Making a Little Extra Cash

With the holidays looming in the not too distant future (sorry, I know it’s early to mention the C word, but it’s true) you might be thinking that you could do with a little extra cash to buy all those Christmas gifts for your loved ones. One of the easiest ways to do this is to sell your stuff online.

As the clothing and shoe hoarder that I am, I will often sell the things I don’t wear anymore, or the things that don’t fit quite right any longer. Being tall I think I am quite lucky in that there is a big market for second hand items on various online sites. It is known for gently used or items that have never been worn to sell for as much or sometimes more than you paid in the first place. I once sold a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes (I know, I know, but they rubbed the tops of my toes so badly that they had to go). I bought them second hand (very gently used) to start with and when it came to selling them a year or so later (still gently used, but they had been worn several more times than when I first got them) I made a (small) profit on them.

Another time, I paid £15 for some awesome green suede boots in the sale. They were always a little on the small side so when I decided to part with them I put them up for sale online and made around £75! On boots that had been worn. I think that is my best online sale to date and I don’t expect to beat that record anytime soon!

It’s not just clothes and shoes that can be sold online either. Take a look at the popular auction sites and you will find all manner of items for sale. All those CDs you have gathering dust now that all of your music is on your phone or tablet? There’s a bit of cash to be made in selling those. Some sites let you scan the barcodes with an app to save you typing in all the details I think, making it (fairly) quick and easy to get a price for what you have.

Old mobile phones can be cashed in (granted, not for a lot if your phones are as old as some of mine – heck, some of mine are so old no one wants them at all!) as can unwanted gold jewellery. The internet is a goldmine (literally if you’re selling gold jewellery) for making money on unwanted items.

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Note to Self...

...flat shoes will no longer cut it for walking to the shop at lunchtime. In rain/hail/snow showers, your feet will get cold and/or wet. Bring boots. BOOTS.

Long Tall Sally New Collection – Stuff I Want

I did some virtual shopping at Long Tall Sally the other day. I say virtual, because I have put myself on a shopping ban until the end of August at least. I put the things I wanted in my shopping basket and it totalled a whopping £175! Needless to say, I won’t actually be purchasing all of it. I might manage to stretch to one piece come September, but we’ll see. In the meantime though, I’ll share my picks with you (and yes, camel is going to be huge for fall).


Fabulous colour block skirt:

Camel cardi:

Stripe sweater (always a classic):

Navy PJs – want!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010 to all my lovely readers! No outfit post for today as it’s been a lazy day at home and I’m just in my scruffy jeans and grey hoodie.

I did just want to tell you about a style challenge I’ve set myself for the coming year though. I pledge not to buy any clothes or footwear using money that has not been earned through stylish means. By that I mean I can only spend money I have made selling items on eBay, through my blog, or gift vouchers that have been given to me as a gift. My initial aim is to get to my birthday in mid-April but let’s see how long I can last.

(The image above is the front page of my 2010 calendar made for me by the lovely Sylvia.)

Working With What I’ve Got

I have just been going through the January issues of various fashion magazines and most of them contain articles on using what you already have in your closet. I am feeling inspired. I would say I was going to give up shopping for the New Year but we all know that that would only last until the new Next Directory is delivered. However, I will try very hard to cut down. What I will also do is pinch an idea I saw on Jessica’s What I Wore blog. The idea is that you turn all of your hangers the wrong way round in your closet and then as you wear each item you replace the hanger the right way round so you can see what you are wearing and what you are not wearing. Being too lazy to do take all my hangers out and turn them around, I will just replace each item the other way around once it’s been worn. Anything that has not been worn by Easter I will seriously think about eBaying or donating to the charity shop.

Work That Wardrobe

For those of you who have yet to discover this wonderful blog, Jane is going a whole year without buying any new clothes or shoes. She is, however, allowed to buy from eBay with any money she makes selling items from her own wardrobe – a sort of wardrobe swap (or ‘Swishing’ as Twiggy calls it on her TV show).

I have decided that for the remainer of 2008 I will follow this same principle and attempt not to buy any new clothes or shoes. If I want to buy anything from eBay I must first sell something to raise the money. There is not much that I want to part with presently so this could prove something of a challenge for me!

Magazine Addict

Hi, my name is Shoegal and I am addicted to magazines. In a typical month I would usually buy:
Company
Cosmo (UK)
Look (weekly)
Elle (UK)
Glamour (UK)
Glamour (US)
Lucky

I think it’s time to cut back. As I’ve stated before, I prefer the US magazines to the British ones so Look, Elle UK and Glamour UK are all out of here. Company I have on subscription paid for by my mum, and Cosmo I subscribe to for half price so it makes sense to keep those two. I may buy a UK publication on the odd occasion I have nothing to read at lunchtime at work, but I am not going to buy them regularly any more. Instead I will look for fashion books and style guides in charity shops. A magazine costs around £3 and gets receycled at the end of the month. A book in a charity shop is about £1.99 (sometimes less) and will last forever. I already have 3 of the Trinny and Susannah ‘What Not To Wear’ books secondhand (one of them is signed) and it’s only a matter of time before the ‘Body Shape Bible’ and the many other similar books make it into the secondhand market. For along with the plethora of New Look shoes, there is usually a Trinny & Susannah book to be found in most charity shops.

Winter Coat

I have just had my winter coat shortened. It used to be full length on me and for that reason I didn’t wear it very much last winter, preferring a knee length style. It was bought at Long Tall Sally meaning the sleeves are long and the waist is a good fit. So rather than donating it to charity and buying a new coat, I have had it shortened to just below the knee and it is like I’ve got a new coat!

2 become 1: Refashioning Finished!

Well, the top is finished, and it didn’t take too long. About 3 hours in total I would say, and I think it looks pretty good! It’s a great length on me now and the sleeves are just right. I’m pleased with it.

I didn't take before shots, didn't think about it til too late, but it's not hard to imagine. One plain black long sleeve top and one white t shirt as modelled a few posts below, combined to make the new top in the picture above!

A Revision of the Not Shopping Pledge

I have changed my mind. What? I’m a woman. It’s supposed to be my prerogative! Rather than not buying anything at all, I’ve decided I will not buy anything new from ‘proper’ shops. Instead I will continue to hone my bargain hunting skills in charity shops only. There’s so much second hand clothing out there, in great condition, and it’s more of a challenge to scour the rails and find something that fits and is truly unique, than going to the high street clone stores and buying something that several hundred other people also have. In charity shops you get better quality for less money, and you are helping a good cause at the same time. Everyone’s happy!

Still Not Shopping

My friend Emma (over at the SFFs) and I have pledged to continue our ‘Not Shopping’ until September. So I didn’t buy any whites or anything at the weekend.
Wish us luck!

Another Dream About Shoe Shopping

Remember I dreamt about buying shoes before? Well it happened again. I had a dream last night about some boots. And great boots they were too! The foot part was really chunky & flat, like a doc marten, but the leg part was excessively long – thigh high but ridiculously tall! They were brown with lacing all the way up. I'd been eying them up for weeks (they must have been expensive) and then suddenly the shop was shutting down and they were reduced to £10! I had to buy them and went a bit mad buying up other shoes (they seemed to specialise in sizes 8, 9 & 10), I remember some black sling back wedges and some yellowy-gold satin kitten heel mules with sequins on, and 2 pairs of slippers but there were more than that in my basket (yes it must have been some kind of shoe supermarket where the give you a basket!). But then got worried at the till that the young man would tell me off for buying more shoes so I put over half the stuff back, and was trying to figure out what to tell my girls at the Shiny Fashion Forums about breaking the no shopping pledge for March. And then the alarm went off. I can never normally remember dreams but these boots were fab!

Valentine's Day

As a consequence of not shopping, I am taking the time to search my existing wardrobe for new ways to wear what I already have and meticulously planning my outfits. I have an idea in my mind about what to wear for my Valentine’s date tomorrow night. I am taking the young man to the cinema to see Dirty Dancing on the big screen (it’s on limited release for its 20th anniversary). I am not sure this will work in practice but am planning to wear my cream and black wrap dress

over a red vest and dark skinny jeans,


with red shoes.

The red is a nod to the fact it’s Valentine’s Day. I will wear my black frock coat over the top to smarten it all up,


fulfilling my New Year resolution to dress up more.

Be Impressed!

So, my not shopping is going well so far, thanks to the support of some good friends who have even decided to join me! I went out for the day on Saturday with my sister and mum to the local Designer Outlet and I bought nothing. My mum even paid for my lunch as I had driven. Then my sister and I went to the local Next store where I also bought nothing. In fact on Saturday I made a profit of 73p! As all the stores we visited were ones I would not be buying in any more anyway as they don’t stock Tall sizes, it was fairly easy to resist (although we did go in a couple of shoe shops!). I think my will power would have been really tested had we been in Long Tall Sally, or Topshop or Dorothy Perkins. May have to stay away from those for the time being.

No More Shopping

As mentioned below in my 5 things post, I am going to attempt to make no further purchases until my birthday, mid-April. This will be hard for me, especially as I really want this wrap dress from Tall Girls, but I shall resist!