The $0 Wardrobe Re-invention Project: UPDATE!

[ highly suspicious outfit activity... ]

Technically, I should have successfully completed my shopping diet almost a month ago. If you need to know more, read here. Basically, I've grounded myself from shopping for anything frivolous and unnecessary (ermmm, clothes and beauty). Cold turkey, baby. I can only function in extremes.

But guys, I'm going to be totally honest here.

I cheated.

FOUR TIMES.

My "diet" which officially began on June 11 was slated to end mid-August. But bad behaviour  landed me back in the slammer. I added another month to my sentence.

I'm sure it would have been much, much worse, except that my birthday conveniently landed smack dab in the middle of my ban. Mom treated me to a little shopping spree at the new Marshall's (apparently a very big deal in Ottawa, though it's pretty much exactly like Winners). I scored the a denim shirt, ikat/geometric skirt, and green leather clutch. Gifts. Not cheating.

[ yay, mom! ]

Then, my lovely friends lavished me with beauty essentials (girl-crack) and bought me gift cards for Philistine (umm, YEAH, I link to my own articles) and MAC. 

 [ my new philistine "tunic" is a dress on normal-sized humans ]

But still, I fell off the wagon.

FOUR TIMES.

Here are my crimes, petty as they may be:

1. Bowling trip to Vaughan Mills on our July staycay ended in innocent "poking around" in some of the outlet shops. I resisted a French Connection Maxi and deeply-discounted tees with sassy slogans. But a cute pair of on-sale skinnies (photo above) at H&M broke me. I even ignored my "no cheap denim" rule. I was in a bad way. Damage: $20

2. Konad polishes. Cathie bought me the kit, and it kind of became a new obsession. My mom also bought into it (she thinks she's 17, mostly) and we were possibly both a little high on acetone. I beefed up my kit with a new colour and design plate. Damage: $25

3. Joe Fresh. Gets me EVERY TIME. Mom (bad influence!) and I went to grab groceries at the SuperStore while I was in Ottawa in July. In the 'burbs, the Joe Fresh shops are RIGHT INSIDE THE GROCERY STORE. As in, next to lettuce: moderately priced pants. Oy. I genuinely needed new sweats for camping, and I was lured by $6 tees. Damage: $30

4. Maybe I shouldn't even count this one, but in the interest of full-disclosure, I thrifted a like-new J.Crew gingham top for $7 at Value Village. 

 [ cute shirt, right? ]

For me, $82 in almost 2 months wasn't bad. But I'm disappointed that I couldn't make it through. Alas, early parole DENIED! 

Then: I didn't buy a THING in August and most of September. Yay, me!

Today is my new release date. 

Correction: was. 

I almost made it. I could almost smell the mall-smells in my imminent future. New leather and Cinnabon and heavily-perfumed sales ladies. Then, I spied an adorbs pair of cherry-red vintage bowling shoes (in my size!) on Etsy yesterday and just HAD to have them. I don't bowl a ton anymore (I was a league kid), but I'd like to, and maybe these kicks will kick it off. Damage: $40

I need a support group.

Besides my slip-ups, I'm pretty happy with my restraint, and otherwise, my wardrobe reinvention has been coming along nicely. I've tinkered with some jewellry repairs, tie-dyed some tees, reinvented an out-of-date skirt, and altered a pair of pants. I also took home a sweet haul at a clothing swap last month. My biggest projects are still sitting untouched on my sewing table and I'm putting myself on house arrest for most of the month to get things done.

 [ church rummage size-16 midi skirt gets a new life as an above-the-knee size 6 ]

As thrifty and crafty as I may be, though, that last little shopping infraction just cost me another 2 weeks. I'll need the busy-hands distraction.

Plus: I'm currently putting myself through a month-long detox AND Alex and I just drafted up a pretty aggressive budget plan for the next year. Yeah, all at once. Because, well, I enjoy torture, obviously.

As of October I can spend (and drink and eat junk!) again, but I think the break from my toxic ways has been so positive that I'm going to be smart about falling (purposely) off the wagon. Using my credit card for anything other than emergs? Never. Doing shots on a work night? Rarely. Midnight burritos? Well, sometimes.

You know how much I love getting into trouble. This is hell. But worth-it hell. 

(Right?)

(I need a bloody drink.)

Crunchy leaves & cardis... it's Fall!

My must-haves for fall? Sadly, basics. It's not super exciting, of course, that my wish list is stacked with practical staples and classic/basic silhouettes. It's all about stretching my very limited wardrobe budget, though. My real wish list in the true sense of the term (read: unattainable/only- in-dreams) would be far more daring, bold and fun.  And yes dispensable and expensive. But to even dream about it would be torture. So let's pretend we didn't even go there.

It's kind of fun to have style with no money - you work harder, but the pay off is awesome ("Guess... just GUESS how much I paid for this!"). Reverse snobbery.

I just want to recreate these. With no budget.

[ Am I too old? Can I pull this off? I'll surely try. ]

 

It's no secret that half my outfits are composed (artfully) with a mish-mash of vintage, hand-me-downs, clothing swap gleans, rejigged last-season pieces, Etsy finds, and a good dash of scores from the sale racks at Zara and FCUK. Eclectic is a bloody cliché term, but I guess it's appropriate in my case.

Anywaaayyyy, I'm stuck with seriously little to spend as the weather cools and I gear up for my favourite fashion season. But Dayna, don't you have a real job now? Yep. But I also have a real musician for a husband. I also have real debt from a year of being between jobs (or as I put it at the time: "freelance"). So yeah, I have to be smart these days. Remember when 100% of your income went to fun stuff? Man, those were the days. The effin DAYS, man.

I'm determined to still have fun with this exercise: stretching my bucks and making practical purchases doesn't have to be as ho-hum as it sounds.

Here's the plan.

My Top Picks for Fall:

1. I'm super set in the leggings department. I happen to own the rainbow. THE rainbow. But I'm kind of dying to make the above-the-knee socks thing work. OK, I don't have the legs for it (anymore) but if I can take just ONE fashion tip from the Hooters gals: double-up on the nylons. I might, just might, be able to pull this off with some serious nylon action to help with the danger zone between the top of the socks and the bottom of the shorts. We'll see.

 asos.com

2. Winter shorts. Cuffed, high-waisted, woolly. An alternative to skirts and dresses and part of my plan to rock the school-girl socks (tastefully).

 asos.com

 phillip lim $445

 top shop $75

3. Easy dresses. Shirt dresses, tent dresses, sweater dresses. Short-ish and perfect for pairing with leggings and boots OR tights and flats.

 stella mccartney $935

 michael kors $135

 river island $70

4. Cardis that pop. Fun prints to break up the neutrals and solids. Ahhh, layering! It's just the loveliest part of dressing. I could go for wide strips or pin dots. Or just wow-colours!

 J.Crew $49

 Madewell $85

5. Chunky knit/wool accessories. Again, practical. 

 asos.com

6. Sensible shoes. In my world that just means "NOT lime green animal print". Simple, neutral (and ideally comfy) leather wedge pumps. Grey, maybe? Also, Simple black ballet flats. But wait. Easier said than done. This style is of the dime-a-dozen variety, but do you know how HARD it is to find the perfect pair?! Hard, OK. Hard. I have slim feet, so I need 'em narrow. I like the vamp to be shallow (i.e. toe cleavage is awesome) and the toe to be that perfect shape between round and almond. Also, structured - not slipper-y. A little bow would be OK. Loving these, but not the price. Then again, it could be an investment, right?

Locale $135

 french sole $155

7. Leg warmers. I'm a TTC-er come November (bye, bye sweet bike) and my above plan to pretty much never wear pants has flaws: I live in Canada. So, leg warmers are on my list. But, yeah, super hard to track down lws that are non-bulky and non-tacky. My personal shopping guru (who last week lamented "Ugh, there's nothing out there!" for the third season in a row) suggested dance wear stores. Maybe I just wanna be a ballerina.

8. Pendant necklaces. I wanna double and triple them up! Scouring the antique markets for some vintage to mix with cheap-o Forever 21 versions. (Just bought these two lockets on Etsy!)

 etsy.com

I have already made a couple tidy little online purchases and will post outfit pics once my packages arrive (Yay, snail mail). Today calls for some actual mall shopping, too (egads! malls!).

In the end, I need big impact for small bucks. Here I go!

Photos via: asos.com, polyvore.com, etsy.com, French Sole, Locale, Madewell, J.Crew.com