Tag: Style

I tried no shop January for the first time and I have to admit I was not as successful as I had hoped. 😅

There were several reasons why I wanted to try no shop January. The first reason was to rein in our spending. I’ll be the first to admit I go a little crazy over the holidays. We always have a budget for Christmas, but I somehow end up buying extra items for myself along the way. January seemed like a good time to take a step back and try to save some money.

Another reason I wanted to do this was to identify any deficiencies in my closet and see if there was a trend in regards to the styles I reach for often (more on this below).

And the third reason I wanted to not shop this month was to reduce my carbon and environmental footprint on this earth. Humans waste SO much, and the fashion industry is one of the largest industries of waste. An article I read not too long ago cited that of the 100 billion garments produced each year, 92 billion tons of textiles are sent to landfills, which is going to increase global emissions by 50% by the end of this decade. Most people only wear an item 7-10 times before they discard it, which is crazy to me! I’ve had items in my closet for over a decade that I’ve worn many, many times. To learn more about this crisis, check out this article and do some research for yourself!

All in all I did okay for myself. I ended up having to buy the kids new clothes (I swear they grew a size overnight) and I was influenced to purchase two inexpensive tees (shell tee and my BTS concert shirt). Could I have waited in getting the kids new clothes? Maybe. But I would have had to get them in a few weeks and the deals were too good to pass up. Did I need the two tees I bought? Absolutely not. But they both make me super happy and I think that’s okay. 

Lessons Learned

My Current Wardrobe: Through this experience I did discover that some basic items are indeed lacking in my wardrobe. I need a basic brown belt, a new white button down shirt and some new under garments.  I think taking a step back every now and then to identify what’s missing or not is a good practice we should all adopt.

The 30 Day Rule: I did stop and pause MANY times (ahem the Tuckernuck sale) and really thought about an item before buying it or not. I think going into February I’ll be more conscious of this and I think a good rule to follow is wait 30 days. If after 30 days I still keep thinking about something I saw then I can consider buying it. 

My Favorite Styles: I did pay attention to the styles I often gravitate towards. For me lately these styles include my white denim jeans, bright colors, my striped tees, and my gingham button downs. I really don’t need any more striped tees, but they are a style I seem to love and wear again and again and I think it’s okay to add more stripes to my collection when it feels appropriate and with styles that are high quality that will last years. I also found that in terms of shoes, I pretty much alternate between canvas sneakers, nude ballet flats and loafers. These seem to be my favorite styles (although a rain bootie might be in my future – I feel like that’s a style I would wear often in the winter months). I think doing a no shop month during the summer would be interesting to see what warm weather fashions I wear over and over (spoiler alert: it’s mostly going to be dresses and linen shorts).

Check out some of these photos of outfits I wore during the month of January!

Moving Forward

Doing a no shop month is certainly something I will try again. I actually think it would be good to practice this every other month or so.

If doing a no shop month is something you are interested in, I would suggest making some guidelines or rules. In January I never established boundaries. Does no shopping only apply to clothing? Or does it include other items like things for the home, books, hobbies etc. Do items for my kids or Rob count? I think in order to be more successful, I needed to have established what no shopping meant and go from there. And starting small would probably be more successful than going all out. Maybe one month is no new clothes, the second month includes no new books, and so on and so forth.

I think this is a good experiment to try, if only just once to figure out what you love in your wardrobe and what you don’t. And to try and all be better stewards of the earth. We should all try to make this world a better place for our kids and generations to come.

Sláinte,

Shannon