Excuse my somewhat awkward pose! So lately I've found myself drawn more towards wearing lots of blacks, which is funny given how garish I have traditionally dressed. I'm really liking my blonde almost pixie and lots of black + obnoxious lipstick right now. I wore this to go potter around a market with my dad.

Top, clothes swap, free
Skirt, Deptford market (one of my favourite tat hunting grounds!), £5
Belt, passed on by a friend
Necklace, Tatty Devine, gift
Hoops, 75p, Primark
Shoes, eBay, £20

Today (work):

Striped tee, passed on by a friend
Belt, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Skirt, Dorothy Perkins, £15
Sandals, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Jacket, ASOS, £32
Necklace, Tatty Devine, birthday present
Bag, car boot, £3

The price of everything

I've always felt a bit of an odd fit in the fatshion world, cos I can't afford to buy things. Now I have some disposable income, but even with that I probably can't buy things full price. Over the 3 years I've been blogging, I've worn some of my clothes countless times - I guess until they've fallen apart in a lot of cases. In this time I've been on the dole, on minimum wage, on a pittance of university funding, and generally speaking not particularly well off.

Part of the reason I started blogging here was because clothes have always mattered to me (not necessarily fashion, but clothes themselves) - because they've been a way to express myself and explore who I am, no matter how little spare money I've had, and whether I've been shopping at jumble sales or high street shops. I'm a constant re-mixer, because what I buy has to go with EVERYTHING I own. I've learned to thrift through years of having few other options. I've never had a lot, but I've always had fun making things work for me where I can.

I've been putting the prices on what I buy ever since I started this. That's for a reason too - often what I wear can't be bought again by someone else (because it's second hand, or on super duper last one left sale), but I still want to be able to be transparent about where I find things and how I dress myself. I want to be able to show others who don't have a lot how I get by. Again, I feel like knowing the price of something is something I was brought up with, and dressing on the cheap is something I feel proud about. I also tag all of the items I wear so you can see the ways I've remixed something too.

I'm never gonna be the sort of blogger with a wardrobe of outfit options. My clothes will always be a little bobbled, and yes, I've worn that blouse a million times. I'm not on trend, I'm not invested in fashion as an industry, or in keeping up to date because of any sense of obligation. I'm mainly into finding ways to have fun dressing myself even when I have nothing.

Re-emerging from the end of my postgrad course, hurray! I've been thinking lots about what this blog is, what I want it to be and how I want to be present in the fatshion community for the future. Here's an outfit for now though...

Dress: handmade
Scarf: 50p, car boot
Belt, passed on by a friend
Sandals, Dorothy Perkins, £7

xx