Which is not very often. Many items in my wardrobe are 5, 10 or 20 years old and still fine.
I am neither poor or rich. I have a modest salary of which I save a significant proportion by only buying things I need. The thought of buying a coat because it takes my fancy, when I am already wearing one which keeps me warm is completely alien to me.
I would have thought the Guardian could do better. This is an insult to people who are trying to get by on low pay, or who are trying to consider the future of the planet.
Show us a real challenge please next time.
7 January 2012 9:32PM
Good luck. Over-consumption is a problem for our society.
Personally, I love bags and have a few designer ones. I don't smoke, barely drink, don't have a flash car or go on luxury holidays so it equals out. You know, it's not the end of the world to have a lot of possessions as long as they don't start to own you. It's sad to read vitriolic comments and name-calling. Although, personally I'd get rid of the fur coat. Wearing fur, even vintage, sends the wrong signal; that you don't care about another creature suffering as long as it results in a fancy outfit. Fur is gross.
7 January 2012 10:26PM
By coincidence this is my resolution for 2012 as well - but I am allowing myself to buy new underwear and tights if necessary, and also will stretch to second hand clothes if I find I actually need something in particular. I too tend to wear the same things. I am going to alter a few things that I don't wear to make them more wearable and try and vary what I wear a bit more over the year.
8 January 2012 2:40AM
It's surprising how few clothes you need. If you are away from home for a few months, with no more than the clothes that come within the average airline's baggage allowance you quickly realise you don't need much. I don't even wear half of the few clothes I do have. When I last went back to the UK I was shocked at how many clothes I have there. When I next go back I'm going to have a happy day bagging much of them up for the charity shop.
8 January 2012 4:43AM
Its so sad how people have become victims of the fashion industry's self serving mantra "next season's colour/style/fabric will be..." , that they feel they have to wear whatever it is or feel somehow inadequate. I tell myself - designer clothes are designed by people with no talent; hyped by people with no taste; worn by people with no self-confidence. So I am happy to wear my 14 year old coat (26 coats!!! I don't think I have owned 10 in my whole life, I am fifty); my shirts which are all 2-6 years old; trousers which are all over 5 years old; and yes socks and underwear some of which are over 5 years old. Of course maybe my colleagues, maybe even my friends snigger behind my back. But hey! Who cares? I was able to afford to go part-time three years ago and sit back and watch them struggle in vain (in vanity?) to find the contentment I already have, in that oxymoron they call, retail therapy.
8 January 2012 5:08AM
I bought two cardies last week as I couldn't remember when I had last bought anything. I remembered afterwards I had bought two work dresses in October! Aside from that, I'd just not felt like shoping much in the last year. No great ideology, just other things to think about.
I could easily not buy clothes for a year, I like clothes and shoes but I have enough, as most people do. It's easier as you get older as you become more interested in style rather than "fashion" which looks dated in a few months.
8 January 2012 5:12AM
I totally agree. When I went travelling as a youngster, I wore the same four outfits for a year and thought to myself how I would spent money on more intersting things in the future. Unfortunately, once I was back home and away from other people who were also constantly wearing the same clothes, TopShop won.
8 January 2012 9:28AM
If everyone in the country stopped buying clothes there would be a lot more empty shops on the high street.
Of course London would be alright with those high flying, megabucks earners who would think nothing of spending £10,000 on a T-Shirt becasue it had a fancy name tag on it.
8 January 2012 10:10AM
People who spend loads on expensive tat are silly, empty headed and vacuous. I can't remember the last time I bought clothes - the stuff I get at Xmas usually remins hidden in a wardrobe. For years, I have only replaced stuff when it falls apart.
However, I spend a fortune on travelling.
I know which I prefer.
8 January 2012 1:36PM
Re - the bags that come through from "charities" - I also get 1-2 a week. I have one on the go for my local charity shop - and I drop the bag off when it's full and start another one as soon as I have something to pass on. The others get used as rubbish bags now. I won't put bags out to be collected as most of the bags are from for profit companies. If they want my old clothes, they can buy them.
8 January 2012 6:39PM
That's lucky. Mine is building columns for light paper constructions.
8 January 2012 8:03PM
Disagree - I clicked on this after reading the paper version because I thought the commnets were likely to be better than the article!
9 January 2012 8:58AM
Speaking as a man, I think this would be qutie easy to achieve, particularly the undies one - I wear mine to total destruction.
9 January 2012 11:31AM
Ah, the infamous "shreddies" Fwoggie ;) . I had a thing for handbags. Now I don't even have 1. They're all flawed in design somehow or other. Liberation !!!
9 January 2012 11:32AM
Oo, having said that. I do like to sell a few still on ebay, so keep buying everyone !
9 January 2012 12:17PM
Glad to read that the author of this article is going to make better use of her rather *large* existing clothes collection. It makes sense for her not to buy anything for 2012 and it doesn't look as though anything will happen to her health/life-wise which might prevent her from carrying out this New Year's resolution..
I agree with other comments contributors that things like tights, socks etc need not be included in the exercise.
All in all where clothes are concerned it is more important to buy less and be more selective. Make it an art form to build up a versatile capsule collection, like what Gok Wan does on TV where he curates a 24-piece wardrobe for a particular person.
9 January 2012 2:00PM
Go Rebecca! Very best of luck. I think you'll enjoy it. L
9 January 2012 2:07PM
Sense , at last !
Go away,go way, consumerism,
Come another day !
This is the time for tightening up
Our purse strings !
Stick to what we need
Don't serve our Greed !
Go away,go way, consumerism,
Come another day !
9 January 2012 2:30PM
I have the same resolution but I am allowed to make my own stuff. I worked i na shop for 9 months last year and the amount of clothes I accumulated is disgusting. So I am taking this year off. Can't wait to see how creative I get! My only problem is the hubby and I are finally going to take our honeymoon this year and I don't have any bathing suits as I have lost 3 stone in the last year so I might have to allow that. Good luck!
9 January 2012 3:01PM
Why stop at just clothes?
I have just embarked on my 'year of living vintagely'. This doesn't involve dressing up and acting like an unreconstructed 1950s housewife, but it does entail shunning all supermarkets and chain stores completely. I shall be shopping locally and independently from now on, spending the 4000+GBP/year that was dissappearing into supermarket coffers, in my local area instead. I shall be supporting the local businesses on the high street and keeping my money local where it can do most good.
I'll also not be buying anything else 'new' if I can help it. All clothes, bags, shoes and housewares will be secondhand, retro, vintage, previously owned - call it what you will - if possible. I'm charting my journey through a blog: myyearofvintage.com if anyone wants to take a look.
I will be buying tights though, when the occasion arises. I don't think there is much of a second hand market for used tights unfortunately