Wait. That title seems misleading. I’m not going to be running around naked between now and Christmas. What I mean is, I’m not buying any clothes between now and December. What the what? (Sorry. I quote Liz Lemon ALL THE TIME. Jon thinks people actually think I can’t speak properly because of the number of times per day I say “I want to go to there.”)
I’ve been feeling more than a little convicted lately about my consumerism, and the way in which my shopping habits don’t really line up with my values, and the way in which I spend money like it’s going out of style. (Me, however? Never going out of style.) So, I’m trying to take a break from shopping. This isn’t some sort of blog stunt. I’m not going to wear the same dress every day for a year like that one chick did, or one of those “me made” monthly things I see on some sewing blogs, where the talented seamstresses wear only clothes made with their dainty hands for an entire month. (Quite frankly, I haven’t sewn enough stuff to wear for a week, let alone a month.)
And I’m not going to post pictures of my outfits every day, because, for one, Jon would be really annoyed with having to take pics of me by about day 3, and in the warm weather, you’d all be bored looking at pictures of me wearing various tank tops with various skirts, and in the winter, you’d be totally over my rotating uniform that consists of skinny jeans (ok, let’s be honest, I wear jeggings, deal with it), sweaters, scarves, and my beloved boots. I wish I were a cute style blogger with a top knot and bold lipstick and a seeming unending supply of vintage frocks, kooky necklaces, and colorful scarves, posed in front of a wall of artfully peeling paint that contrasts just so with my adorable ensemble, but the truth is, my style is cute but predictable. And I can’t be arsed to style my hair any other way but the same way I style it every single day. Because I have half the hair of a normal person, and it makes the world’s teeniest top knot.
Instead of all that, this is just a little personal challenge to wear the clothes I’ve got, which I’m positive is more than the average person, thanks largely to the fact that I can and do still wear items I’ve had since high school (before you hate me, know that I’m NOT wearing the same pants size I wore in high school, by any stretch). I take up the entire closet in our bedroom, though I must point out (what is with me and the caveats today?) that our house was built in 1925 and thus the closets are teeny. I bought myself one new pair of jeans before my little challenge started, and I’m exempting underwear and white teeshirts/tank tops from the “clothing” category. Other than that, I have to wear what I have.
A sign of just how big my problem is? A new pair of shoes came in the mail yesterday. Jon, aware of my “no shopping for clothes” challenge, raised his eyebrows. Me: “What? Shoes don’t count as clothes! Plus they were only $20!”
Think I can make it?
erniebufflo's south & west kitchen 