Frugal Ireland

Summer is dead and gone, so I’ve turned my attention to what I’m going to be wearing in the next few months and since I’m on a very tight budget I said I’d share my experiences with you.

The Inventory

The first step is to do a wardrobe inventory, make a list of everything you have, organised by garment type, trousers, skirts, tops, sweaters, jackets, shoes bags etc.  It is worth trying them on too, anything that doesn’t fit or that is past it should be donated or dumped.   When they are all out of the wardrobe, try to make outfits out of them…it’s all well and good having 5 lovely tops and 5 lovely pairs of trousers but if none of them can be worn together, they are useless.

What your AW (Autumn/ Winter) wardrobe will consist of, will depend on your lifestyle.  Mine is mostly Monday to Friday 9-5 Office Work. I don’t have a strict dress code but I like to look smart and business like so I keep the jeans for the weekend.  This year, I looked at my wardrobe and discovered that I had the following items that were suitable for AW08 (by suitable I mean they are warm enough, they fit me and they are not worn to a thread).

1 cropped black pants from River Island that could be worn with boots or tights inside.

1 bootleg black pants from Dunnes

1 pair of grey wool knee length shorts/pants from River Island worn with a Green cardi from Monsoon.

1 pair of Denim Trousers for more casual days from Wallis worn with a green and white v neck from Espirit.

2 cream sweaters, one v-neck from Mexx and one boat neck from Espirit.

The List

The problem with the list above is that as far as I’m concerned there is only 2 full outfits there, I think black pants are boring and I think cream jumpers are boring so I didn’t want to wear them together.  So with the addition of this for the two black pants (2 more outfits)

and this for under the two cream jumpers another (2 outfits)

We have now gone from two full outfits to 6 and all I’ve spent is €92.  You might think that is a lot on two items but I have had great experiences with Wallis clothes, they wash in the machine really well and really suit my pear shaped figure.

I also have two Wallis dresses and a Savida dress that I got in the Spring this year that I think can be worn well into Autumn with the addition of some tights and a cardi! By the way, skirts and Knee-High boots have become a wardrobe staple for many women these days but I am cursed with obsecenely large calves and knee-high boots are a no go, hence all the trousers!

The Externals - Coats, Bags and Shoes

Due to careful planning in other years, I’m  ok in the externals department, shoes, bags, coats.

1 pair of black comfy (ish) court shoes from Dorothy Perkins and a black DKNY handbag.  The shoes will probably have to be replaced before the year is out, but for now they are ok.

1 pair of tan shoe-boots also from Dorothy Perkins and a tan leather bag from River Island

As far as shoes go I can’t recommend Dorothy Perkins enough although if you need a bit more support and comfort then I had a look on the Clarks website and they have some pretty nice stuff.  I haven’t seen too many coats in the shops yet, give it another few weeks.

Something for the weekend

Like I said, most of my time is spent in work clothes so I didn’t want to go overboard on buying casual clothes, however I did want something to update my wardrobe.   I was delighted to find a sleeveless tanktop in a chunky yarn in Savida and a white long sleeve t-shirt for inside for €53.  The t-shirt is a lovely lycra one and will also be worn inside some other short sleeved t-shirts.

I’m not big into going out to clubs and bars at the weekend so this didn’t really come into my budget,  I have some tops from previous years and a dressy pants and a dress or two which will get me through the season.  I had a quick look in Dorothy Perkins and they have some really good value fashion pieces for going out or casual wear at the weekend.  Worth a look if you’re a socialite on a budget.

The big change to my lifestyle has been weekly trips to the farmers market in Limerick, a wonderful but cold place in the winter so I have added a casual coat/jacket to my “to-buy” list, I’m thinking a really nice fleece, something warm and cosy but not too sensible .

The Moral

The moral of the story is if you’re on a budget, you don’t have to stop buying clothes, you just have to buy more carefully.  By looking at what’s in your wardrobe and making out a list of “outfits” that you can put together out of your seperates you will see the gaps.  What you need to do is fill those gaps instead of wandering around shops buying whatever takes your fancy.   If you do the “wandering” method of shopping you will  find that, the top that you were so in love with and was only €30 will actually cost you another €100 to make an outfit, because it doens’t match your pants or any shoes you have.

As for where to shop, my favourite place for reasonably priced pants is Wallis, especially if you are a pear shape (aka you have a big bottom/thighs and small shoulders/chest).   If you are apple shaped, Next is definitely the place to go, I never have any luck there but I know others who swear by it.   For Knitwear, if you can stretch to it, Monsoon always has beautiful stuff, but Wallis and Savida have lovely collections this year.

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