December, the month of reflection

I've been waiting for December 2015 to come along with great excitement! I have been diligently tracking my shopping purchases and trying to work within my wardrobe goals for 2 years, and can finally do a comparison between 2014 and 2015, and with 2 full years under my belt, feel I can finally get a better understanding of my budget and habits. 

Since I only started blogging towards the end of 2014, I'm going to go over 2014 in detail, and work my way up from there until the end of this year.

What I didn't do in 2014 was include my shoe purchases in my grand total of money spent, but I did keep track of them in a separate excel sheet specifically for shoes, so I was still able to determine what I spent on clothing that year. Unfortunately, I was't able to track the cost per wear for those shoes since I don't go into as much detail in their separate excel sheet as I do for my yearly budget sheet. (In 2015, I did include shoes into my full year's tracking.) 

My goal to purge and purchase better items had already begun in 2014 but I was mostly focused on purging rather than finding 'perfect pieces'. My purchases were less thought out in the 'wardrobe staple' department and more about filling in areas that needed replacing, or just things that I liked. The only well thought out pieces were my investment pieces.

In 2014, I didn't give myself a budget, but I also didn't go crazy - I would like to think I'm a pretty responsible shopper to being with, so not having a budget didn't affect me too much. In total, I spent $1028.78, for non-investment purchases, and $1,570 on 4 investment pieces (2 Burberry jackets/coats, and 2 Seiko watches), for a total of  $2,598.78. 

** For 2015, I made a conscious decision not to include any investment pieces into my regular wardrobe budget since they are intended to be long-lasting and very, very well thought out and calculated pieces. **

Spending $1,029 bought me a total of 33 items, including 4 pairs of shoes (including my ever so difficult to fit, knee-high boots), a winter coat that turned out to be one of my best purchases to-date (and an unexpected, very well-priced, investment piece), 3 items of gym wear, and an awesome black sheath dress. I also discovered that GAP boyfriend button-ups fit me very well and that I love their broken-in khakis, having bought 4 pairs. 

From those purchases, I have since donated 2 tops because I didn't like them any more, ended up wearing out my black sheath dress and a tunic, and ruined one of my favourite coloured khakis from a bleach accident (I've only recently bleached the entire pair of pants in an attempt to salvage them).

Since 2014, my cost per wear for each items has ended in single digits, with 6 items well under my $1 cost per wear threshold and approximately 10 items nearing that mark. The only item still in the double digits is my red Burberry quilted trench coat, but that was expected, and since I intend to have that for many, many years, am not too bothered by it.

Over all, my 2014 purchases helped me to: 

• find a great alternative to jeans by introducing me to khakis
• find a well-fitted button-up style
• finally find a pair of knee-high boots that fit me
• focus in on specific colors that are now my color palette of choice - gray, white/ivory, navy/blues, and black
• find an awesome cobalt wool coat that I absolutely love
• determine what kind of investment pieces I'm looking for and what areas of my wardrobe I'm willing to spend that kind of money on (coats, yes, definitely will lean towards paying investment prices; the watches were a one-time purchase and while they aren't in the price caliber as a Rolex, they meet my criteria of going with everything, are of solid quality, and are not pieces I intend to buy again until they break).

A want doesn't always have to mean a purchase

My love for fashion began with my love of bags. I've spent years trying to reel back my purchases and I have managed to go without buying a single bag in 2015, to-date. I am, however, currently debating a bag in my head - the Celine trapeze bag.

(picture not my own)

I'm NOT going to splurge on this bag because I have other financial obligations this year, but I can't get this bag out of my head. (Nope, I will never put my financial well-being in jeopardy for the love of fashion - no matter how tempting something might be).

That said though, even if I had a money tree, I would still be in this great debate, and here's why: I KNOW this bag is NOT for me. Having only a single TOP strap AND a flap closure is just asking me to get frustrated and never use the bag again. From a practical side, I know I will never spend that amount of money on it. For pure enjoyment reasons though, I still want it, thus, my thoughts on alternative options - (1) purchase it used, (2) find a less expensive version (and I don't, nor ever, mean a fake version) so that I don't have to worry if I don't use it, or (3) don't buy it, or any similar looking one at all, knowing I wouldn't use it that often. 

Buying it used is still expensive, and my objection to the purchase of a less expensive alternative is the compromise in quality. I found similar options at Zara, (and I really, really like them) but even at a very reasonable price point of $59.99, for what I consider a 'trend' bag in my wardrobe, I still couldn't overlook the quality - I've highlighted areas to show where there are already creases and scuffs. (Just because something is less expensive, doesn't mean I want to sacrifice any points on quality). 

 

That leaves me with the third option of not buying it, or any version of it, at all. It's the best decision I can currently make. I might come across one in the future where I can live with its price and quality, Celine, or not, but for now, I'll just have to try to forget about it.

Not everything loved has to cost an arm and a leg

I am currently preparing myself to let go of two very beloved pieces from my wardrobe. They've both served me well and have helped to complete many outfits. While I generally feel OK with paying a little more for wardrobe staples in hopes they will last longer, it doesn't mean I don't appreciate the ones that I do find, at a low price point. That said, I wish these did cost more so that they would have had a chance to last me longer (I love good deals but there is some truth behind getting what you pay for).

First up, is my J. Crew tunic - I love this item because I have a  lot of trouble fitting into button-up tops. They are either too tight across the chest, too wide along the shoulder, or too loose or tight over-all. I was drawn to this because it fit throughout and because of the lack of buttons, it didn't have any parts prone to gaping open. From afar it looks OK. but upon closer inspection, you can tell that the material is slowly starting to pill and thin out, and the colors are starting to cross into each other; not to mention, at the cuffs, they have torn from the shirt - on both sides! Yes, I could sew them back in, but I'm not a master seamstress, and the cost to get it professionally done would probably cost more than the shirt itself. The cost of this shirt was USD $13.99, bought in December 2013 from the outlet store. I didn't get into a lot of detail in tracking my purchases until 2014 so I can't tell you the exact cost per wear, but I can tell you that I wore it enough times that my mom has told me that, that's all she sees me wearing. From memory, I can tell you I've worn it at least 5 times in the last couple of months, which for reference is already $2.80 per wear, and let's say I wore it a minimum of 5 times in 2014, that's already $1.40 per wear ... you see what I'm getting at.

 

Second on my list is one of my favourite dresses - my black sheath dress. I found this unexpectedly at Target in September 2014, originally CAD $29.99, on sale for CAD $14.99. It fit me perfectly and to my delight, even has pockets!! I was able to track my wear on this item and wore it 7 times in the remainder of 2014, and 12 times in 2015, to-date. My cost per wear on this is 79 cents! I love this dress but unfortunately the quality really isn't there - it is stretching out and attracting too much lint to de-lint and is pilling. I'm sad to let this go but I can't wear it to work having it look the way it does. In my opinion, with its pockets, this is the perfect style of a black sheath dress for me and doubt I will be able to find its replacement any time soon, if at all.

I love buying only favourites but it's really hard to let them go when the time comes because they were just that perfect for me. I've enjoyed wearing these pieces and will remember them fondly. Farewell.

Designer jeans - a thing of the past for me

Remember several years ago when you couldn't open a magazine without seeing an article about how much we 'had to own' a pair of designer jeans? ... I'm not going to lie, I got caught up in the hype too, and I'm going to confess... I didn't buy them because I personally thought that the quality and cuts were better; a younger and much less wiser me, bought them purely as status symbols and justified them as investment pieces. Looking back, jeans were something I should have saved my money on, and here's why - 

Weight change - this of course is not the jeans' fault, but now I'm left with 6 pairs of designer jeans that don't fit (thank goodness I was able to give 2 to my friend earlier this month). At my age now, I've accepted that my weight will fluctuate for better or for worse, and there's no way that I can confidently say that I will be able to fit into the same size jeans from month-to-month, let alone a solid year. (This is why I love bags). This leads me to my next reason - cost per wear.

Cost per wear - out of 365 days of the year, there are approximately 104 days (weekends) that I can choose to wear jeans; that's about 28% of the year. Throw in some business casual Fridays, stat holidays and vacation days, then counter that with days I wear something else, we may be looking at actually 15%, which is about 55 days. I currently own 10 pairs of designer jeans and at a rough average of $125/pair (bought on sale and regular price), we're possibly looking at a Burberry coat.

(side note: Burberry coats are currently my wardrobe 'exchange rate'). 

Now, only 4 of the 10 pairs fit me and are in rotation, and here's their cost per wear breakdown for one year: ($125 per pair x 4 pairs) / (365 x 0.15) = $9.13/wear. (Interesting fact: if I were to wear the same pair of jeans for an entire year, its cost per wear would be $2.29). As I mentioned before, my goal for cost per wear is $1 - $9 is not going to do!

Less expensive options - In the last 6 months, and most recently, in February, I purchased two pairs for approximately $24 and $15 (yes, at the GAP =P), and they have already paid for themselves! If they wear down or my weight changes, I have no problem letting them go.

Other pant options - I've recently fallen in love with cords for fall/winter and khakis for spring/summer. They're great alternatives to jeans, especially khakis when the weather just gets too hot. Last summer, I spent most of my time out of jeans. Moving forward I expect that I will be wearing these alternatives more often, further preventing my cost per wear from going down

So taking the above into account, designer jeans are no longer an item I'm willing to spend my money on as an 'investment piece.' I'll be sticking to more reasonably priced alternatives, or picking them up at major discount. 

Splurge! - Burberry Brit "Blackwell" coat in camel

One of my wardrobe and minimalism goals is to get my coat and jacket numbers down to approximately 10. I currently have almost triple that, and have been slowly wearing them through, letting them go, upgrading them, and not replacing any styles that I don't consider to be a staple in my wardrobe. 

I am aiming for 10 really classic and high-quality coats that are diverse, and want them to last me many many years - I found THIS beauty over the weekend during a team retreat to Bellevue, WA where a Nordstrom was attached to our hotel. 

I love the neutral color and warmth, but most importantly, I love that it looks like a casual coat but can be worn in a professional setting due to its clean lines. I currently don't even have a casual wool coat (that fits me) and this will do double-duty in my work and weekend wardrobe. 

I am already wearing her!

Save or Splurge!

A few years ago I slowly started to 'improve/upgrade' my wardrobe. If money wasn't an option, I'd love to have a wardrobe of high-end pieces but I'm realistic in what I can afford and therefore have to decide which areas of my wardrobe I can allocate my funds to. 

I save on items such as: 

• costume jewelry 
• shoes for special occasions (although I do like to own one amazing shoe for those super-extra (rare) fancy events)
• basic t-shirts or tank tops
• trendy items (unless they end up being in constant use, in which case, I'll keep my eye out for a better quality version to eventually replace it with)

I am willing to splurge on:

• daily items I need to last as long as they can (i.e. every day shoes)
• the rare items that may not get much use of but need them to look fabulous when I do (i.e. cocktail dresses)
• pieces I find difficult to find and want to avoid re-buying as much as possible

My rule of thumb - spend only what I can afford, and try to get the best deal for anything I buy.  

I should note that my bag and wallet purchases follow a whole different set of rules, but more on that at another time ;)