Clothes that suddenly suit me

That just reminds me, have to rescue a pair of leather sandals from freezer. Read somewhere that if you fill and seal small ziplock bags with some water and stuff it into shoes etc. the water will expand when frozen and will stretch the leather.

When I was a student my room mate and I used to swap clothes. Like having new but minus the expense

I discard anything that hasn't been worn for two years into the charity bag only rarely have I thought I wish I had kept that.

Hi have a weakness for tops. As I don't wear skirts or dresses I like to have lots of different styles. However I realised at the start of this year I have way to many so decided I would go through and donate to HF as many as I could and just use what I have the money saved is for a mini break for me and hubby next year for our 40th anniversary. As you say can't believe some of the horrendous stuff I bought. But we are women and we love it don't we.

That sounds logical 1moleta3
Better than those smelly chemical sprays anyway!

Oh wow, l truly thought that it was just me, being extravagant, buying so much then decided to get rid of, not wear, alter, keep for another while,.... and all the time criticising the lack of quality fabrics.
Well, l have an old steamer trunk that l stored my really lovely older - read ancient - clothes in which l wouldn't part with... the point being that because l can sew .... made my own clothes on and off since l was 12.. my darling Mother being a very wise lady, bought me two lengths of tartan fabric to ruin! when l insisted on trying to dressmake, curiously they turned out OK
The trouble is that when you make your own things you can afford to buy really lovely quality fabrics, and together with Vogue patterns can turn out reasonable stuff. My point being that now l raid my old trunk for something to wear, or alter, being fatter now than size 10 - l even bought a gorgeous pair of crushed silk velvet trousers very recently on eBay ... the real thing...in order to alter ( read widen) my existing silk trousers. Bliss.
So now my go-to clothes are mainly reworked ones -- it does pay to squirrel away good garments. But I do love the modern wool tunic dresses for winter. So versatile. As for shoes, lm disgraceful, need my wrist slapped, so much l really can't/won't wear now. I have to hide them.... But lot's are charity shop bound... Why is it that as several gransnetters have said, you try them on in the shop but the same shoes at home half kill your poor Tootsies.

And the sad thing is that bedroom slippers when attending the opera, dressed to the nines, don't quite cut the mustard!
Can't think why.

I know exactly what you mean. It's amazing to find how clothes seem to alter themselves to suit you better - given a bit of time! I don't like throwing things away, and only part with clothes to the charity shop when I'm sure that I'm never going to be 'That Shape' again. Such meanness has saved me many a fetching outfit to wear years after I'd consigned it to the 'only if I'm naked and desperate' cupboard.
Now shoes...well my bunions don't shrink so my shoes go to charity as soon as I can't bear them pinching! Virtually new, some of them....

Sluttygran, I bought a lot of clothes over the years in the sales at East. They keep to colours than tone in with one another so something you bought one season will mix with something you buy the next.

Shoes you try n in the shop have often been stretched by others trying them on, and the new pair they sell you hasn't. Also in the shop you are often walking on level carpet and when you walk ioutside it is different. Then we sometimes really like the shoes or the are a bargain and we ignore the slight pinch.

Looking at scarfs yesterday, why are they so big, I would call tham wraps.

Great tip 1moleta3 re putting shoes in the freezer to stretch them

My biggest fault was doubling up on a 'must have'. Usually knitwear .Couldn't just buy one must have a 'spare'. Consequently one would get put away never to see the light.
In my later working years I had a well paid travelling job. Money then wasn't the issue and on a trip to Venice I was like a kid in a sweet shop where Italian designer clothes were concerned and I which I found never seemed to date . Now retired doesn't my local charity shop just love me ?

Sometimes I buy things on impulse in a sale, and have a feeling I'd not wear them much, then suddenly they are never off my back. That is the good side of sales shopping. Maybe makes ups for all the bad buys

I've been to a couple of weddings over the past few years that have resulted in me buying several dresses that have never been worn, plus shoes that were to go with them but were uncomfortable when I've got them home.Because I only ever wear casual clothes, any formal occasion turns me into a blind panic where I buy the sort of clothes that I will never wear again. I also am obsessed with buying 'bargains' whether it's a BOGOF, or a charity shop find [clothes and furniture/ornaments/books etc]. My weight also fluctuates considerably, so I have jeans and leggings in all sorts of sizes. Currently trying to have a tidy up/declutter. My wardrobe is crammed full of clothes; some of which have never been worn. I often find things I'd forgotten about . But, then again, I do sometimes find something from way back and wear it constantly. Wore a cotton top yesterday that I bought on impulse @ 3 years ago and have never worn before. I'll probably wear it a lot, now.I have lots of foot problems; corns/bunions, Ledderhose disease so have a huge collection of shoes that think I can wear but can't; ditto loads of hats because of my thin hair.I fear I'm beyond help ...

What a good idea 1moleta3 - did it work? I must try it if it did! I have a pair of Clarke's flats that I live in, and looking at their website recently they are on sale there so I bought another pair, but these pinch awfully, they seem to have altered the design very subtlety so that might be why. So disappointed. Might try the freezer trick!

I found this with a pair of ballerina type shoes which were uncomfortable before but now I can wear them - perhaps they've softened up a bit? I wouldn't wear them for a very long walk though.

Does anyone else find that those summer clothes you buy abroad never look quite right when you try to wear them in England? Maybe our sunshine is a different colour here ?

Yes in hotter climates the light is brighter and everything more colourful so you can wear stronger colours and maybe you have a tan. I never use to understand why artist painted the sky bright blue in Italy, Spain, etc but the sky is that colour without clouds.

Also the wine doesn't taste the same.

marionk They're like that Chateau de Plonk that you buy 12 bottles of to bring home because it tasted so good sitting in the chateau grounds on a lovely evening in France

I wore my lovely brightly patterned harem trousers that were so 'just right' in the bright sunshine overseas when I went out for the evening here in the UK.
I felt like a complete dork

Vice versa with pastel colours worn in the Mediterranean sun.