DAARBOVEN

Hi there! If you are still here, I hope you are doing well. And if any new people find this long abandoned blog, welcome. It’s been a while, right? My last blog post dates back to February 16. Who knew what was about to happen back then… While it feels a bit strange to be focussing on the more superficial things in life right now, at the moment it also feels as a welcome distraction.

I have been working from home since March 6 and apart from a trip to the lovely Harz area in Germany (which was allowed in the Summer) I haven’t been out much. I started a small webshop in houseplants on Etsy which has been keeping me busy on my days off. But for the most part, I have been at home trying to follow the restrictions placed upon us. Needless to say, there hasn’t been any need to dress up. I’ve been spending most of my days in jeans or sweatpants and a sweater/hoodie for the simple reason of not wanting to get my pretty clothes covered in cat hair.

Of course I did find some time to do some internet shopping and I found this awesome online shop where they custom lapel pins based on your chosen design, and made a little list of my purchases of 2020, as I do every year. I haven’t been planning much, like I used to do back in the day when I followed the 5 piece French wardrobe method of shopping. But I’ve gotten used to the idea of purchasing less and investing in better quality and no longer scroll through endless pages of products without purpose.

First of all, I purchased a lovely camel cashmere sweater from Mango. I don’t have much experience with their cashmere but I really liked the polo neck so I decided to take a chance. I especially like how they styled it with the white shirt and gold jewellery (which I never wear but whatever). The Isabel Marant Charly blazer is my latest purchase. I’ve had my eyes on it for quite a while and it was finally on sale. It runs slightly big as I suspected so I can get away with a size smaller than usual – which was the only size left.

These two purchases are probably a little out of the ordinary for me but I feel strangely attracted to that neon-ish yellow colour. Both are from Filippa K, a Swedish sustainable clothing brand for those of you that didn’t know already. To be honest, I still don’t really know how the wear that thin knitted sweater. Just a bra would be a bit too much and most tanktops didn’t look right. So I’m still looking for a good solution although I think something white, as pictured above, would work best.

Yes, more Filippa K. I found this suit on sale halfway through summer, if I remember correctly. I call it a suit but I don’t know if it actually is. It matches perfectly though, fabric and colour-wise. I like that it’s a little bit more casual. Although for a moment I did fear somewhat of a resemblance to a certain North Korean dictator haha. But I can make it work. The sheer t-shirt is quite delicate, more than I had initially anticipated but it was too lovely to return.

I didn’t expect to do another one of these round ups so I unfortunately didn’t save all of the images throughout the year. But I was able to find most. Like this H&M zebra mock neck sweater that I was on the hunt for, for weeks. It kept selling out and all of a sudden it was back, and on sale! I pair it with a blazer because it’s pretty skin tight and I don’t like it that way unless I’m wearing wider, smart trousers for some reason. The knitted sweater on the right has to be one of the warmest knits that I currently own. The only downside is that it’s pretty much a stain magnet with that off-white colour.

I couldn’t find a picture of the black/green maxi dress but if you have been reading this blog, I don’t wear dresses or skirts very often. So it needs to be really good in order for me to buy something. This one is so easy, it’s like a very long casual belted blouse. I found an old picture here if you want to get an idea. Finally, I bought two sweat suits. A bit much maybe, yeah. But I don’t like wearing my regular clothes around the house as I mentioned above. I spotted my queen Kourtney Kardashian with red lipstick and a bright red sweat suit and was sold immediately.

I kept it fairly low-key with the accessories this year. Somehow, I lost my simple black belt that I’ve had for years so I replaced it with this fancier Filippa K leather croc belt. Let’s hope this will last me at least ten years like the last one. The Heather sunglasses are prescription glasses by Ace & Tate, my favourite brand. They are pretty affordable for prescription glasses and get confused with Céline all the time. Obviously, I don’t mind. I like buying stuff that gets you that expensive chic look without breaking the bank.

I also bought a travel bag (the new 24/7 bag) by Susan Bijl, a Dutch brand. She’s been making these for years and the new colour ways always lure me in. I couldn’t choose between the Burgundy/Greenscreen and Pistachio/Burgundy. But the latter won when I saw them in real life. Lastly, I purchased the Isabel Marant Alsee sneakers on sale (and partly with a gift card from work, thank you very much!). I’m feeling that 80’s/90’s retro vibe and I’m about to retire a pair of reebok retro sneakers anyway. I haven’t received them yet, so we’ll have to see if they’re keepers.

Conclusion

If you made it all the way down here, well done LOL. I hope you enjoyed another yearly roundup of wardrobe purchases. I think I did okay, especially compared to some of the previous years. Most of these items were bought on sale. I rarely feel the need anymore to buy something for full price out of fear that it might sell out. Except for the Mango sweater because that sold out FAST! But even the more expensive websites such as MyTheresa offer occasional discount codes nowadays so I usually just take a chance and wait. That way I was able to buy my Loewe Puzzle bag with 10% off last year. And if you do miss out… there will always be the next blazer, sweater, pair of shoes etc. Let’s be honest haha.

As far as resolutions for next year; I would like to buy even less fast fashion brands such as H&M. I let myself get a bit carried away with corona and the need to make myself more comfortable at home but not wanting to spend a lot of money on it. Or better said, I would like to buy even less overall. This year I already cut down considerably on the shoe purchases so that’s something I’d like to keep up. Here’s a list of every purchase in case this blog post was TL;DR for you.

How did you do this year? Did you buy more or less than you previously anticipated? Any favourite purchases that you would like to share?