On 3/2/2025 at 2:58 AM, Matt! said:

 

AirPods Pro 3.

Fall essentials

Raising kids alone while rebuilding credit after divorce creates unique challenges, particularly when school transport becomes essential. Traditional banks treated my credit score like radioactive waste, refusing even basic loan applications. HP finance offered hope through its secured lending approach that focuses on current affordability rather than past mistakes. hire purchase calculator showed me how borrowing £10,000 breaks down to £255 monthly payments over five years, totaling £15,329 with interest included. Though expensive, the fixed payment structure helps me budget precisely around child maintenance and part-time wages. Meeting the £1,000 monthly income requirement took combining employment with benefits, but proved manageable. Vehicle choices between £4,000 and £40,000 covered reliable family cars essential for my circumstances. That final £150 purchase fee represents freedom from monthly payments and complete ownership security my children need.

I believe that giving a kid a new car is a bit too much :)

On 9/30/2025 at 3:10 AM, Matt! said:

Fall essentials

On 9/10/2025 at 8:28 PM, Matt! said:

AirPods Pro 3.

On 10/16/2025 at 4:09 PM, Matt! said:

some presents for Christmas.

After weeks of waiting I finally got an email… only to be told it’s not back in stock

4 minutes ago, PrettyDeadThings said:

13 minutes ago, Matt! said:

I actually have nearly the exact same dress she's wearing. I got it from a little store in San Fransisco that handmade nothing but Goth clothing, but this was back in the 90s'

3 minutes ago, PrettyDeadThings said:

I actually have nearly the exact same dress she's wearing. I got it from a little store in San Fransisco that handmade nothing but Goth clothing, but this was back in the 90s'

Handmade dresses can get veeeery pricey, depending on materials and level of detail..even back in the 90s.

2 hours ago, Matt! said:

Handmade dresses can get veeeery pricey, depending on materials and level of detail..even back in the 90s.

Big true!

I make a lot of my own clothing, and I went to FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) for Costume Construction, so I learned to sew very quickly. It’s been invaluable, because I’m extremely particular about what I wear, and many of the pieces I like would cost a fortune to have made. I can create them myself for a fraction of the price.

I do a lot of Edwardian and Victorian Gothic looks for clubs, and having them custom made on places like ETSY can easily run into the thousands so being able to build them myself is a lifesaver.

I also buy a considerable amount of vintage Victorian clothing. I work with a woman in England who is the executor of her great grandmother’s estate. Her grandmother was extremely wealthy and a close friend of Queen Victoria, and since she has little reason to keep the clothing despite being historical peices, she sells it to me for a very reasonable price. I restore the pieces as carefully as I can, and I occasionally wear them to events.

5 hours ago, PrettyDeadThings said:

Big true!

I make a lot of my own clothing, and I went to FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) for Costume Construction, so I learned to sew very quickly. It’s been invaluable, because I’m extremely particular about what I wear, and many of the pieces I like would cost a fortune to have made. I can create them myself for a fraction of the price.

I do a lot of Edwardian and Victorian Gothic looks for clubs, and having them custom made on places like ETSY can easily run into the thousands so being able to build them myself is a lifesaver.

I also buy a considerable amount of vintage Victorian clothing. I work with a woman in England who is the executor of her great grandmother’s estate. Her grandmother was extremely wealthy and a close friend of Queen Victoria, and since she has little reason to keep the clothing despite being historical peices, she sells it to me for a very reasonable price. I restore the pieces as carefully as I can, and I occasionally wear them to events.

You do realize those restored pieces are probably worth a small fortune now… some may have even belonged to royalty.

19 hours ago, PrettyDeadThings said:

I make a lot of my own clothing, and I went to FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) for Costume Construction, so I learned to sew very quickly. It’s been invaluable, because I’m extremely particular about what I wear, and many of the pieces I like would cost a fortune to have made. I can create them myself for a fraction of the price.

I do a lot of Edwardian and Victorian Gothic looks for clubs, and having them custom made on places like ETSY can easily run into the thousands so being able to build them myself is a lifesaver.

I also buy a considerable amount of vintage Victorian clothing. I work with a woman in England who is the executor of her great grandmother’s estate. Her grandmother was extremely wealthy and a close friend of Queen Victoria, and since she has little reason to keep the clothing despite being historical peices, she sells it to me for a very reasonable price. I restore the pieces as carefully as I can, and I occasionally wear them to events.

Whoa that's so cool! (Both making your own clothes, and your sourcing). Some (All?) of those pieces are def. couture. I re-watched The Devil Wears Prada recently, and it reminded me of how clothing / how you present yourself is your statement to the world, if only briefly for that day.

15 hours ago, Matt! said:

You do realize those restored pieces are probably worth a small fortune now… some may have even belonged to royalty.

I do, but I could never part with them...no matter the cost. Every piece is its own little work of art.

One of my quirks is that I simply can’t let clothing or toys go. I still have original dolls and toys from the 50s through the 90s, still in their packaging, plus entire closets full of things I wore in the 80s to 90s. Every so often I’ll put together a full on grunge era look from what I bought in high school and go out with the hair and makeup to match. I get stopped constantly by people asking where I found my baby doll dress because they haven’t seen one like it since "92", or when they were a kid. I also do a lot of 30's to 50's Trad Housewife clothing which people love. There has been a major reawaken to this look and being seen more and more in EU and parts of America/Canada. Once you realize that it takes minimal effort and money to look like a million dollars, it's harder to go back to jeans and t-shirts. I don't like fast fashions, but if you can buy decent priced pieces, put them together and walk out of the house looking even remotely close to these. Good on you.

I refuse a lot of modern conveniences. I’ve never owned a cellphone and never will, I still use a rotary house phone. I keep a laptop and a PC for work and gaming, and that’s enough modern for me.

About 90% of my furniture is from the 1890s through the 60s....always in darker tones... and I’m very strategic about the pieces I choose so everything feels cohesive despite the different eras. My oven is from the 1950s and it runs better than anything modern I could buy.

I follow the same principles about clothing as people like this ...

2 hours ago, MergeIntoOmniThing said:

Whoa that's so cool! (Both making your own clothes, and your sourcing). Some (All?) of those pieces are def. couture. I re-watched The Devil Wears Prada recently, and it reminded me of how clothing / how you present yourself is your statement to the world, if only briefly for that day.

I do buy some of my clothing. I enjoy a lot of the clothing from Unique Vintage (they have some extremely quirky pieces)

https://www.unique-vintage.com

And Devil Inspired for their Lolita looks (I just bought from them yesterday)

https://www.devilinspired.com

Other than that, I either make my clothing, or I buy vintage from various places/people... or I have already have 402374 vintage pieces already in my closets.