My answer is this: A recessionista is somebody who, with a limited budget, still manages to be fashionable, unique and have fun with their clothes.
I would, given the current economic climate, suggest that EVERYONE start becoming more of a recessionista. Unless you have the budget of J-Lo then you have probably had to hold back with the credit cards in these recent months - I know that I certainly have been cutting back.
There are a few steps that really make you a recessionista in my eyes - and I truly have been following them to the letter in recent months...
This is the first...
a) You need to really sort through your wardrobes. A certain Gok Wan is known for saying that we should all "shop less and wear more" - this is the right idea but before you can begin cutting down on your shopping habit you need to learn the art of 'organization'
Scott and I recently sorted out our wardrobes, although mass-annihilation would probably be a more appropriate term for what we did. Sticking by the rule of 'If you haven't worn it in the past year then chuck it" we managed to whittle down three wardrobes and six drawers worth of clothes into one wardrobe and three drawers - a fact that I am very proud of. Im sure that we could have even got rid of more of our things If i hadn't had such a soft spot for lingerie and Scott for t-shirts!
The local charity shop was certainly lucky - with our TWELVE bin-bags full of donated goods, and shamefully to say, many of which were unworn!
b) Once you are left with only those items you wear organize them into sections - this can be via usage (i.e Sportswear, Underwear) or by Colour or any other categorization method that suits you...
Our wardrobe now goes a little something like this:
Drawer One - Alex's Underwear
Drawer Two - Scott' Underwear
Drawer Three - Socks/Tights/Gloves
Sportswear - including swimwear
Workwear - Shirts, Trousers, Smart skirts (pencil skirts etc)
Casual Wear - Jeans, t-shirts, vests, skirts (denim etc), dresses etc
Evening Wear - Dresses, suits, ties etc
Seasonal Wear - All of our winter jumpers etc have been boxed up and put in the base of the wardrobe until the weather turns again.
The idea was that by organizing our things into sections we could clearly see what we were lacking, or conversely, inundated with. In our case it's a mixture of casual clothes, particularly t-shirts, and evening wear (for something we rarely wear we have way too much of the stuff!).
c) Really think about what you are buying. Ok so you have cleared out your wardrobe - what you don't want to then do is use up all that new space by filling it with more useless clothes! When shopping stop and think about what you are buying - ask yourself some important questions:
Do I really need this item?
What will I wear it with?
Where will I wear it?
Is it worth the price on a cost-per-wear basis?
If you hesitate to find answers to any of these questions then step away from the unecessary purchase and put the money into a savings account instead! Think about it this way:
2 Dresses at £60.00 each from Topshop
Pair of knee-high boots from River Island at £80.00
Three bags at £8.00 each from Primark
Set of Underwear at £30 from Ann Summers
Two t-shirts at £15 each from H&M
Makeup from Boots at £30
This all comes into a shockingly high £314 - for that you could have really treated yourself to a pair of luxury Christian Laboutins. A divine pair of shoes that would last ten times longer than those River Island Boots, Won't be out of fashion in a couple of weeks and so much more satisfactory - A couple of years of budgeting like this and you could have a wardrobe filled with beautiful, designer, heirloom pieces to treasure forever!
