The shops are full of summer clothes as if they will never go out of season, the magazines are full of summer style, fashion ideas, the sun is shining, ice creams are being eaten, and it seems like summer is here to stay.
Well, firstly, it’s still spring and secondly summer in the Northern Hemisphere is not a long stretch of endlessly sunny days, but, especially for this island nation, a variety of weather types, and huge range of temperatures.
So, while it is tempting to stock up on beautiful summer clothes in a whole range of stunning colours, these clothes are really worn for the shortest period of time and are probably the least worn of everything in your wardrobe.
it is hard to specify an amount to budget when buying summer clothes, but a rough percentage spent breakdown could be as follows: 30% of your budget to be spent on your spring wardrobe, 15% on your summer wardrobe, 40% on Autumn and 15% on winter.
Your spring investments should be the backbone of what you will wear constantly between roughly March and May and continue to wear sporadically between June and the end of August. This 40% budget should include: suits, dresses, a coat, tights, jumpers, cardis, shirts, blouses. The 15% allocation to summer is fun pieces of clothing: sundresses, hats skirts, sandals flipflops etc.
Autumn/Winter follow the same pattern as Spring/Summer. Autumn is when you budget for the majority of your cold weather kit: wool dresses, cashmere jumpers and cardigans, boots, shoes, all the accessories (hat, gloves, scarves), a sensible party dress ie one that can be worn in the day and dressed up in the evening. Winter’s 10% goes towards sales purchases, a definitely festive holiday dress, ie something that you LOVE, but probably couldn’t wear to the office, or velvet trousers, or an over the top glamourous top: beaded, hand wash only, can’t wear with bra, you know the one.
So, how would this work for you and how does it hep when it comes to practical budgeting? What do you spend each year on clothes? Take that figure and divide it by the percentages listed out above. Then look at what the summer figure is, if you are starting to look at all the summer goodies in the shop and resolve to stick to it.
Similarly for spring, find what amount the 40% is and work out whether you have spent roughly that amount of money not on the frivolities, but on the basics.
If you have nothing to wear in your wardrobe, one reason could be that you are buying the wrong clothes, and this is, or could be, one indication that your buying pattern needs some attention. Sticking to a rough budget as et out above, and ensuring your buying pattern is roughly in line with what I have laid out, should ensure that you always have something fun to wear in your wardrobe.
