November: A Month In Review

Despite participating in Kendi's 30 for 30 challenge this month, I still managed to amass several purchases before the challenge started. What can I say, I'm industrious!

Peach J. Crew Knit Sweater: On my way to the fitting rooms at the Goodwill I saw this sweater hanging off the end of a rack. Without slowing down, my hand shot out, picked it up, and for $4 it came home with me. I love this sweater--the peach color is the perfect nude for me. While it's a bit shorter than I would like, I always wear it with a pink camisole (it is a loose-weave) which adds the perfect length.















Black Banana Republic Silk Shirt: This shirt is replacing a few basic black shirts that I have. It is not just a jersey knit, but is instead a silk blend and is luxuriously soft. I love the accordion pleating above the bust and the soft ruffles on the shoulder, and am hoping that it will never pill because of the higher-quality fiber content. It was $4 at the Goodwill (brand new condition too, haha!)

Black and Brown Cardigan: I made this out of a crazy, XL grandpa sweater I found at the Goodwill for $5. While I like the color (a mix of black and brown, emphasis on black), the length, and the overall fit, I wish I had waited for a nicer fiber-content. This is acrylic and is already beginning to pill. It's crazy, the difference between this material and some of my nicer materials. I do wear it all the time, but I am hoping to upgrade it at some point. In the future, good fiber-content will be one of my must-haves when buying a new item. It makes such a difference, with all types of clothing! Even my silk scarves are light years beyond the synthetic ones, in terms of warmth and softness.

Black Rain Boots: These were my most expensive purchase this month. Also from the Goodwill, these were around $20 and brand new. I decided to grab them because of a recent wet-feet-when-it-was-raining-SO-HARD incident, when I swore to myself that the next time I saw a good pair of conservative-looking rainboots for a decent price I would buy them. I literally purchased them the night before the 30 for 30 started, but have already worn them several times and am content with my purchase.






















Conclusion: Despite being on a no-buy for most of this month due to the 30 for 30 challenge, I still managed to grab some nice items before the craziness began! My total this month was $33, which is good. I think my favorite item this month is a toss-up between my peach sweater and my black shirt. I love how they both are made from high quality material, they fit nicely into my wardrobe, and they are a little bit special. My lesson learned this month is that fabric quality is KEY. It is the reason why I love my favorite items, and it is what holds me back from truly loving my new cardigan. In the future, I will definitely be only buying higher quality fabrics, especially keeping an eye out for wool, cashmere, silk and leather.

I think it's also telling that all four of my new items made it into the 30 items for the challenge and remixed effortlessly. This is what I am hoping all of my purchases will be able to do!

How much do you usually spend on clothing in a month? Are you satisfied with that amount, or do you wish you could spend more/less?
What is the most important deal-breaker point you look for when shopping for clothing?

Interested in seeing other Month in Reviews? Here is October's Month in Review, and here is September's Month in Review.

October: A Month In Review

With only one day left in the month, I think it's safe to do my Month In Review feature for October! If I go on a massive shopping expedition tomorrow, I'll be sure to make a note of it! ^-^

Brown Full Skirt

I am in love with this skirt. When I was looking back at what items to include in this month's review, I couldn't believe that I bought this skirt only this month! I wear it multiple times a week, with boots and with flats, and it's extremely versatile. This cost me $6 at the Goodwill and it's definitely worth it.

Orchid Silk Dress

I do love this $4 Goodwill find--it's currently my go-to comfy weekend dress. I think I will get more wear out of it in the Spring and Summer, just due to the color, but it meshes well with what I have in my wardrobe and I've already worn it at least five times this month.

Brightly Colored Lightweight Scarf

I haven't worn this scarf as much as the other pieces--I think twice so far this month--but that's to be expected. Temperatures have plummeted over here, and the light weight plus the bright colors tend towards Spring/Summer again. For a $4 Goodwill purchase though, I can play with incorporating it into my winter wardrobe!

Equestrian Scarf

I found this scarf recently for $6 at the Goodwill and I love it. I've worn it twice so far, but I've also only had it for about a week. It is one hundred percent silk, surprisingly warm, and I love the colors and patterns in it--the bright coral, the darker cranberry, the deep forest green. To me, it should be paired with heavy-knit socks, equestrian boots and a tweed coat.

Leather Knee-High Boots
No photo yet--these will be debuted on the blog soon! I found them at the Goodwill for $20, but they were much too small for me! However, since they are leather, I decided to buy them and try to stretch them out using my uber-technical process of wearing socks that are increasingly thick while wearing the boots around the house. They are almost a perfect fit now and I waterproofed them yesterday, so I should be wearing them within the next few days!

Vibram Five Finger Shoes

After wearing my old running shoes for over two and a half years, I definitely needed a new pair. I did a lot of research and decided to try out a pair of the Vibram Five Finger Toe Shoes (I have the KSO style, if anyone is interested). Mr. P has had a pair for months now and he loves them. I absolutely adore them--they make running a whole new type of experience. It is definitely taking time to get used to running in them--my stride is completely different, so different muscles are being used--but I have high hopes that they will help to correct some of my feet and ankle problems. Not a fashion purchase, but a fun addition to my closet none-the-less! These cost me a pretty penny--$80 at REI--but if they will help my running, then they will be worth it.

Conclusions
Once again, the number of items I bought was surprisingly on-task, while I blew past my money goal due to my running shoe purchase. Not including the running shoes, I spent $40 the whole month, plus another $40 on various undergarments that I am definitely not going to be showing on the blog (I'm also not including them in my item count-up). ^-^ It wasn't the most frugal of months, but I feel that I am getting fairly content with how my wardrobe is shaping up.

September: A Month In Review

New feature time! A Month In Review is when I look back at the month (September, in this case) and look at my purchases. Did I stay strong with my goals? Do I have a pattern? How was my spending?

Maintenant, une nouvelle chose! A Month In Review, c’est quand je revienne sur le mois (Septembre, à ce moment) et je regarde mes achètes. Je me suis maintenu aux buts ? Ai-je eu un motif ? Ai-je dépensé beaucoup ?

Anne Klein Skeleton Watch

I found this watch (mine has a caramel-colored band) at The Rack and I loved it! I needed one for work, and at $40 it was a bit higher than I wanted to pay...but I've worn it pretty much every day since I bought it, so the PPW is already under $1/day (usually my cut-off line for a good deal vs a not a good deal).

J’ai trouvé ce montre (le mien a un ruban caramel) à The Rack et je l’aime ! Il a fallu que je trouvais un montre pour mon travail, et il coute $40, un peu plus que je voulais dépensé pour un montre…mais je le porte toujours !

Underarmour Shirt (which I transformed into a scoop-neck layering piece)

$2 at the Goodwill? Yes please!

$2 à Goodwill ? Oui !

Naturalizer Oxford Flats

$4 at the Goodwill. I have worn these sucker so much--they work with skirts and pants, and even though I am still breaking them in a tad, they are still comfy for wearing all day on my feet.

$4 à Goodwill. Je les porte toujours…cette chaussures marche avec des jupes, des pantelons, et elles sont confortables.

Fyrinnae Makeup

Yes, I caved. I'm a sucker for their eyeshadows, and I jumped on the order of a friend to get the free shipping (I spent $14). I could never regret Fyrinnae though!

Oui, j’en ai acheté plusieurs. J’adore leurs fards à paupières, et j’ai combiné mon ordre avec l’ordre d’une amie pour avoir des frais d’expédition gratuits.

Outdoor Research Raincoat

This was a big ticket item--over $100. However, I've been waiting to get one and Mr. P and I decided to take the plunge this month (we found a deal).

Cette jaquette est cher, mais il y avait une solde et je voulais une jaquette pour la pluie depuis longtemps. Et alors !

Tights
(no photo!)
I bought these tights--brown and black herringbone, from Target, $5--thinking that they would be my go-to neutral tights. I mean, both brown and black? How could that NOT be the ultimate neutral? And yet...you can see by the lack of photos that they are surprisingly absent. I think I wore them once in the past month (a day that I did not photograph). This upcoming month perhaps they will get more wear--I think they just looked a bit heavy and dark for the surprisingly sunny September we've had so far.

J’ai acheté ces collants et je pensais qu’ils seraient le meilleure couleur neutre, parce qu’ils ont brun et noire. Mais…je ne les porte pas souvent. Je crois c’est peut-etre à cause du soleil, et ces collants sont chaleureux. Je crois que je les portrais plus en hiver.

Conclusions
This month I stayed surprisingly on-task. The tights were the only real bust of the month, and they may yet turn around. The Fyrinnae makeup was also not truly necessary...but so much fun! :) I love my oxford flats and my watch, and the raincoat is my first real raincoat EVER. As such , I am tickled pink by the fact that I can be standing outdoors, in the pouring rain, and not feel even damp.

My total for the month blew past my $100 goal due to my rain jacket purchase, but minus that I spent around $65, right on target. I bought 6 items...one over my 5 item goal. Still, not too shabby! Unfortunately, the bad news is that I tried on my Frye boots and they don't fit properly. *sob* So I'm not saving up for anything at the moment, besides saving up to have money in the bank!

Do you tend to buy a ton of similar items, or do you jump around? Have you ever looked at (or tallies up) what you buy in a month?

Ce mois, c’était bien. Les collants sont les seules que je ne porte pas souvent. Le maquillage, ce n’était pas nécessaire, mais je l’aime ! J’adore les chaussures et la jaquette, et je porte le montre toujours (je le porte maintenant !).

J’ai dépensé trop à cause de la jaquette, mais je ne m’inquiète pas. Sans la jaquette, j’ai dépensé $65, et ce n’est pas mal. J’ai acheté six choses. Les nouvelles qui ne sont pas assez bien…j’ai porté les bottes Frye et elles ne marchent pas pour moi. :( Mais c’est pas mal, j’ai trop maintenant !

Vous achetez beaucoup des choses similaires, ou toujours différents? Vous achetez assez combien dans un mois? Plus ou moins que moi?