The Rules

1. Between the dates of August 22nd 2008 and August 21st 2009, shopping for any of the following new items is strictly forbidden: clothes, lingerie, accessories or make-up.

2. Clause 1: Clothes may be purchased as long as they are second-hand. This includes clothes obtained from charity shops, vintage clothing stores or clothing swaps.

3. Clause 2: In the event of necessity, items which cannot be purchased second-hand (such as lingerie, hosiery, etc) must be purchased from ethical retailers. Thorough research must be conducted in order to justify the purchase (ie. I must be able to say why I chose the particular retailer).

4. Clause 3: New make-up purchases are permitted in the event of running out of something essential such as foundation or mascara.*

5. Any contravention of The Rules must be accounted for in the form of a grovelling blog post.

6. Any success (interesting thrift shop finds, resisting of temptations, clothing swap accounts) should be documented (ie. in a self-congratulatory/gloating post).

*I can justify this as I use Aveda make-up which is mostly plant- and mineral-based and uses little-to-no packaging, as well as being manufactured in a factory that uses wind energy. There is very little consumption involved in me replacing my pressed powder! Full disclosure: Aveda is the cosmetics company I work for at the moment.