How to update your summer wardrobe without spending any money

 A new season always provokes the same reaction in me, a desperate need to get rid of all my clothes and buy a brand new wardrobe of seasonally appropriate items. (although I still haven’t learnt that I live in England and seasonable appropriate is not at all straight forward!). This year I’m trying to curb the urge to do this, and find some alternate ways to update.

So here’s a few tips I’ll be trying to help that summer wardrobe refresh.

1. Change your colour palette. When it comes to summer, I look at how I can change my colours to bring a fresh feeling to my outfits without updating my whole wardrobe. I tend to stick to some core colours but change my ‘extra’colours. For many people, a core colour might be black or white but I prefer navy and light grey, both of which look fantastic in all seasons. In the winter I might throw my favourite navy cashmere jumper on with deep berry tights, and in summer I’ll keep it for chillier evenings, thrown on over boyfriend jeans my, my red Lotta from Stockholm clogs and a plain white t-shirt. Navy looks great with bright red, bright pink and white. A pop a bit of red lipstick on and I feel summer ready.
2. Colourful accessories. In winter I’ll buy some colourful tights, guaranteed to change the look of any item. In summer I’ll buy some bright nail varnish. It will make any navy/grey looks fresh and feel summery. This summer big, bright bold earrings are everywhere and I’m a massive fan. Little additions like this can turn jeans and a white t-shirt look like a stylish and put together outfit.
3. Invest in a really good spring/summer coat that will last. A black leather biker and a trench coat will last for years. They instantly give any outfit a laid back but stylish feel. They will also go with everything you own, guaranteed! These items are worth spending more on as they will be so long lasting.
4. Bright sandals, I realise that most of my points come back to colour but the plainest/oldest outfit will feel fresh with some bright red/yellow/leaopard/silver or gold sandals. They scream summer sunshine and are guaranteed to put a smile on your face when you look down.
5.  Colour matching. Not sure what colours suit you?  just hold them up to your face and see which colours make you look healthiest. If they make you look washed out, they probably aren’t the best colours, but I am a big believer in just wearing whatever makes you feel good!
6. Look at your old scarf collection. Even in summer, the evenings and daytimes can get chilly, so adding a scarf can liven up an outfit and keep out that pesky wind. I’ve got scarves my mum had in the 70’s, my children’s blankets I wear as scarves, ones I got free. Take a look at the back of the wardrobe and see what you’ve got hiding in there!
7. Wear it different ways. Summer clothes are versatile and often free flowing which allows you to change the shape of them. Buying a great loose fitting plain dress is fab for keeping you cool . You could think about tying a material belt around it to change the style, or one of the scarves you’ve found! Add a headband, heels in the evening and sliders in the day. A perfect versatile piece that will cover all occasions.
8. Get creative. This summer frayed edge jeans are in, refresh your look by chopping the end of some older jeans. I did it and they feel like a brand new pair though they aren’t. It’s a great way to customise if you don’t have good sewing skills like me.
9. Go through your winter wardrobe. Look the items your wore in winter and find new ways of wearing them. For me, I like white shirts under jumpers in winter, the I wear them open with a thin vest underneath over denim shorts and sleeves rolled up in summer. Perfect relaxed weekend clothes.

At the end of the day, a few small additions and a bit of thought into how to wear your clothes in different ways can give you a spring in your step and take you straight into summer. If you have any tips for summer dressing I’d love to hear them!

My journey to create a more ethical wardrobe

For me fashion has always been about more than just what I’m wearing. Shopping and looking at clothes is an emotional experience that can make me giddy with excitement. I’m certainly no size zero fashionista swanning round town, but I love buying new clothes, the touch and feel of new textures and shapes. Seeing new colour combinations and fresh styles, just makes me feel good!

I’ll follow people down the street to find out where their coat was from, I’ll spend lost hours hunting down a pair of shoes I’ve created a picture of in my head but can’t find in real life.

I have to admit that when it comes to shopping, I might be a tiny bit of an addict. It’s thrill of the purchase, even the sound of a parcel coming to the door makes me happy. But I do realise that often as soon as I’ve bought the item of clothing I’ve been dreaming about, it’s lost it’s hold on me and I’ve forgotten about it in a few days.

The items that I keep and most love and cherish are usually wardrobe staples or items I spend a long time choosing.

But something’s happened to me recently, I’ve starting looking around my house and wondering how I have so much STUFF. I have 2 young children so a house filled with plastic is pretty standard, but my wardrobe is bursting and much as my husband would like me to bin it all, that’s never gonna happen!

So this year I am trying to shop more consciously. For me this means stopping to think about what I’m buying, thinking about whether I need that item and why I am buying it. I’ve already started being less wasteful with food and now I’m moving onto my wardrobe.

The more I started looking into sustainable fashion and buying more conscientiously the more I realised the huge impact and effect the clothing industry has on the environment and on the lives of the millions of people working within it.

An estimated £140 million worth of clothes goes to landfill in the UK each year. That’s a lot of clothes! Last week marked the 4 years anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster, in which an 8 story building in Bangladesh housing several clothing factories collapsed killing approximately 1130 people. People busy just trying to earn a living ,making the fast fashion clothes I usually love to buy. All of this has made me more determined to change the way I dress and shop. I’m on a mission to buy less and wear more of the clothes I already have. I want to buy and keep a few simple items that will last and last and stop the thrill of cheap new clothes.

I’ll be looking at ways of making my clothes last longer and researching ethical brands to find out who makes their clothes. I want to think about each piece I buy, how long it will last and feel happy knowing the workers making my clothes were well looked after and treated fairly.

So here I am on, on a mission to buy more thoughtfully and find ways of buying more sustainably. My blog will feature ideas and tips for your wardrobe, new designers and places to shop ethically, and ways to move away from fast fashion. Follow my journey to a more ethical wardrobe.

See you soon.