The Reincarnation of Objects

One thing I've become much better at this year is 'shopping my wardrobe'. In my first shopping ban attempt, I lived in fear that I would be invited to a black tie ball or some event with an unusual dress code and have nothing to wear. Two years later, this has still not happened, and I've begun to accept that my existing wardrobe contains something that will tide me over for most occasions, with a little ingenuity. 

Now that I had a better idea of how I wanted to look and dress, I'd been worried that I'd immediately want to go out and buy a bunch of new things. But I was pleasantly surprised by how close I could get to the look I wanted, using items I already had.

I still, on occasion, get rid of the wrong things and end up regretting it later. But I've started to learn how to avoid this, and the answer is simple - get rid of less. I know, I know, this flies in the face of common minimalist logic and the pervasive urge to declutter. Not to mention that we all seem to have those few items lurking in our closets that we know we don't want to wear, but that we are hanging on to, mainly out of guilt (at least, I'm assuming it's not just me). In my case, a pinafore that I thought would be versatile but I never bother to wear because it's pretty boring; a pair of hot pink cargo shorts - I love cargo shorts, but the colour goes with nothing else that I own; a number of oversized t-shirts; and a pair of black and white patterned harem pants I got bored of years ago (plus I have a secret suspicion they make me look a bit frumpy). 

I was just steeling myself to donate some of these items or resell them through Loopster, when I had a sudden brainwave. I have a lot of difficulty finding summer tops that I like, but a plethora of oversized tees - suddenly the answer was obvious. 

Using a top I liked the fit of as a template, I cut down one of my oversized tops and quickly sewed the sides back together. I'd only tacked it loosely to check the fit, but I liked it so much I ended up wearing it that day, before I'd sewn it together properly. I'm really pleased with how it turned out - it's obviously a DIY, but to my mind that's a plus. And I still have more t-shirts I could do this to, if I need more strappy tops next summer.

Apologies for the terrible composition and random things in the background of the photos in this post! I originally took them to send to friends rather than to post here...!

The other three items I decided to dye. This was kind of spur of the moment - I picked up a dyeing kit for £3.99 in Aldi (and still have enough left to dye another three items). This was probably not the most environmentally friendly of dyes, so if I was going to make a habit of dyeing things I would research my options better. But I feel that keeping items working in my wardrobe for longer is better than donating or reselling them, as once they're out of my hands they could end up in landfill, which is what I'm trying to avoid.

I'm thrilled with how these came out! I didn't tie my elastic bands tightly enough so I didn't get clear lines, but I really like the colours and I think I will wear all of these items much more. I'll definitely be less afraid to take the plunge and customise things in future before I think about getting rid of them. I love that I now have some completely unique items for very little cost too.

I had intended a sort of stripy dip dye... It didn't work out but I still like it