2024 Spending Review: Stars, Dogs and That Pledge

My "Take the Jump" pledge to buy fewer new clothes in 2024 changed my consumption, all right. When you promise to limit yourself to three new items a year, it's like eating three french fries: it can be done, but it's going to hurt. I misread the terms and thought I was committing for a year; turns out they asked for only six months' commitment, but that was long enough to shift my patterns.

2024 Stars

In early 2024, before I even contemplated the project, I bought four things from retail stores, so when I signed on in May, I counted those as my new-item allowance. That meant I started at zero!

These are the three pieces... and do shoes count? Please say no.

Clockwise from top left, three Seasalt pieces, all bought on sale:

1.  Fair Isle tank; similar here. A full-body Fair Isle over-patterns me, but a tank works, and with so many colours in the piece, it's endlessly wearable.

2.  "Larissa" cotton shirt; similar here. Great for travel; it's a twist-to-dry cotton.

3. "Reading Rocks" denim jacket; a better cut for me than the classic Western.  

(I don't buy much from Seasalt, but these things worked.) 

And a pair of slippers for outdoors in summer, indoors in winter:  

4. Handmade Sabah flats are not, despite their claims, walking shoes. The soles are paper thin, and there is neither arch support nor shock absorption. I had a sturdier outsole added immediately. 

These are costly for what they are—but they come in gorgeous colours. Like those Venetian velvet slippers, they elevate anything you're wearing, but are specialty shoes. 

Thrifts to the rescue!

The pledge does allow one to shop secondhand. Montréal is a cold-climate city, so from summer to early autumn I looked for snuggly sweaters. Tricotina, the ancient Roman goddess of knits, provided a bounty:

Left: I bookmarked a Scottish Fair Isle maker (Bosie), hoping for an early 2025 sale. In September, Tricotina provided an almost identical unbranded one in perfect condition. Price, $8.00. 

Top right: This slightly-cropped soft wool turtleneck with scattered openwork areas is by Sarah Pacini. One of my best-ever finds; price, $7.50. 
Bottom right: A J. Crew Signature cashmere crew-neck, their best-quality cashmere. Bought on eBay for $35; lofty and cozy. The marinière habit endures.

 

I found other appealing secondhand items, but  didn't bite; if I clog my closet with those, that's still over-consuming. Each of these sweaters provides joyful utility, the very definition of a Star.

Gifts

 I've already shown you Gisele's gift of linen clothes; remember these?

I rarely wore the sleeveless piece; I'll see how it goes this summer. The blue striped dress was worn the most. This is someone else's palette, and I learned it's work to zhuzh 'almost' clothes.

The Three Women earrings

My birthday gift from Le Duc was a pair of "Cleo" earrings by Pilar Agueci, an accord of three artists: the baroque freshwaters at the top are from Sarah Canizzaro (Kojima Pearl); Sarah and Pilar connected at last year's Tucson Gem Show. Pilar acquired the inch-long white sticks from Janis Kerman, who sold her stash when she retired several years ago. These women, who have met one another, together in one piece—that's special to me.

Woof!

There was one Dog, this pink denim Western jacket (thrifted). I picked up my embroidery needle to decorate it, then realized that I much preferred the length of the Seasalt one, and redonated it.

One woman's Dog is another's Star

After placing these Carme Cirer silver and pearl earrings in the Passage's window, I ordered a pair. They are well-made and I love the asymmetric design— but on me, the scale was too small. I failed to consider how tiny a 10mm circle is on my ear. If you wear delicate pieces, they are delightful—but on me they looked like I borrowed someone's earrings.

2024 Grade: B 

I bought less, but can't claim glory—gifts mitigated the austerity. But the discipline has changed me; buying less meant more discernment. For each thrift find, at least one item in my closet went out. 

I graded down for my hubristic denial—waist-length jackets don't work for me anymore— and failing to hold a 10mm outline of those earrings on my ear before I ordered; they had to be returned to Berlin.  

When I received Take The Jump's congratulatory email at six months, I promptly bought a couple of bras, to replace what had become No-shapewear. (Bras! You'll enjoy Melanie Chartoff's  hilarious and tenderly mournful article, "Putting My Outdated Underthings Out to Pasture", published on "The Oldster".)

The pledge was horribly strict if you count functional exercise wear and underwear within the three-item allowance, but having an aggressive goal was a bracing reality check. Now I have no pledge to honour, but something has shifted. 

Have you too made changes? As always, I would love to hear about your criteria, choices, and yes, misadventures.