Fashion vs. Fabric: The struggle for your cash

It might not be your struggle, but it’s definitely mine. Which F word deserves my money more?

A little background:

I am an ‘average’ looking woman, and by that I mean that I do not fit into any one size of clothing. Not from different brands, and certainly not different parts of my body. I don’t think I know one woman who is the same size in tops as she is in pants, as she is in underware. And because of that, I am ‘average’.

Also, if you like to lable people as fruit, then I fit into one of those ‘pear’ categories. MOST of the time. Other times I am an apple. But wait, I’m a bit eggplant too… :-S I think that this is a fairly accurate desciption of my body type, but the point of all this is to say that it fluctuates. This makes shopping a bit crap for me. One day, quite a few years ago, I gave up on the whole ‘fashion’ and ‘shopping’ thing, and I have rarely bought clothes since. The exception being some basics, and the shopping trip last weekend (which I will get to in a moment). All my shopping trips are unenjoyable and I end up leaving frustrated.

Also, because of this clothes shopping ‘fast’ any piece of clothing that costs more then $20 makes me ‘um’ and ‘ah’. I would not dream of spending much more then that one one item.

Enter: last week’s shopping trip.

Luke and I were in Brisbane, and having nothing much else to do we decided to pick up the last few clothing items we needed for our holiday (I needed shoes, a jacket etc).

I went into Tree of Life (BTW: LOVE that place), and tried on two top/dress things that were quite flattering on my figure. The $45 price tag I would have to pay for each of them was not so flattering.

I had an epiphany in the clothes shop, in a ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ kind of way.

Maybe the reason I always felt unattractive, frumpy, and awkward was BECAUSE I spent no money on clothes. Maybe if I actually invested that bit of extra dosh into some better quality garments I would overcome these ‘meh’ feelings about my appearance.

I spent the money on getting BOTH dresses. I have worn them nearly every day since. Sometimes with tights, sometimes with stockings, sometimes with jeans. I’ve worn them with cardis, plain, and will be testing out the ol’ long sleeve shirt undernearth look tomorrow.

So now I have a dilemma.

If I think that having a budget for clothes is something I would like to invest in, then I will have to make sacrifices. I shall be frank with you all and tell you that Luke and I each get $70 a week for my personal expenses. As a general rule he saves and then spends his money on arduinos, electronics and stuff for the laser gun he’s making, and I spend my money on fabric and other crafting supplies. Oh glorious fabric!

I need to decide if I am willing to SACRIFICE the ability to buy craft items at a whimsy for being able to by clothes at a whimsy…

I will also put this into context by saying that we totally suck at saving our ‘pocket money’ for important thigns like clothes, even though we’re meant to. Luke is addicted to business shirts from Roger David (and you tought my dress was expensive!!), and will therefore make up rules about getting to go shopping sprees because of random things like dinner dates, concerts and holidays. This is to tell you that I do not have to use all of my $70 on clothes. I will get $200 twice a year or so if I want to buy clothes… but that relys on Luke wanting stuff too for it to be agreed upon!

WHAT SHOULD I DO?! FASHION OR FABRIC?

IS THERE ANYTHING INBETWEEN?!

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