Spending on clothes

How much do you spend on clothes every year? Don't worry, I'm not expecting you to answer my question publicly! Some women spend a fortune on clothes, while others have a more limited budget. It might be interesting to know what percentage of your income you spend on clothes, but even that doesn't tell the whole story. Let's say you allow 5% of your income for clothes, shoes and accessories.  A quick Google search showed that the average personal income in the US for 2012 was just over $42,000, so assuming that your income was similar, 5% of this amount would have been $2,100. In the tax year ending April 2013, the median annual earnings in the UK was £27,000 so 5% of this would have given you a clothing budget of £1,350. I suspect that some of you spent far less than these amounts and some of you will have spent more. You may have a decent income but not be interested in clothes, in which case you probably spend less than someone who loves fashion but doesn't earn as much.

Many of you may not have a clue how much money you spend on clothes and I admit that for many years I fell into that camp. What I do know is that my clothing budget was very limited while my children were growing up, and most of my purchases were from charity shops, so I obviously didn't spend a lot. Nowadays I don't have to watch the pennies in the same way, but I still find myself reluctant to spend too much money on any one item of clothing. The danger though is that if you don't keep track of your spending too many small amounts can add up to a large total.

In 2012 I spent over €1,500: I know this as I kept a list of all my purchases in my diary and was a bit shocked to see how much it came to.  Part of the reason that I spent so much was because I bought a new outfit for my 65th birthday party in Paris, and because it was a special occasion I spent more that usual on my dress (I think it cost £90-£100).  My most recent purchase of a new dress was the one from East that I bought for my husband's 70th birthday, which cost me half that amount as it was in the sales. I do love a bargain!

65th birthday outfit.

Janice of The Vivienne Files wrote a very interesting post about this subject in November 2012. The clothes that she shows on her blog are usually pretty expensive and she has been criticised for this, however her point is that they are there to inspire us and we don't have to go out and buy the exact item. In a recent post Janice included a pair of Eileen Fisher black ankle jeans at $178. I own a similar pair from Marks & Spencer that cost me €44 (around $60). Do the Eileen Fisher jeans look better? I don't think so. Will they last longer than mine? Only time will tell.

I intend to expand on this in my next post, where I will be talking about cost per wear, however I am interested in knowing your thoughts on clothing budgets.