Why my wardrobe is full of old stuff

I cleaned out my wardrobe yesterday and I had expected I would have a whole lot of air space afterwards.  After all, I practically wear the same outfits to work every week and the same two pair of jeans on the weekends. I might get crazy and wear a dress for a night out occasionally but there are probably only half a dozen outfits I stick with and have done so for the last 5-10 years.  When I do buy something new (very rarely) its usually for a special occasion.  It's an ingrained habit that I guess was formed from only having second hand or hand-me-down clothing as a child.  I don't remember being bothered by it or knowing anything about brands until I was well into my teens but I guess kids are a bit more fashion conscious today.

So most of my clothes are old, either because I don't throw stuff out or they are from second hand markets, Vinnies or other people (my friend at work recently cleaned out her wardrobe and I wasn't too proud to say thank you very much - some of them even have the tags on them still, shhh don't tell her husband!).

(Denim jacket $20 from vintage shop, belt $2 from markets, 

dress from friend, boots $99 from Diana Ferrari 2 years ago.)

For a few decades my sisters and I have been rotating our wardrobes around. Every time one of us did a clean out we would keep a bag for the next time one of us visited. Sometimes we discover we could be wearing a top that was worn by one of us 25 years ago! That's what I call vintage!

But I can see the attraction of 'going shopping' as a monthly/weekly event for some, like a hobby. I sometimes get the urge to go in one of those big, cold shopping malls full of loud teenagers and crying babies that are sick of being dragged from boutique to boutique.  I, like many others, think that if I can just find that perfect outfit my life would all fall in to place. For the possibility of a new look that will make me look younger, skinnier or just not invisible. Then I realise I've been picking up the same type of clothes off the rack each time and proceed to talk myself out of buying it ("it's too expensive, I've got nothing to go with it, it's hand wash only, it looks exactly like that white shirt I've had hanging in my wardrobe for fifteen years").

And then there's the big question of where is that new top coming from? Where was it made and who made it?  Was it made ethically and from sustainable products or was it made by poorly paid workers in unsafe conditions with highly environment-damaging cotton?  Is it a cheap overseas imitation of an Australian product?

It all gets too much and I go home and put on that favourite horsey t-shirt I bought at a garage sale three years ago.

There's been a lot of media buzz about knowing where your cheap clothes come from lately, particularly since the horrific collapse of a clothing manufacturer's building in Bangladesh recently.

There was this piece on the Mamamia site today and the story on 60 Minutes on Sunday night.

Melissa Wellham's Mamamia story points out the Aussie chain stores profiting from the hardship of those workers and says we as consumers also have a responsibility to pay just a little more for that third pair of identical brown sandals.  After all, we only have two feet.

Would you be willing to pay an extra dollar for your child's pair of shorts to buy ethically?

*Joining up with Jess on Essentially Jess's IBOT**

Some success of sorts

What ever way you look at it, my progress on my to-do list on this post was not exactly stunning.

For example, the first thing was to sort out my wardrobe. Well I managed to empty it on to my bed, sort the trousers from the skirts, the jackets from the cardigans, the tops from the dresses and put them in neat piles.  I then had to go and pick someone up or drop someone off (can't quite remember now, hopefully dropped and picked the right kids!).  Then there was dinner to do which is always followed by cleaning up and checking out the day's emails, tweets and blogs.

By 10.30pm I went downstairs to jump in bed and it was only then I remembered my abandoned project.  I considered just slipping in the other side of the bed (Mr Moneymaker was away that week) but knew I wouldn't be able to sleep feeling that annoying pile next to me (the clothes, not the husband).  So I stuck in and proceeded to rehang 98% of the clothes back in the wardrobe. I succeeded in throwing out a HUGE number of clothes (OK, only four items but that was painful enough - you never know when you'll use a furry, cow print mini skirt).  I was able to co-ordinate shirts and jackets on the hangers and ended up with 26 leftover wire hangers(?).

So I'm counting that job as done.  Don't judge me.

As for the other jobs on the list, best not to ask.  I did manage to scrub the floors but they still look the same.  As for the cobwebs, we had a lovely big storm which washed them all away (bye bye itsy bitsy spider). So I'm claiming that one as done too.

The baking wish has been fulfilled by my daughter, but it was cupcakes, not cinnamon scrolls  or date scones.  What was I thinking?  I don't bake.

And finally, my desk.  Mr Moneymaker has finally entrusted me to go and buy my own little desk rather than an offcut of his big monstrosity.  I would rather find a beautiful bargain somewhere that speaks to me than run off to Ikea and get one off the conveyor belt.  I wonder if that beautiful old dark timber one with a dozen little drawers is still on the corner of the road I saw on the way to work this morning?

Day 17 of 30 Day Photo Challenge: Something I have too much of and is taking up unnecessary space

Most of us have way too many clothes. We collect them by the cupboard full, some of us even have whole rooms dedicated to them. Who could possibly wear all these clothes all the time. Because that's the thing, some of us (OK me!) wear a few things all the time and buy something new when I have to go somewhere special. But I've stopped that lately and even feel guilty if I buy something that's not out of an op shop or passed on to me. But I still have a wardrobe full of clothes and shoes I couldn't turn down from friends and sisters as that would be wasteful. But what's wasteful is how I'm clogging up this huge wardrobe (well it's huge compared to all my previous wardrobes). I need to follow Nicole Avery's or Katrina's example and be brutal and cull, cull, cull! [As you can see by the colour range in there, I'm an Autumn. What about you?]