My closet needs an overhaul. Most of the items hanging on the racks don’t see the light of day and nearly none make me feel the way I want when I step outside my front door or tuck into my home office. Therefore, I’m kicking off a personal challenge to halt any and all clothes purchases for one year. I’m hoping my “No Buy Challenge” will tear me away from my usual shopping choices and give me time to sift through the clothes I already own to truly define how I want to look and feel in my daily life. If I succeed in this challenge, I get to treat myself to a few clothing items priced beyond my typical shopping budget during next year’s spring and summer seasons.
I’ve always been cheap with my clothes. I doubt there’s one piece in my closet that cost me over fifty dollars with the exception of a winter coat or two that I uncover from their hiding spot every few years or so. My cheapness is not a flex on me being frugal. It took me a long time to realize I’d much rather trade five to six inexpensive shirts that I like so-so for one that I love but costs a bit more.
I beeline for the sales and clearance racks when out shopping and I love a good bargain. When I was younger this was done mostly out of necessity but now, it’s a bit of habit and a bit of good sense most of the time. I have no issue with anyone who spends well on their clothes. If I’m honest, I’m a bit envious of them since I’ve never truly figured out what wears well on me and kind of just get lucky sometimes so an expensive piece often feels like a waste on me. It does seem like some people “get” fashion easier than others, but I’ve never been one of them.
I’ve mostly figured out what colors work and don’t work on me by watching YouTube videos and comparing what shades look great on a hanger but wash me out. With regards to a flattering cut or what items I should aim for, that’s still a blur. I’ve tried to branch out from my typical stores and have made multiple purchases from Thred Up to buy used clothes and save money with brands I wouldn’t normally purchase with some success.
For a long time, I was a tank top, jeans, and flip flop girl (still often am) but I have diversified by slowly purchasing dresses and introducing them into my wardrobe. Dresses are so underrated because they are often very comfortable and as long as they’re not too short, I can move around more freely than in pants or shorts. But my vision of me in these dresses hasn’t come to fruition, partly because I don’t look the way I picture myself when I step into them and partly because I haven’t found many dresses that fit the image I envisioned in my mind. I’d like to remedy this during my no-buy year.
Blouses have also become more integrated into daily my wardrobe instead of “saving” them for in-office days only since the majority of my work days are now at home. My work wardrobe has stayed stagnant since covid and even when I go into the office it’s mostly jeans and a blouse. It’s so rare that I wear slacks or a dress that when I do my coworkers joke that I must have an interview scheduled. Jeans and a decent top are the unofficial dress code at my employer which is a happy change from the “no jeans allowed” days when I first started.
Throughout the years a glut of clothes has built up in my closet. I’ll purge my items every year or so and donate what’s still usable, make rags of some, and keep the rest for a quilt I plan to make (it’s on my Hobbies list), and yet I continue to have more than I need and more than I use. A lot has been said about fast fashion and how the clothes don’t last which is both true and not true and depends on the item from my experience. Yes, many items can lose shape, pill, fade, seams loosen, but many don’t. I have tank tops from Old Navy and blouses from Express that have been worn and washed dozens, if not close to a hundred times or more, and they’re still wearable. Many of the Express tops look the same as the day I bought them. All of that to say, my closet has expanded with little cognizant effort on my part and mostly out of habit of where I’ve always shopped and what I’ve always worn. Even if I were to only purchase six tops and 3 bottoms a year and purge two, the math continues to add up. I’ve got so many tank tops with many being the same color, that I’ve segregated the newer ones from the older ones with the goal of wearing out the old ones before weaving in the new ones. Once the older ones have served their purpose, they get moved into the donate or reuse pile and a new one takes its place. This proves I have more than I need.
I’ve fluctuated a few pounds over the years but have mostly stayed close to the same size. All of my tops can be worn whether I’m ten pounds lighter or ten pounds heavier. Same with my dresses, but admittedly some don’t look as good since I tend to hold my weight in my upper body so many cuts of my tops are not flattering with the extra weight and some just don’t fit as well.
My pants are a different story. I gave myself a shock when I fished out my old jeans and work slacks from my pre-covid days and tried on every single one. Did they zip? Yes. Did they look good? No. Could I breathe? Barely. I counted twelve pairs of jeans. I honestly wouldn’t have guessed I had that many hanging around. All but four hadn’t seen the light of day in more than three years and four of the twelve still had tags on them. No matter what sales price I paid for the jeans, it was still at least a couple hundred dollars wasted.
This entire try-on haul has opened my eyes to some of the little decisions I’ve made that could have been chosen more wisely. I’m honestly shocked by the number of clothing items I own. I knew I had a bunch of tank tops but to actually add them up and discover that number is over 40 is bonkers to me. Nothing removed from my closet would have greatly altered my life, but dipping into my closet may alter my future.
Listed down below is the total of all the individual clothes items I own (not including intimates, sleepwear, lounge, and workout). I don’t have a huge closet. It’s a walk-in with some built-ins from Ikea my husband installed, but it’s not the size of a small bedroom like some others I’ve seen. Even so, there’s enough in there to last me the next decade if I babied them. The sad thing is there’s few items that I genuinely enjoy wearing which makes me now question why most were purchased in the first place.
Yes, clothes main purpose is to protect your body from the environment and the parts that aren’t made for public consumption, but that doesn’t mean I have to look like a cheap bum when I go out. I don’t want to give the impression that I’m out here wearing rags and holey shirts with toothpaste stains on them. That’s not the truth. The truth is almost worse because I have the means to look more presentable and put together, but I don’t have the know-how and most of the time I don’t have the care-how. And it’s not about the cost or the name brands because there are tons of women who know how to look fantastic on a budget. I’d like to be one of them.
I’d like to get to a point where I only wear items that flatter (or at least don’t make me look worse) and ideally only items that I love, feel confident in, and don’t make me feel frumpy. I’ll never be someone who dresses to the nines to pop in to get some oat milk from the grocer, but it does make me feel better to look better.
My last purchase of clothing was back in February 2023 but I’m giving my challenge a start date of March 1st 2023. The one exception to my “No Buy Challenge” will be if I purchase clothes for someone else. For example, I plan to take my cousins’ kids back to school shopping at the end of summer, but I won’t be purchasing anything for myself.
As I type this, the challenge doesn’t seem very challenging, but I know as soon as I see a pretty dress on sale or a sports bra on clearance, it’s going to be a struggle with half of me saying “what’s the big deal?” and the other half saying “keep your promise”. I don’t need any more clothes. I’m blessed with more than what most of the world has. It’s not forever, just for a little over 365 days and then I’ll treat myself to a pretty dress next March.
Has anyone else tried something similar? If so, was it a success? If not, what was the one item you couldn’t resist purchasing?
Items in my closet:
Dresses: 49 (mix of casual, evening, and house)
Skirts: 8
Jeans: 12 (4 in circulation and most not worn in years because of uncomfortable fit or previously out of sight)
Dressy/Work Tops: 44 (7 are blazers that can’t be worn alone)
Casual Tops: 34 (6 still with tags)
Tank Tops: 42 (some are duplicates) Shorts: 15
Slacks: 5 (all pre-covid)
Sweaters/Long-Sleeve Tops: 30
Shoes: 50
Items Donated:
Dresses: 5 (mostly old “clubbing-type” dresses that I finally dropped)
Skirts: 0
Jeans: 1
Tops: 13
Tank Tops: 6
Shorts: 3
Slacks: 0
Sweaters/Long-Sleeve Tops: 4
Shoes: 8