As the years have progressed, I’ve been steadily tracking my spending on clothing. Though I’d say the overall volume has decreased since my fast fashion/thriftaholic days, the cost has risen because slow fashion is much more expensive. I would like to work on lowering both the amount of apparel I buy as well as how much I spend on it.

Amelia (@ameliaswardrobeedit) proposed the idea of limiting ourselves to just 12 items–1 item per month–for this new year. I’m going to try my very best to stick with this because I honestly have more than enough clothes and so many are really comfy, well made favorites.

#12in21

Some guidelines for myself:

At least half (6) of the items will be from BIPOC owned brands.

*I originally was counting shoes in the 12, but decided to separate them into their own list.

Accessories, underwear/lounge, secondhand, replacements, and self made items won’t count.

Each month I will update this post with the item I went with and details about it.

Clothing purchased so far: 12

Vestige Story kindred sweatshirt (BIPOC owned)

7115 by Szeki black sumo puffer (BIPOC owned)

Tradlands augusta floral dress 

Aliya Wanek britt dress (BIPOC owned)

Ichi Antiquités linen gather dress (BIPOC owned)

Sotela gingham top, shorts, & skirt (BIPOC owned)

Eli & Barry grid dress 

Nettle Studio smiley button up

Image from nettlestudio.com

STATE punch shirt (on sale)

Intentionally Blank canta dress

Image from intentionallyblank.us

Vacilando Studios red quilt jacket

Image from @vacilandostudios

Ijji Trench (BIPOC owned)

Shoes purchased so far: 6

Camper Pix boots (on sale)

Bryr black norma stack sandal

Beatrice Valenzuela lichen sandalias (BIPOC owned)

Bryr spritz zoe flatform

Zou Xou quinta woven slide (BIPOC owned)

THEY sneakers (BIPOC owned)

Image from theynewyork.com

Make list

Here are some sewing projects I’m planning to make:

-Face print midi dress (made!)

-Red canvas sun hat (made!)

-Floral print boxy top

-Red canvas clyde trousers

This season I had a handful of replacement coats in mind (larger sizes.) Glad to have started selling items on poshmark to help fund clothing purchases.

-Faces coat (secondhand)

-Camel wool coat (replacement)

-Rorange wool coat (replacement)

-Winter puffy coat (replacement)

-White & black boots (replacement)

-Cream wool beanie (BIPOC owned)

-Flame shelter cardigan

-Red potter jacket

Until next time, stay Sheek!

-Shekinah

This is my favorite season so in the past I have gone a bit overboard. I am glad though that as each season passes, I become even better at resisting impulses and sticking to my wishlist. This time I had a few new items in mind along with replacements.

-Red Socks from Pansy

-Cream Sweatshirt from Aliya Wanek

-Camel Pants from Kordal Studio (replacement)

-Raw Jeans from Detroit Denim (replacement)

-All black Red Wing boots

Until next time, stay Sheek!

-Shekinah

This has been a time hasn’t it? Corona has caused a great deal of suffering and also impacted many of us financially. I know I’m not the only one who was laid off as a result of it, so I hope if you’re reading this it lets you know you’re not alone.

Due to having a limited income (but still having bills to pay) I’ve entered a low buy out of necessity. I’ve tried no buys before, but always failed while obsessing over items I would buy again once it ended. In a low buy, I do still have some funds for fun items, but those items aren’t necessarily apparel. For example, I bought some oil painting supplies because I have more time and painting has always been very therapeutic for me. 

Overall I’ve done pretty well with curbing impulse buys. Exceptions to this were the STATE & Dazey LA summer releases back in May (but I was able to use Afterpay for both.) And some jeans that were on sale. Otherwise, everything else clothing-wise has been on my wishlist.

I have bought more hair/skin care though. Some regular products, but others to use with my now silver hair. I’ve thankfully not been a product hoarder for years, but I do like to have backups of my favorites to ensure ease of styling.

Here are some priorities I focus on during a low buy: 

1) Savings

My number one goal is to increase savings. I’ve been in very low places before when I didn’t have adequate savings built up and something unexpected happened. I don’t want to be in predicaments like that again if I can help it by saving now.

2) Business

This covers gear, marketing materials, prints, etc. Freelance work is another source of income, albeit inconsistent. Reallocating funds to grow my business is something that will help me in the future.

3) Contentment

Honestly, I have so much. I am thankful I have the privilege to pay more and support small brands, especially fellow BIPOC ones. Taking a look at my overabundant wardrobe helps me really decide if I should be purchasing another clothing item, or if I can put it on my wishlist and use those funds for more important matters.

Until next time, stay Sheek!

-Shekinah

Summer is the shortest season here, so I don’t usually have a lot on my list for it when it rolls around. The main things this time were:

– White sandals (secondhand)

– Negroni Beatrice Valenzuela sandalias (since I enjoy the maasai ones I have so much)

– Chaco sandals for outdoor/active use

– Nettle’s Tale supportive bathing suit top

– Striped bathing suit bottoms

– Patterned/not plain comfortable pants

– Cream midi skirt

Keeping an eye out for fun releases as well, and probably will add in another piece or two as the season rolls on.

Until next time, stay Sheek!

-Shekinah

Fortunately I’ve been able to find a majority of what was on my list over the winter (many on sale and/or secondhand.) Some items have been on my list for a year, others for a couple months. I do seek out all season cotton items year round, it just so happens I’ve had good fortune finding those specific items this year. Here’s what I’ve found so far:

-ES cream cotton canvas clyde jumpsuit (sale)

-STATE cream cotton canvas wrap pants

-Boxy white linen top (secondhand)

-3134u Red cotton dress (sale)

-Red linen pants (secondhand)

-Martiniano red glove flats (sale)

-Red denim duster jacket (secondhand)

-Black loose denim pants

I’m really set with many mix & match pieces. I’m going to keep an eye out for some of the Spring releases happening soon, but I feel better about impulse shopping because I have finally found really comfortable items that I’ve really enjoyed wearing as the weather warms up.

Until next time, stay Sheek!

-Shekinah