This year I’ve probably bought fewer dresses that any other year. Obviously I’ve added a few new additions to my wardrobe, but I’ve definitely looked at what I already have a bit more and only bought things that I really really love. My wardrobe has a great mix of original vintage of all eras, high street pieces and repro vintage style things. I don’t have one particular style I like to dress in, I just like pretty things!
When it comes to original vintage I have so many lovely interesting things that I’ve picked up all over the place. I love charity shops and car boot sales, I also have things I’ve bought online, at vintage fairs and on Facebook groups. I have vintage dresses from lots of eras from the 40s up to the eighties and they’ve cost me anything from a few pence to about £85 for the most expensive bits. It definitely doesn’t have to be an expensive habit, if you have a little patience.
On last count I had about 180 dresses in my collection, which seems like a bit much and yes, definitely is way too many! I’m lucky to have enough room for them, I have an office in my loft and plenty of clothes rails to keep them on. But usually I sell and donate clothing every few months, when your hobby is collecting nice dresses, you also have to learn to be ruthless or the collection takes over.
I also hate hoarding things that I’m not using and that other people can enjoy, so I do need to have another clear out soon. I’ve just not had much time to get rid of things recently. But this has made me look through what I have and I’ve been making more of an effort to wear things I haven’t worn in a while or in the case of todays dress, haven’t worn at all.
The dress has been sitting patiently on my rail for a couple of years since I picked it up at the now defunct Wimbledon car boot sale, for the grand total of £1. I actually picked it up with a pile of other 70s and 80s dresses, I think I took about 40 dresses home that day. My biggest vintage haul to date! They were all lovely and all my size, but I only allowed myself to keep 5 of them and this was one of those. A couple of those 5 dresses have been worn absolutely loads but this one got hung up and forgotten about.
Last week I really felt like getting something new. I had that itch to go out shopping, but decided not to. In the end chose to have a quick look through my rail and find a few things that I could wear in the transitional weather, that can’t quite decide if it’s hot or cold and this was one of the dresses I grabbed.
There are nice midi dresses all over the high street at the moment that I absolutely love and I’ve definitely seen quite a few I like. It also makes some of my midi length vintage dresses especially wearable at the moment. I decided to wear it for a little walk in the park with Rob. If he gets home from work early enough, we often pop out for a little coffee or a walk to get a short amount of time together, before we pick up the kids. Being self employed is hard work, but it can have it’s benefits!
I borrowed a pair of Jess’s shoes, which I think were originally mine, but I gave to her?! Having a child with the same size feet as me is weird! When did she get so grown up! I also added my gold vintage belt. I joke about it, but I do literally wear this with every single outfit. Every time I put something on I think “this would look great with my gold belt” and so I always add it! I definitely need to go and find some more belts. This one was a charity shop purchase a while back, that cost about £2.50 if I remember correctly.
I have the worst memory for some things, but I think I can actually remember where I got every single dress I own from and exactly how much it cost me! It’s a weird useless skill, but does come in useful when writing about bargain vintage buys!
I really enjoyed taking a moment to shop my wardrobe and seeing what I have. I have a few outfits planned using vintage dresses that I already have. I’ve also picked up a few bits on the high street for Autumn that I can’t wait to show you. I went to a car boot sale this Sunday and bought an amazing 70s dresses for just £1.50 that I absolutely love, so that will be popping up here soon. I’m also keen to share some vintage style repro outfits, like I used to a lot in the past. Basically expect a big mixture of vintage and new outfits on here and of course over on my instagram where I share outfits all the time anyway.
Do you ever shop your wardrobe? Do you love a bargain or do you buy a few special pieces every now and then?
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