How long must a SYC last to count as a SYC?

Ingunn

I'm just curious: Is a month enough? Shorter/longer? In other words: how often do you supply your wardrobe, and how long should a SYC last to have any impact?
ETA: What I'm really interested in is examples of succesful OR unsuccessful SYC's and their outcome.

13 years ago

General

13 replies

Latest reply was from jayne

Louise

Veteran

I think you set your own rules and exceptions x

13 years ago

ramya

Veteran

From what have I seen here people customize SYC to suit their needs...
Everything is customized based on your needs . The time frame, the rules(basics included not included etc)...
But never have I done it

13 years ago

rute

Veteran

Yes, that's it, you set your own rules!

13 years ago

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

Of course, you are right about making one's own rules. What I'm really interested in is examples of succesful OR unsuccessful SYC's and their outcome. I should have stated that more clearly:)

13 years ago

ramya

Veteran

Hmmm Una is doing it, I think Mo was successful previously,quite a few people have done it..
Just check out in May/June archives quite a few people where on SYC around then

13 years ago

Krista

Veteran

I thought Rae was on SYC too? I am kind of on it myself - although I wouldn't be calling myself successful at it.... noticing too many holes in the wardrobe and I've had some pretty radical changes that may result in it ending sooner than later (e.g. my body has suddenly decided it doesn't like wearing heels and that's all I have to wear to work, so I'm in desperate need of flats!).

13 years ago

Kim

Veteran

I did a successful SYC for 6 months. That changed seasons for me and gave me a good sense of any real holes in my wardrobe, but mainly helped me to tune into my "shopping for sport" habits.

I learned a lot about wants vs needs and about making what I have work in the closet. It was well worth it.

13 years ago

Preppy Pear

Veteran

Twenty minutes!

I've tried to SYC from time to time, and I just found it made me want everything more! - but then again, unlike Kim, I never really stuck it out long enough to really learn about my wardrobe - maybe there's a hump that you need to get over to get to that point.

13 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I guess it's a personal preference, but it seems like the answer would be long enough to challenge you!

I have never actually set down the challenge for myself quite so bluntly, but I have definitely slowed my shopping in recent months, since I did a major wardrobe overhaul last year and am in very good shape now.

I even allowed myself a budget (and some suitcase space) in Reykjavik to spend on some new items, but only found one knit top that had to come home with me, clothing wise. I did get a few accessories -- fingerless gloves, a great new black studded belt to replace a worn out one, and a bracelet and a stone ring from a local artisan.

Now that I'm home, I'm tempted by some items I see here and online but I'm not compelled to go into the stores yet. I'm going to see how long I can roll with that.

13 years ago

anne

Veteran

Here are a few I can remember.
Deborah did one in may (search for Deborah and SYC for her posts) and I think she cut down quite a bit.
Laura went 3 months, I think, and documented it quite a bit.
Sally of the Already Pretty blog went 6 months I think, on a "shopping ban" although she allowed herself some fun thifting money. http://www.alreadypretty.com/s.....ping%20ban
Jill Chivers has a blog called my year without shopping which I haven't read, but I saw a guest post of hers on Inside Out Style http://myyearwithoutclothesshopping.com/

13 years ago

(website)

Veteran

Laura had a 3 month one going 2 falls ago that many joined. I tried then, but was only a month into being a YLF member, so it was tough going once I realized all the wardrobe holes I had. But . . . it did make me think very long and hard about what I did buy before I bought it.
EDIT: I found Laura's thread! http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....er-and-out
I also started this year on a few months of SYC because I had just bought my most expensive item to date (boots) and the BF and I were moving home and had no jobs lined up yet. I admit that once that ended, I kind of had a 'floodgates opening' type of experience making up for lost shopping time. I still stayed on budget ($250 every 2 months) but I snapped up a lot of stuff.

For me, total cold turkey SYC is not as effective. I tend to do a bit of overshopping once I'm done. I did a strict budget the last 2 years, which worked well. This next year I am going to try limited numbers of items - 2 a month - as I don't need much more, I just need *better*.

13 years ago

Ingunn

(website)

Veteran

Thanks, ladies, for all the input and links! I'm becoming more and more aware of that after joining YLF, I'm shopping a lot more than before. This is of course challenging for my shopping budget. I think some of you are spot on when stating that a SYC might speed up shopping because one becomes very much aware of all the "holes" in one's wardrobe. Some holes are real, others are maybe not compulsory to fill after all. For me, adding one or two items to my wardrobe every month is what I've been doing for a long time. Now I'm looking for "less, but better".

We all love clothes and fashion, that's why we are here. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, of course. I'm getting more and more interested in learning about your strategies for avoiding over-shopping and long-term planning of your wardrobe.

So - if you have gone through a SYC, what did you learn from it? And how did you put that information into action? Do you have other strategies that work better for you?

13 years ago

jayne

Veteran

Shannon and I and some others did a month - the month of May I believe. The result for me was ok, I bought one thing that had been on my list for a year and of course happened to finally appear that month. but 200 at H&M is nothing. Else I learned alot about trying to work my clothes as they are and really actually purged things that I could not get myself to wear found new ways to wear what I kept and felt I had pretty good control of the 'spring' wardrobe at the end. one month seemed long to me.

And IK did a few months as a gift to her hubby. She did really well actually and I think the result is she buys less and with more thought.

I am now probably going to do the same for October. First, I don't really need anything as my clothes has plenty to play with for fall (alot of fall shopping happened this summer), and I have spent way to much travelling lately. I hope it will give me a focus on the clothes I have and not what I want next. At the end I hope I might discover a need, a real need or two.

13 years ago

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