Tag — A Year Without Clothes
A Year Without Clothes: Confessional Update
….in which I confess to buying pants; sum up what I’ve learned so far in 7ish months of not buying clothes; and blatantly ask you to send me your art.
Neato Things Rachelle Mentions in this video.
- National Buy Nothing Day. Mark your calendars!
- A Year Without Clothes: The Beginning
- A Year Without Clothes: All the posts — from guest posts from other participants, and updates.
Today’s Artisan: Ten Things
- Ten Things: Gorgeous hand-made jewlery with a delicate, artful touch.
- Don’t forget — all my art is packed up. So send me gifty-samples of your hand-made artisan products and I’ll chant your praises in an upcoming video post at at Magpie Girl.
Rachelle Mee-Chapman
2311 N 45th St, #203
Seattle, WA 98103
And the questions we need YOU to answer (pretty please!)
- Have you been going A Year Without Clothes? What have you discovered so far?
- What are your thoughts in general about clothes and how you present yourself as a creative person thru dress?
- What’s the best thing you’ve ever done to get a right-fit wardrobe for you? (Tips please!)
- And a random question….Are you ordained on line? Who did you use?
See you on Monday with a video post on Car-Free Living. Thanks for being here!
Field Report: A Year Without Clothes by Allyson Dickinson
Today we have Allyson Dickinson with us to tell us a little bit about her Year Without Clothes. What might going a year without clothes shopping mean for you? Here’s what it’s revealing to Allyson….
My Year Without Clothes
by Allyson Dickinson
When I first read about Susan Wagner doing a no clothes shopping challenge for 6 weeks, I laughed out loud. The only word that came to mind was ridiculous. I mean honestly, who could do that? But then she said that Rachelle was doing it for a year and I had to come and read all about this challenge. So many things about this idea intrigued me, after I got over the shock.
My reasons for doing the challenge are many. I wish I could say that it was altruistic, but bottom line: I needed to work on my bottom line. Times are difficult. My family is no different. We live a great life in Southern California, but it isn’t without its challenges. We don’t have a lot of extra money to throw around at the end of the month and even less when clothes and shoe shopping came into play. The basic tenet of saving money was my first reason to take part, but then I started to think my reasons and quick willingness were deeper than that. I wanted to clear the decks both figuratively and mentally. If I can actually wear what I have and wear it out, it may be a first. If I can discard what I don’t wear and stick with what works for me, I will be giving myself the physical space to breathe. There were still some nagging questions though: Can I really do this? Who am I without the clothes? But more deeply: Who am I with/without the weight? Who am I without the job? Who am I without the money?
The Weight
My daily challenge: I live in Orange County, home of the nutty housewives. I have a kid in private school in a high socioeconomic enclave where what you drive and what you wear are of the utmost importance.
“Your jeans aren’t True Religion? Your shoes aren’t Tori Burch? Your bag isn’t Prada and you drive American?”
“You don’t have a plastic surgeon, chef, nanny, eye brow lady, manicurist, facialist, or botox injector on call?”
I have been defined based on my looks. I am overweight. I don’t blow dry/straighten my hair. I am an intelligent and competent person, but none of them would know it because they don’t talk to me. I don’t fit into the standard criteria of beautiful.
My thought: If I did this challenge I can free myself from their ties that bind me. I don’t have to be defined by their level of beauty, because for one year I won’t have to buy into it. I won’t have to try to make do with a Target clearance shirt and Burch knock offs. I won’t have to pretend I bought my dress at Nordstrom when it actually came from Kmart. I won’t have to try to attain the ideal, because “I can’t. It’s not allowed.” I can blame my lack of fashion on the challenge rather than my…lack…of…fashion. It is a win-win-win. I don’t have to pretend to fit in, I get to save money, AND I have something to blame it on. Sign me up!
The Job
I have become everything I used to detest in Orange County. I am a stay at home mom of 2 who is a college educated post grad. I gave up a career that I loved to stay home and drive a black SUV that mostly resides in my garage only to leave to go to school pick up, Target and the grocery store. Argh. When did this happen and why did I let it? What dreams did I have that I just gave up on? Although my reasons for staying home are noble, what if I am missing my moment? This challenge will hopefully afford me the time to delve into some of those things and open space in my life to actually consider what my dreams are again.
The Tips
1. I knew going in that I would not be able to avoid Target. There are such things as essentials. To walk to the children’s section, my usual route goes by the entire women’s section. The first few times I went, I mourned what I could not buy. We are now 10 weeks into the challenge and I walk by with nary a look. I know I am not buying anything so why bother looking? This has resulted in less time (and money) spent inside Target.
2. I receive MANY catalogs in the mail, mostly of the clothing nature. I would continuously flip through them and fold down pages of things that I thought I would purchase in a year, when this is over. Delusional? Sure, but it made me feel better at the time. Like, the hope was out there. I started to take the front pages off of the catalogs and I recently went to the various websites and catalogchoice.org to get rid of most of them. Not only am I cutting down on the wasted paper going into my recycling bin, but the temptation isn’t there for me to consider cheating on the program.
3. Online shopping is one of my favorite things to do. To cut down on the temptation I unsubscribed from most of my favorite clothing stores and their promotional emails. I still go and look occasionally. I even fill a basket with beautiful things or deals I just can’t pass up. (The thrill for me is in the hunt, not necessarily in the purchase.) I then do one of two things. I leave the window open on the back of the computer until I get the guts to remove everything from my basket or I leave the site and forfeit my basket. I have done this a handful of times since this began and after it is all over, I usually cannot remember what I coveted. I don’t spend hours researching the best price and shopping on different sites, again saving time and money.
4. I declared gift cards as my safety net. I don’t count these in the realm of money, at least not my own. If I spend them, I spend them on what I want. I did get some for Christmas, but even the ones that I have used have been spent on items for the family instead of clothes. (I will admit to one exception, well two, a pair of clearance shoes.) I needed something to keep me sane in this process and that is my one caveat, although for the most part I haven’t needed it.
These simple acts have afforded me enough free time to be present. I am in the here and now when I am with my kids. I am not focused on what I look like when I show up for pick up in the school parking lot. I am focused on what kind of day my daughter had. I am not worried if my cardigan is from last year when I run the Girl Scout meeting. I have 15 wonderful girls sitting in front of me that could care less. I am not flipping through catalogs and websites to find something great on sale for a price I can afford. I am teaching my daughter to read and my son to play catch. It surprises me that these simple things mean the world to me right now. I am not sure if it is making a difference in my hopes and dreams, but I know it is making a difference in theirs. My time will come and hopefully my big questions will be answered, but in the mean time I am going to enjoy the openness, the free time and my willingness to breathe.
A Year Without Clothes: Old Tricks
…darning a sock using a rubber ball as a helpmeet…
I’m about three months into A Year Without Clothes (we all started at different times), and I’m embracing the concept of mending.
When I lived near Target there was no real need to mend a hole in a sock, or fix the unraveling edge of a tank top. When things cost so little, is just seemed more expedient to buy new.
Now that I live in Denmark, where the cost of living is about 35% higher than it was in Seattle, I’m learning to economize. So I’ve recently taken up the old-fashioned art of mending. So far I’ve (finally) hemmed the Joe Boxer cords I found last Summer at the thrift shop, replaced the buttons on my favorite hoodie, and darned my striped socks.
Not spending money on clothes has freed up some cash, and at the loppenmarked (flea market) last weekend I bought something I’ve wanted for a long time — a vintage sewing box like grandma had. Now I have all my mending tools next to the couch, at the ready.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: What would you need to gather to save something you love from the garbage heap? (needles and thread? sand paper and paint? hammer and nail?) Tell us your plans the comments below. Or join in in A Year Without Clothes. Tak!
Field Report: A Year Without Clothes
This last shopping weekend before Christmas, the sales are in full-force and the 2-for-1 sweaters are calling my name. That’s why I’m thankful that my sister-in-arms, Vivienne McMaster is here to help me stay on target with our pledge to go one year without buying any clothes. You may remember Vivienne from her beautiful photography in The Richness of This Present Moment one of our Monday Guest Posts. She’s here now to tell you some of the reasons why this woman with an aesthetic eye has chosen to shop out of her closet for an entire year.
My Year without Clothes
by Vivienne McMaster
Each morning I get up and adorn myself with pretty things. It has always been this way, this outward expression of my emotions, joy, subconscious, and creativity. What I wear has always felt like walking art to me. Whether it is simple or fancy, it always feels like it’s a big part of telling my story.
So when I heard about Rachelle’s ‘A Year without Clothes’ I was surprised at how much I wanted to take part. Did I really want to shake up a part of me that I take so much joy in? Truth be told, yes.
I wanted to find out what would happen if I did take part. I wanted to know clearing that action from my life might make room for. I wanted to assess what goodness I already have and to appreciate it. I want to work hard to push past living from paycheck to paycheck and though I’m not a shopaholic, I wondered how much difference this had the potential to make in my relationship to money. I’ve been noticing more what I do spend my money on, what feels necessary and what is frivolous.
As soon as I agreed to participate I felt total panic. What if I need something? What if I can’t do it? I felt much better once I realized that if I really truly needed something, I would do my best to thrift it or really research the best possible sale price. This isn’t about making it harder on ourselves, quite the opposite as its about making things more simple. My needs could be met, yet I wanted to appreciate more how much they already are. Everything I need is right here in my hands.
The first few weeks it felt like breaking an addiction, counting the days and cheering myself on. These days I just feel like I’m settling into it. I welcomed feelings that may come up for me around this as I think it this has so much potential for learning and for creating space for newness.
For me this is about being more present in my life and to appreciate what I do have. Who would I be if I wasn’t wearing the fanciest new thing from Anthropologie or the coolest artful jewelry or scarf that everyone is wearing. In fact I already have a closetful of such things. I am enough and have enough. This has become an adventure in digging deeper into who I am, of making room for more deep breaths and less stress. Mostly I want to see and make room for more of the richness of life that can’t be purchased. Bring it on!
Want to join our odd-ball adventure? It’s not too late. Pick a date, start your year. You can see who else is playing along here. And stay tuned, because after Christmas AYWC participant Allyson Dickinson will be sharing her reasons, challenges, and tips. Thanks for being here!
Favorite Things: The Apparent Project
If you’ve been following the A Year Without Clothes pledge, you know that part of my motivation for buying no clothes in the next year is a desire to spend less so I can give more. My charitable donations from the project will be going to The Apparent Project in Haiti — a small effort I wholeheartedly believe in.
The Apparent Project is run by two long-time friends, Corrigan and Shelly Clay. Togther with their children (biological and adopted), The Clay’s take care of young ones in Haiti, most of whom are ”orphaned” not because they are without parents, but because thier desperate parents could no longer feed them. In addition to taking care of the children who are already “orphaned”, The Apparent Project also works to create cottage industries for the mothers, so that abandonment will not be a necessity.
As artists, parents, and philanthropists, Shelley and Corrigan never cease to inspire me. Today in a guest post, Corrigan explains about the cost of living in Haiti, and connects the dots between our Year Without Clothes, and a Haitian child’s year with clothes.
A Year With(out) Clothes
by Corrigan Clay
“If you are poor things get cheaper.” This was the cosmic justice I created in my mind as a child. I think I developed it somewhere between being told that starving kids in China wanted to eat my cold asparagus, and finding out that a Mexican Peso was worth something like one gazillionth of a dollar. This misconception was further ingrained in my mind when “Third World” philanthro-tourist friends returned from their global treks talking about how they had paid a quarter for a handcrafted cardigan that “must have taken that lady 9 days to make.” Church youth groups would come back from missions trips rejoicing that they had built a house for somebody for a mere $100. Heartbreaking flies-on-kids infomercials for child sponsorship agencies would promise to feed and educate a child for only a dollar a day. All of this made me think that life in the Land of Naught must be pretty cheap…. [Read more →]
*8Things: A Year Without Clothes
I lit a bit of a wildfire yesterday when I ‘fessed up to my pledge to go one year without buying any clothes.
Quite a few people are chewing on it and might take the pledge with me. (Whee!) The goals are to spend less, be more creative, and become truer to ourselves. (Take that, evil hamster wheel of fashion marketing!)
The nice thing about A Year Without Clothes is that it’s a play-a-long, which means you get to make the rules. To help you decide your house rules, here are *8Things to think about before going a year without clothes:
1. Write Yourself a Pass: Maybe you’re getting married this year, or having a baby, or working on losing weight. Why not take the pledge, but write your self a pass? “Good for one wedding dress and accessories.” “Good for the minimum number of work pants/jeans needed in size 6, when I get there.” The goal is to limit yourself enough that you think creatively about your wardrobe and the effect of consumerism on your self image. But doset you own rules and limits now, or the pledge will dissolve at the first clearance sale!
2. Create an Plan for Warm Weather.Sure, it’s easy figure out if you have the basics for Winter wear, but Summer is a looooong way away. Write down what you bare minimum is for summer (4 tanks, 2 shorts, a sleeveless dress…) Then if you don’t have the minimum when the time comes give yourself permission to try number three…
3. Consider the Hierarchy: Hit the summer and have nothing short sleeved? Follow the hierarchy. Re-purpose. Trade. Buy Used.First option: Re-purpose. Turn a shirt into a tank top with your sewing machine. Second option: Trade. See if a girlfriend will swap a couple of her extra tanks for that sundress you never wore last season. Third Option: Buy Used. It’s cheaper and friendlier to the environment.
4. Stock up on Socks and Undies.These are the things that will wear out during the year. Sure, you could write yourself a pass to buy them as needed…but once you are in Target buying your Hanes, it will be MUCH harder to resist the sales racks.
5. Get Curious. How will this help me be more aware of who I am internally and how I express that in my outward appearance? Am I a slave to fashion marketing or am I being my truest self? How deep is my resourcefulness and problem solving skills? How willing am I to learn a new skill? If I set limit, will my creativity expand? [Read more →]
Ask Magpie: A Year Without Clothes
A couple of you have asked about this mysterious pledge I’ve made recently: to buy no clothes for one year.
Two years ago I became enamoured with The Little Brown Dress Project by Seattle local Alex Martin. In a one-woman attempt to subvert the consumer hamster wheel of fashion, Alex made two identical brown dresses and wore them for one whole year. She layered in the winter, and stripped down in the summer, but the whole time she just wore just the one little brown dress.
The past 18 months I’ve been living in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the cost of living is roughly 30% above that of Seattle, which was already one of 10 most expensive cities in the U.S. Unlike Seattle there are no well-stocked affordable thrift stores, and new clothes are expensive. At home when you pay more for something you can usually count on better quality. But here more is just, more.
Because of this, I went on a shopping spree this Summer in Seattle. Target, thrift stores, Old Navy. Now I was stocked on the basics. When I got back to CPH I was confronted by two American TV ads on Hulu. One for a designer discount store in which the spokeswoman said “Just because times are tight out there doesn’t mean you should have to stop wearing designer labels!” The second was for Target and featured the new term “frugalistas” and designer Nina Garcia from Project Runaway. She encouraged an average- looking shopper to buy bright blue and pink jeans, because “This season denim is all about color.”
WTF?! People are in foreclosure and designer labels are a priority? Soccer moms need to buy jeans they won’t be caught dead in next year because “this season” demands a color we abandoned circa 1985?!
Look, beauty is a deep value of mine. I love self-expression, and I think clothing is one of the ways we differentiate ourselves to others. But this endless cycle of disposable clothing designed to last “this season” and be out the next, it is absolutely ridiculous. And as much as I adore Project Runway, I’m sorry sweetie but fashion, at least as part of consumer wheel of fortune, is not going to change the world.
The madness must stop. So for this year, no new clothes. I have a good coat and boots, couple nearly-new black long sleeve t-shirts, jeans in two sizes (you know how it is), and enough socks and undies to last me the duration. I’m a little worried that my two-year-old sweater from Old Navy may not make it through the winter. But for the most part, I think I’m set. I just want to see what it’s like, to not be beholden to the trends of the “season,” to get off the hamster wheel and just make-do. [Read more →]
