fuelling the economy

Payday; the moment of euphoria that happens when your bank account funds are multiplied by about 50, and you realise you now have all the freedom to do the things today, that you couldn't do yesterday. Then you spend too much of it, and realise that it has to last you another 4 (or even 5) weeks. I took my newly monied self to Central London, met some friends in Chinatown for a meal (I don't know what the place was called, but the food was gooood), and ended up at good old Oxford street, armed with the mental image of my list in my head. As you can see, I didn't end up getting anything on my list as I couldn't find any of it in those busy flagship stores, but I did end up with two more stripy things (I know they are very similar, but I just love the preppy, nautical kind of look) and a zipper skirt. No tights found unfourtunately.



After my high street binge, I noticed this post on Charade about building a designer wardrobe on a budget, and realised that I was oh so slightly a fashion bullimic. I like to be surrounded by a lot of things wherever I go, many of them are from H&M and Primark, but after reading so many blogs, I'm becoming slightly envious of the designer wares people manage to find. I would love to have the self control to save up for some affordable designer wear, such as this Luella number.



At £365, It would approximately take me 2 months to afford (living off Smartprice 8p noodles, and watching YouTube for entertainment) or realistically 4 months (not buying any high street stuff). Not quite instant gratification, but it would definitely be money well spent, and I'd probably get a real sense of achievment. Painfully hip remarks 'How much do you wish you could swap that entire drawer of thinning cotton band t-shirts at £20 a pop for this baby in your wardrobe?', which does ring true for me. After tidying up my drawers yesterday, I realised that I had a large amount of tops that perhaps cost no more than a tenner, that I hardly wore, and were faded, had holes in or those annoying iron marks that never seem to go away. If I hadn't frittered away my cash on them, I probably could've bought 3 Luella dresses. I do want better quality, worthwhile clothes but I also want the immediacy of the high street. So I have a dilemma.

I think that I shall make a concious effort not to fritter my money on £9.99 tops every week. I'm going to try and look around on ebay more, and scour the vintage shops in the area to pick up long-lost designer buys, as well as obsessively checking the sale sections of some well known sites. Sample Sales never seem to come to the Midlands, but I definitely want to try and find some when I'm in London. I'm also going to attempt more DIYs. I'm currently knitting a cricket jumper (the first non-scarf I've ever knitted), which is going well, I can't believe I can actually cable!



The yards of grey jersey, which has been living under my bed for the last 3 years, will soon be transformed into something familiar (I'll let you know how I get on) and of course I'm going to try and do some DIY Rodarte leggings, and after that a Rodarte jumper (I know, I'm very optimistic, just wait until all the Uni work starts again). This is my thrifty fashion future, and maybe, in a few years, that Luella dress will end up in the Bicester outlet for £99...

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