30-day Clothing Challenge
Scroll, point, click, my basket is filling with more and more items- current, fashionable, beautiful colors! Sumptuous fabric! I must have them! Here I am again, sucked into the vortex of online shopping- my guilty pleasures are Revolve, Lyst, and Intermix to name a few. I get ready to check out, I look over my beautiful new clothing spread and I am already planning the locations I can flaunt my new threads! Instant gratification is a few clicks away!
As I look at the price and get ready to pay, I being to justify why I need these items and how I don’t have anything similar in my current collection. The phone rings and I pull away from the computer before I make the payment for a chat with my mom, ear pods in, chat session underway. I head to throw in a load of laundry and bring the clothing from the dryer to hang in my closet. As I am hanging items I take inventory of what I have.
I tell my mom I will call her back later. An emerald green lace midi dress pops out at me that I forgot I purchased. I pick it up and see a price tag is attached still! Hmmm I remember buying this dress and having the best intentions to wear it multiple times, on multiple occasions. After all I justified the purchase and price tag because it was such a versatile and timeless dress, I would be a fool to not buy it! After all, the Jewel tone is perfect for winter holiday parties but bold enough for a summer night out in the city, So why the hell have I not worn this yet?
Now my interest is peaked- my ADD kicks in and I forget about my online shopping basket and get into spring cleaning mode- closet style. I start single file going through all my clothes deciding what to keep and what to give away. A pile starts to form as I make way for the new and clear out the old. I get into a deep into feng shui trance during closet cleaning. when im in this mode often time a lot more clothing ends up leaving my stash then intended but hey, someone else will enjoy it so I figure it’s for a greater cause.
Again, I find another item- this time a shirt with a price tag, then another dress, skirt, pants! huh? I have multiple items with price tags on still- I also find multiple shirts that I have worn only on time. All of them current and attractive so what gives? I go to my laptop and save all my basket items for later purchase if the mood strikes and decide today isn’t the day to spend. After all I have a ton of items I barely have worn let alone haven’t worn!
It dawns on me – it’s time for a 30-day clothing challenge!
I decide that I am not allowed to buy any clothing, shoes or accessories for 30 days. This may not sound like an exurbanite amount of time but if you monitor yourself over 1 month I guarantee you will be shocked at what you buy over a 30-day course of time.
Instead of buying new items, I vowed that over the next month I will wear all of the items that have been patiently sitting and waiting their debut as well as wear only items that have not made the cut the bulk of the tie and need to be wined and dined!
Over the next 30 days every day was like fashion week! It was a revolving door of removing the tags on items and showcasing themselves at social events. It was fun and creative. It made me appreciate what I do have and not take it for granted. I utilized all my skirts and shirts that had been worn just a time or two and for whatever odd reason didn’t make it in my normal rotation. (I have a bad habit of wearing the same 3-5 items I fall in love with, while everything else collects dust in my closet) It gave me a new appreciation of what I already own but on top of that it gave me a chance to blossom with creativity to get outside my normal “uniform” I wear and utilize different pieces.
The 30-day clothing challenge gave me a great perspective on the importance of using what you have before you indulge and spend on new items because most likely you have plenty at your figure tips! I highly recommend trying this. It gives you an opportunity to be creative with clothing, utilize what you have and you may realize you have a few favorites to add to the rotation that you had forgotten about or taken for granted. Plus think of the money you will save!
