Clothing Cleanse Diaries No. 2
Follow along as I attempt a low-buy month for September!
August was a big buy month for me. Between miscellaneous pregnancy and anticipatory postpartum purchases, random thrift trips, and Target runs, the clothing purchase count was high. Something that’s helped keep me aware of my clothing intake is keeping a list of all the clothing and accessories I purchase each month! I have them in a note on my phone. This is my first year to keep track of these purchases, and it’s been a really good practice! It’s also a bit shocking to see how much I take in any given month… It’s sobering to see the rate of my personal consumption!
As I’m writing this, we’re already a few days into September. I know even now that this will be more of a low-buy month (as close to nothing as possible) rather than a no-buy month. On September 1st, I thrifted a black blazer which has been on my wishlist for quite some time now. I’ve been eyeing the Djerf Avenue Forever Blazer for years now, but I can’t bring myself to buy it knowing there are so many blazers waiting to be found at thrift stores. Idk if this blazer will stick in my closet (the shoulder pads are QUITE thick and not removable), but I did indeed purchase it in the month of September, soooo job not well done I suppose!
Another contributing factor which makes this a low-buy month rather than a no-buy month is the fact that I’m going to NYC on the 23rd. I’ve been saving since January for some big-city spending, and I plan to spend my hoarded spending money on clothing and accessories while there! My husband and I agree that this is permissible seeing as though the spending will come from a separate NYC-curated budget. I will remind the court that I am the budgeteer in my family unit, and my husband supports my clothes-as-a-hobby spending budget. The clothing cleanses were my idea! See Clothing Cleanse Diaries No. 1 for more details.
So without further ado, here are September’s clothing cleanse diaries!
9/4/24
As stated previously, August was a high-volume purchase month. Somewhere around August 20th, I was pleased to find an affordable and in-good-condition barn jacket on Depop that fit my personal preferences! The seller even offered free shipping on bundles, so I threw a t-shirt for my husband into the mix. Two weeks passed, and I’d received ZERO communication from the seller (despite two very stern Depop messages), and my order hadn’t budged. Today I woke up to an email saying that my order had be refunded. Immediately I took to eBay in search of a replacement. I found a suitable option, made a reasonable offer, the seller accepted, and now I await my replacement barn jacket.
Since my refund from the negligent Depop seller was higher priced than the new eBay score, I’m not letting this one count as a purchase. And can you really blame me?
I have several other outstanding orders from August that I am waiting to receive in the mail, and one of them may turn out to be a scam… I’ll keep you posted!
9/6/24
In the above entry, I mentioned an outstanding August purchase that I was worried might be a scam. For over a year now, I have been searching high and low on secondhand platforms for THE Sandy Liang x Salomon Sneakers that sold out in seconds within their April ‘23 release. It was a shock and a tragedy to the entire Sandy community, and the aftermath resulted in numerous scammers claiming to sell the shoes on their perspective platforms OR folks listing them for $400+ on eBay (insert eye roll emoji).
On August 25th, I spotted a pair on Poshmark that seemed to be legit. The seller hadn’t marked them extremely low, they had various other listings, all of the seller’s pieces were photographed in front of the same printed sheet… everything seemed to check out. I made an offer, it got accepted, and then the waiting began.
To my surprise, I got a message from the app a few days later saying that the shoes had shipped! They idled at their Jacksonville post office for almost two weeks, and I started to worry this was some sort of a scam tactic. Maybe the seller created a label but didn’t put the shoes in the mail? I had read Poshmark’s protection policy front to back, and I was pretty sure I could get my money back if the shoes didn’t ever make it to me, I just had to wait.
And then… this morning I woke up to a text from USPS saying that the shoes are OUT FOR DELIVERY!!! I will report back soon whether the report was true or not!
9/9/24
The Sandy sneakers have arrived. They’re gorgeous, they’re comfortable, they’re brand new with tags, and they are about a half inch too small… I am devastated! One big motivation for snagging these sneakers was for my upcoming pilgrimage to NYC, but I’m fairly certain my toes will be killing me if I attempt to wear these shoes all day long, and I plan to.
So what have I done? Well, I’ve ordered the next size up on Poshmark… I know, I know! This is a huge investment for one single pair of sneakers! But I plan to sell the too-small pair which I hope will be an easy task seeing as though they’re still a highly coveted item. The idea is a similar switcheroo to the barn jacket… one out, one in. Annnnd since I placed the order for the first Sandy sneakers in August, it still doesn’t count towards September shopping!!! Now let’s pray the second pair isn’t a scam and that they arrive before my trip!
9/10/24
Okay y’all… I know this month probably seems like a no-buy/low-buy fail, but pregnancy is so tricky. I bought a pair of compression socks yesterday in anticipation of flying to NYC and fears of swelling. My feet have been hurting a lot lately, and I’m assuming it’s due to the extra weight dis baby is putting on my body (despite him being about 1lb).
Also, and excuse my candidness, my boobs have become absolutely massive during this pregnancy. I might be up two whole cup sizes, and I do NOT appreciate it. My under boob sweat is also out of control! Presumably due to the extra weight and the increased blood flow/sweat gland activity yadi yada. My ARQ (God rest her soul) bralettes are hardly doing the trick anymore, and my under-boob sweat has stained them all. Not that the staining affects their efficacy, they’re just starting to look quite frumpy. Long (and potentially TMI) story short, I bought a bralette… but these two were purchases of necessity in my opinion! It’s not like I’ve gone on a thrift shopping spree. Give a girl a break!!!
9/16/24
Okay, we’re halfway through September, and my only non-preg/necessity/replacement purchases so far have still been that black thrifted blazer! Again, I’d like to remind the court that the Sandy sneakers and the barn jacket were replacements for August purchase fails, and I’ve made about 5 pregnancy purchases this month. Technically two of those actually came out of my husband’s fun-money budget (the sweetie caught me crying about my too-small bras and took me to Walmart for an emergency replacement purchase. He’s an angel!).
I’m starting to consider this month a real success as far as low-buy standards are concerned! I’ll be heading to NYC next week which of course will include some shopping, but again, that doesn’t count!!!
9/18/24
Just checking in to say that I haven’t bought any other non-boring-pregnancy-essential crap since the blazer! But I do have a new wishlist item(s). In preparation of bebe coming in January, I really want a house robe. This one from Djerf Avenue looks sooo cozy! I also kinda want the matching PJ set, too. We’ll see what kind of funds I’m looking at post-NYC! Even still, my shopping will be contained within September 23-26 until October rolls around.
9/30/24
Okay, so… I went to NYC, and as promised, I shopped till I dropped. I returned home on Thursday the 26th just in time to welcome hurricane Helene. And may I just say, what a bitch!!! Sorry for the language, folks, but… you get it. We’ve been without power since Friday around 2am. Thankfully we’ve been able to stay with some generous friends who have electricity and Wi-Fi, but I’ve officially broken the clothing cleanse.
There were several things I’d hoped to find in NYC that I couldn’t, and honestly I just needed some retail therapy. If you’re interested, I purchased two pairs of maternity bike shorts (because they’re alll I’m wearing atm) and some maternity jeans (finally). Still pregnancy purchases, so not quite fun splurges, but still. We’ll try again in a few months. Until then, thanks for following along anyway! I’m only human, sometimes these clothing cleanses just don’t work, lol.
And that’s All That She Wrote today, folks! I hope you’re all staying safe out there!
-Anna Kristen
love the shoes and djerf. might dip my toes in