10 lessons I learned from 365 days of only recycled and handmade clothes.

NAILED IT. 2015 came and went with no brand new shop purchases.

Seriously, now. In my 365 of shopping celibacy, I learned:

Check out my post here re: suitcase rummages and wardrobe warrior markets – there are so many second-hand fashion markets popping up everywhere. What’s better than meeting your bestie at one of these grabbing a coffee and a bag full of bargains? UM. Nothing.

I love following fashion, but there’s a line. Few of us like that identical twin business, so thrift shops are where you can really cultivate a range of unique styles to suit your mood, context, weather, occasion, or style – you name it. And the odds are that, when you arrive in your latest bit of thrift fashion, you will get noticed because, well, you got that thing honey.

There is something extra awesome in the feeling of making the thrift shop find. Who wouldn’t when it’s an awesome rare gem from a bygone era whose style is back in rage? The bonus – that cost is $2. Crazy town! And the gems are everywhere – you just need to be there to find them.

Like most of us in the first world, I have far more than enough, which is way more than I need. This year was about appreciating what I already had – those things I haven’t worn that have made their way to the back, or the bottom, or a bag in the garage. Speaking of, what is that? Why do we pay for space to store things we no longer use? Ridiculous. If it hasn’t been worn for a year it’s going to a new home. I won’t get started here about the emotional holes that shopping fills on the short term, much like crack cocaine is said to.

Over the year, I just kept wearing this one black t-shirt. I have never done this, ever. I’m one to buy a brand new t-shirt when the old one gets a liiiiittle bit old – so I really desperately wanted to buy a new one because the one I was wearing had that old feeling to me. But you know what? There’s a difference between need and want. So I had just sat with it, because  that brand new shirt wouldn’t change anything in my life, including how others think about me. Crazy realization time.

Not me. The people around me. How you see yourself. Nothing. Changes. Your brand new shirt won’t change how people treat you, or even how you treat yourself. It might give you a momentary high, but you can be sure that it will be a fleeting moment. I learned this year about filling that emotional hole where shopping used to sit, and it feels good. Try it.

I got creative, and I started mixing and matching like a boss! Instead of just going and buying something new to create a new outfit or look, I just looked harder at what I already had, and worked with that – and I loved the results. My boy would say to me with a confused look ‘that’s different but it works, suprisingly’. (And sometimes I would wear it anyway even if he said it just looked odd, because.. that’s just what I do)

I don’t want to go to the tweeny shops again. Ever. After 365 days, there’s nothing I need that I can’t find thrifted. Maybe that one black t-shirt but, even then, I’m in no hurry! My budget bottom line is so much healthier for it, too.