Help people and the planet – pledge to say no to new clothes for 30 days.
— Read on www.oxfamapps.org.uk/secondhandseptember/pledge.html

Week 35

Well the mini iPad is back with western computers and I really wish I’d bought it from John Lewis, a lesson to us all.

Its August 31 st and I’ve joined the Oxfam Pledge to say no to new clothes for 30 days!!! Pretty easy this year for all of us . However they are posting lots of interesting information on why we should be more mindful of what we buy in future. So I’m sharing the link. They do of course also say ‘ I’m saying yes to second hand September’ but I’m not doing that either. Though it might be tempting to look at the links to second hand clothes on line!!

Well I’m writing this on my phone as the computer is still not working! Back to Leamington tomorrow!

My family are very disappointed in me and think I should revise my blog name to 1 Newfrock 4 me! But my weakness was not just the dress , it was the event. I will look at the dress and remember the Cotswolds and that staycation day in the year of Covid. Hopefully next year I will be wearing it in Spain where it really belongs.

I am so missing Spain and all that colour now. A few years ago I alerted a friend to a theme for her Monday’s article in a National newspaper. In Spain ladies of a certain age are to be seen dining out together often. Whatever age they are they are elegantly and brightly attired. No cagoules , shorts , lands end trousers and trainers. Of course the weather makes all the difference. However it still seems unnecessary to me to wear that British uniform of the older generation.

This is the dress , it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary but just me and in the sale too!!!

I am going to have to admit I have bought one dress this year, and I blame my lovely sister in law. Last week I joined my brother and my sister in law in the Cotswolds for the day. Fiona and I have spent the last ten years holidaying in Spain every Summer ,

Our routine on our hols always involves some retail therapy. So we had decided we would have a spot of therapy in Broadway. So Fiona guided me to a shopping arcade, and then to a dress she had already spied, and declared it was just me and not only that but it was in the sale. Well it was just me ,in the sale and perfect for future holidays in Spain together. Enough reasons to justify a purchase .So that was that, I erred . But when we sat down for a cuppa of tea and cake, we reminisced on our wonderful holidays in Spain and we declared that we would back next year and I would be wearing that dress and remember our Covid year and the circumstances of when I bought that dress . So our day together wasn’t the same as our holidays in Spain but a good day despite.

Which returns me to one of my themes that clothes aren’t just about clothes, they are diary records of our lives . Where one was on that particular day, the time of the year and who with and the pleasure of the day out and reason for buying that spontaneous purchase. And of course the historical time line. So different to sitting on the internet and purchasing on line.

Well this blog has taken ages to write as letters go missing and the cursor moves around so it keeps having to be rested and then restarted!! So back to Western computers next week and not sure if I’ll have it back for the following week.

Hoping iPad works now otherwise they promise me a new one! More about this dress on Monday week 33!

Short blog on my phone as I pad being repaired. Last week I visited Leamington shopping centre for the first time and I wasn’t tempted into any clothes shops. A few were in a queue for H and M but it all looked pretty forlorn. Lots of sales too. It’s going to change things for sure. People just aren’t buying in the volume they used too.