Not buying new for holidays

Katie is at the beach wearing a slip style dress with colour blocking detail. On top she has a beach coverup with floral patterns and fringe detail on the sleeves.

Last summer, for the first time in my adult life, I bought no new clothing or accessories for a weeklong holiday in Spain.

In the past, shopping for my holiday was almost as fun as being on the holiday. This meant new clothes, new accessories and new shoes. And I’m not alone here: in the UK, consumers splash out more than £700m on 11m items bought for holidays which will never be worn again, according to research carried out by Censuswide for the charity Barnardo’s. (2019)

So for this holiday I raided my closet and storage boxes. I pulled out items I hadn’t worn since last year’s holidays, items I love but haven’t worn recently, and even items I’d purchased in the past with an event in mind that I ended up not wearing for whatever reason.

For the eagle eyed here, you’ll recognise this outfit from my past Instagram posts (Croatia 2017 and the dress from Budapest 2017). Of course I’ve worn it other times, but I don’t photograph everything I wear every day. So you’ll have to take my word for it!

Dress: 2017
Cover up: 2015
Shoes: 2019
Bag: 2019 (thrifted)
Sunglasses: 2019 (prescription)

Katie w Katie walks towards the camera down a pedestrianised street in Donastia. She's wearing a halter top maxi dress with large polka dots, white sandals, a wood and whiten woven clutch bag and has bright red lipstick. alks towards the camera down a pedestrianised street in Donastia. She's wearing a halter top maxi dress with large polka dots, white sandals, a wood and whiten woven clutch bag and has bright red lipstick.

Katie walks towards the camera down a pedestrianised street in Donastia. She's wearing a halter top maxi dress with large polka dots, white sandals, a wood and whiten woven clutch bag and has bright red lipstick.

As much as I love living in London, I miss the hot summers and seasonal dressing I grew up with. So when it was time to pack for this holiday I was thrilled to pull my favourite summer outfits from my archives. Like this Realisation Par beauty I bought last summer and don’t wear often enough because it’s just not warm & dry enough in London most days to be practical. Which is also a great reminder to myself that I don’t need to buy new warm weather clothing; I already have plenty that I don’t wear as much as I’d like to.

Do you also have a closet of clothes that you’re trying to make good use of?

Dress: 2018
Bag: 2019 (thrifted)
Shoes: 2019 (sample sale of damaged items, these have marks on the soles and near the buckle)

Much love, Katie xo