I Didn’t Buy *ANY* New Clothes For A Year —
Here’s What I Learned About Personal Style + Sustainability
Last year, I set out not to buy any new clothes for 2023, and…
I DID IT.
Today, I’m going to be sharing everything I learned through the process. This post is a long one (giddy up) so we are jumping straight in!
First things first, why did I choose to do a no-buy challenge with clothes?
So I think we all kind of have that thing — you know, that one item we tend to buy in excess. Maybe for you it’s books or skincare or tea or makeup or electronics or cookbooks, but for me it was clothes.
And, let’s be clear— it’s not that I was having like a zillion packages arrive every single week or that my closet was absolutely overflowing, but I was buying more than I needed. It’s that simple.
More than any other type of item, clothes are the thing that tempt me, making that lil “add to cart” button felt all too easy to press.
And, tbh, I tried this before (…and failed)
In 2020 I set out to do the exact same challenge. It was going really well… until July when I broke the seal to buy a bridesmaid dress (a very justified purchase that was worth “breaking the rules” for), but then just kind of fell back into old habits entirely.
So, 2023 was the year I REALLY wanted to commit, have a hard reset, and do the dang thing. As you guys may remember from my Spending Freeze post (one of the first articles I ever wrote!), 2023 was my year of less.
It’s hard to describe, but I just was starting to get the “ick” from excess. I wanted to simplify my life, to streamline, to buy less, to save more, to sell stuff I didn’t need, to develop organization & systems within the home, and to really identify the essentials.
And I did it! I got rid of a lot (like, so much stuff).
The mental clarity, the ease of cleaning, & the newfound semi-minimalistic approach belongings that followed felt so spacious. So life-giving. So free.
With my positive experience of The Great House Purge of 2023 ™️ I wanted to make sure I didn’t bring in a ton of “new” stuff to replace the things I’d gotten rid of.
And really, I wasn’t worried about that happening in any particular area…except for clothes. (Okay, okay, and cute coffee mugs too).
But seriously— I was a bit nervous about all the space I had cleared out of that my closet, and then immediately filling it back up (because that would have been my tendency in the past)
A year without buying any new clothes—
Which brings us to our hard reset. One year. No new clothes.
As always, you can make your own rules with things like this — it’s not like there’s some Olympic Committee that says what counts as a no-spend or no-buy year for clothes. When I was designing my own rules for this I made them accomplishable enough to stick to but challenging enough to really push me.
So here were my rules:
No buying ANY new clothes. At all. Slow fashion brands, Target, the Anthro 40% off sale (my weakness…), whatever it was— I couldn’t buy it.
I was allowed to thrift or buy things secondhand. (I know some people may find this “cheating”, but I felt fine with shopping sustainably & buying some used items— and again, you can make your own rules!)
I was allowed to accept gifts of clothing, if that happened.
I also allotted myself 4 clothing rentals over the course of the year to be redeemed for special events, travel, etc.
And maybe you’re reading this like “ummm, that doesn’t even sound hard,” and honestly? I hear you. I get it.
But I really encourage you to think of a full year without buying new clothes or new skincare or new books– whatever that “thing” is for you — was still going to be at least somewhat of a challenge, even with a few rules that allowed for some “wiggle room”.
And here I am. I did it. On my own terms.
A year of no new clothes— and today I’m going to share my biggest takeaways: what tempted me, what I learned, how I re-fell in love with my closet, and just my overall thoughts on streamlining my closet, living with less, and resisting that ever-tempting “add to cart” button…
