My Grand Finale

Over. Done. Finished.  Here are my last three days (and a few other grand finale photos):

I thought I'd wear all six items to finish off with a bang!  I also rummaged through my accessories & found the ones I haven't worn this month:

My plan: to turn this little bag of unwanted leftovers into brand new lovelies!  This is my accessory challenge.  Perhaps while Allison is cleaning out her closet in February, I'll be creating new accessories to ADD to my wardrobe.... Or maybe I'll join Allison & save crafting for March.  We'll see!

Alright, last I thought I'd put all the outfits together so you can see how well you think I really did at turning my 6 items into 31 outfits.  Here you go:

Last Day, Hooray!

Every year on the last day of the school year, I read a book to my students called Last Day, Hooray! In the story, the kids have to clean up their classroom and take everything home. They are sad that everything is coming off the walls and they won't see their teacher and friends everyday. But then they start thinking about everything that happened during the year, and the teacher gives them gold stars and tells them what a great job they've done in school, and everyone goes home happy.

I kind of feel like those kids today - I am packing up my 6 items and I won't see them everyday anymore. I think I'll even miss them a little bit. I enjoyed the easiness and routine of knowing what I would wear the next day. Even if I was running late in the morning, I knew all I had to do was pick up a couple of the items off the chair (or the floor) and I would be all set to go! It was much easier than my usual routine of standing in the closet wondering what to wear or trying on three different outfits before deciding! Even though I was worried in the beginning that I would be bored wearing just 6 items, I actually enjoyed the challenge of making each outfit look different and using the items and accessories in different ways.

I'd like to think that I will look at buying clothing differently now and maybe not spend so much money on clothing or so much time trying to look nice. I've realized that people don't notice your clothing as much as you might think they do. I've also learned that it's not really that hard to make different outfits out of the same clothes. Maybe this will change the way I pack for vacations! These are just a few of my thoughts about the experience - nothing truly life-changing, but it's something to think about.

Going back to my story, I also think that we, like the kids in the book, deserve some gold stars! It was a challenge, and I think we did pretty well. But I'll let you decide what you think while you look at my last five outfits...

P.S. I'm starting a new, clean-out the closet challenge for February, so be sure to check it out tomorrow!

Nearing the End

Week Four is over!  And that means only three days left with my six items.  While Allison has been planning out her outfits, and my husband says he's ready for me to wear some colors other than black, gray, and teal; I am wondering if I'm ready for the end of the month.  I mean, in reality, I'm ready.  It will be nice to have a little more variety.  But really, I have kind of enjoyed the simplicity of my six items and the creativity it required.  No - I'm not going to continue into February, but I am starting to think of what other creative fashion journeys I can go on.

But enough rambling,  here's a snapshot of Week Four:

(I know... some of my pics are blurry.  But don't worry, we just got a new camera, so I'm sure my last 3 pics will be beautiful! :))

Playing Catch Up

Well, my internet has not been working at home this week, so I'm WAY behind on the updates. I was going to try to make my pictures all fancy, but instead, I'll just give you days 19-25... (Pardon day 20, I ended up with an extra picture and couldn't figure out which was really day 20's outfit!)

Well, I can't believe the month is almost over. We are on the home stretch here. I will say that today has been the first day I really did not want to put on any of the 6 items. Maybe it's the weather, but I really just wanted to put on a big comfy sweater (and stay in my bed all day), but since neither of those things were going to happen, I picked my clothes up off the floor and put them on again. I did a repeat outfit, since I am running out of ways to make myself feel like I'm looking cute and different. (I am already mentally planning my outfits for Tuesday and Wednesday next week.)

Stay tuned for the final outfits of the month, and to find out February's challenge!

WiWW #2

I decided to link up again this week to Pleated Poppy's "What I Wore Wednesday."

And in case you've come from her site, here's the deal:  My sister & I have chosen to simplify this January.  At the beginning of the month, we chose six(ish) items of clothing from our closets and we are wearing only those six(ish) items this month.  If you want to find out more about our "rules", click here.  If you want to see our six items, click here or here.  If you want to know what our outfits have been looking like all month, just wander through any of our blogposts.

And now, onto what I actually wore Wednesday:

Cardigan & Dress (2 of my 6 items): Ann Taylor Loft
Necklace: Target (I think)
Belt: J. Crew (It's hard to see, but it's super cute!)
Shoes: Primark (from Scotland)

Special Occassion?

Remember rule #2 from way back at the beginning of the challenge?

Special Occassions Don't Count.

Well, what is defined as a special occassion?

A wedding? Sure.

The NFC championship game when your team is playing? Questionable.

Saturday night, before the big game, I was facing this exact question. I was out to dinner with Aimee and the rest of the fam and wondering if it would be ok to wear my Bears shirt the next day. There were opinions ranging from: Yes, it's on the same level as a wedding, to, No, you're not even a huge fan. I really just wanted the chance to wear something different, so I was hoping for the wedding opinion to win out!

We decided it would be ok to wear it (after all, we are pretty much making up our own rules), but when I put it on, I discovered that the shirt was really short. I have either grown a few inches in the past 5 years (not likely) or apparently I liked short shirts 5 years ago! I wore it for the game, but there will be no Super Bowl for us, so it's in the Goodwill pile now.

It did make me think, though. There are times when I wear things just because everyone else is wearing them and I don't want to be left out (come to think of it, that describes more than just my clothing - 1/2 marathon, anyone?) Did I really need a Bears shirt 5 years ago (obviously I haven't worn it lately)? Or did I just want it to fit in? Does it really matter if I wear [insert color] to support [insert cause]? Do we wear things because we really like them, or because we think it's what we should wear? I don't really have any answers, so what do you think?

The Great Accessory Swap

Since we are getting close to the end of January, our accessory supplies were starting to dwindle.  So we came up with a plan: why not trade some accessories?  On Tuesday of last week, I hooked Allison up with a scarf, necklace, and sash; and on Wednesday, she returned the favor with a bag full of goodies.

And I've been thinking.  If part of this whole thing is to challenge our materialism, perhaps accessory swaps are one solution.  Instead of thinking we need MORE, MORE, MORE, and going out to buy yet another outfit, another necklace, or another pair of shoes.  Why not share the love, save money, & avoid consumerism?

An accessory swap is great because you don't have to worry about sizes.  Everyone can wear the same size necklace, scarf, or headband.  So perhaps next time I'm feeling a little blue about my wardrobe and thinking I could use a trip to the mall, perhaps I'll instead call up my sister or a friend to arrange an accessory swap.... Just an idea!

P.S. If you're visiting from Vintage Wanna Bee's Bloggy BFF Party, here's the deal.  My sis & I have been journeying through January with only 6 items of clothing (ish).... but don't worry; as you can see above, we've been wearing plentiful accessories!  To view some of our outfits, click here or here!

Week Three

This week has been a good one for the challenge.  Over the long weekend (no school on MLKJ Day) Nate & I were in St. Louis; then Tuesday, instead of regular school, we had a teachers institute day; and then three days of regular school.  So I didn't have to worry QUITE as much about making each outfit new.  

However, one of the speakers at our institute day Tuesday did make a comment about how junior highers ALWAYS notice what their teachers are wearing.  I guess it's okay if they notice, just as long as they don't remember!  

Here's a look at the week:

(A little note: While the scarf worn Monday is the same one worn Friday, please know that the Thursday scarf IS a different one.  I realized afterwards that the two probably look a little too similar to wear two days in a row, but oh well!)

Less Materialistic, More Creative, or Something Else?

We are 2/3 of the way through with our 6 item challenge!  Starting out, I had some reasons about why I was going to do it, but I hadn’t thought out or developed them very much.  At the most, I thought about how it could be a push against materialism (and everything that entails).  At the least, I just heard about it, thought it might be fun, and wanted to give it a try.

Now that I’m actually in the midst of the challenge, I’ve been doing some thinking about how the 6 item challenge may – or may not – be affecting me.  My thoughts may be mumbled and jumbled, but here are 6 thoughts about my 6 items:

1)      I like not having to think that hard about what to wear in the morning.

2)      On the other hand, I think way more about accessories than before.  I even bought a new pair of tights.  I’m wondering am I becoming less concerned with how I dress or more concerned, just in a different way?

3)      So far I’m convinced that nobody pays close enough attention to what you wear to even realize you’ve been dressing in the same clothes.  (Why do we think we are so important that everyone notices what we look like each day?)

4)      Either #3 is true, or nobody will be willing to tell you they know you’re wearing the same clothes even if they do notice.

5)      This challenge is definitely awakening my creative side – causing me to figure out new ways to combine outfits, add accessories, or make my own accessories (more to come about my attempts on that later).

6)      I like the idea of simplifying the wardrobe.  This could mean buying less, which could also mean supporting sweatshop-manufacturing less.  This could really work even if we focused more on accessorizing possibly with hand/home-made items.

More musings to come...

WiWW

Okay, my turn!  Since Allison linked up to the Pleated Poppy, I thought I'd better get on that too.  Here's what I wore this Wednesday:

Dress & Cardigan - Ann Taylor Loft

Headband - homemade t-shirt upcycle creation

Belt/Sash - Target (from a different dress)

Necklace - It's so old!  I think it's a hand-me-down from Allison

Tights - Gap

Boots - Ugg

Don't worry the rest of the week will be posted when the week is over.  For now, check out other WIWWs on The Pleated Poppy!

What I Wore Wednesday

Last week, Aimee told me about The Pleated Poppy and Lindsey's mission to post her outfits every Wednesday. There are a bunch of blogs linked up and some people post all of their outfits from the week, and some just put up their outfit from the day. (If you're really interested in my outfits from this past week, check them out here).

It was too late to join in for last week, so I decided to link up today. What's one more challenge to add to this one, right?! This morning, I wasn't really thinking about it, so I guess my outfit could have been better. But at least I've got on Aimee's super cute necklace!

Black Cardigan - Ann Taylor Loft

Gray Tank Top - Ann Taylor Loft

White Tank Top - Target

Skinny Jeans - Old Navy

Boots - Emu's

Necklace - Vintage Rummage Etsy Shop

A note about the necklace: the 1st graders were kind of surprised to discover that the flower on the necklace was not real (when they have ever seen a necklace with real flowers, I don't know, but that was the big discovery of the day!)



Confession Time

We are at about the halfway point of our little experiment, and I have a couple of confessions to make...

Confession #1: This is harder than it seems. Well, I know you probably already think it's hard, wearing only 6 items of clothing. But here's what I really mean: It seems like it should be easy to get dressed in the morning and take less time than usual because there are only 6 items to choose from. But it's actually kind of hard to figure out ways to make my outfits look different. I think I've worn all the items in all the possible different combinations.

Confession #2: Even though I have LOTS of different accessories, I am still getting tired of the ones I have. Lucky for me, Aimee and I just traded a few. Look for me wearing a couple of things you might have seen in her pics!

Confession #3 (and this is the big one): Yesterday I did not get out of my pajamas! It was Martin Luther King, Jr. day and there was no school and it was so cold that I just stayed in bed and watched episodes of Angel (no judging!) on Netflix (my new favorite thing) for most of the day. So all that to say, there is no picture from yesterday - I didn't think anyone needed to see me in my p.j.'s!

Anyway, here are a few catch up pictures from the weekend (minus Monday)...

Insert: (Day 16: the lost day)

Stay tuned tomorrow, when we link up with What I Wore Wednesday at The Pleated Poppy

What I Heard Last Week

After week one, I mentioned how I kept wondering if people noticed my repeat outfits.  This past week I decided to pay attention to the positives.  Here are the comments people did make about my appearance this week:

*Monday: "Cute pink scarf"
*Tuesday: "I like your headband."
*Wednesday: "Those are new boots, aren't they?"
*Thursday: "Did you get a haircut?"  (The answer would be no.  Although if I didn't just get one a couple weeks ago, I'm thinking that would be a good distracting technique for this 6 item challenge.)
*Friday: "I like your scarf."

So, as Allison said, either people are just being nice or nobody is noticing.  You can decide what you think:

Accomplishing My Goal

Remember my 2 goals for the week? (read about them here if you forgot) Take more creative pictures and wear more creative outfits?

As far as the pictures go, I took some in different places this week AND I discovered the "picnic" editing option in Picasa. I think it's made a huge difference in the creativity of my pictures! (BUT, I'm still kind of playing with it, so sorry if you can't read the text on the pictures.) 

As far as the outfits go, I have worn things this week in ways that I have never worn before in my life! See: day 8 - skinny belt over the sweater; the real day 10 - belted scarf; and day 11 - cardigan sweater tucked into a skirt. 

A few people have asked if anyone has noticed/commented on how I am wearing the same things over and over again. It's interesting because I feel like people should notice and comment on the fact that I wore the same black skirt to work three times this week (and two days in a row), but instead (and maybe people are just being nice) I am getting lots of comments on the accessories. Even the 1st graders, who notice everything about me, don't seem to mind the same-ness. Instead it's, "Oh, I love your nail polish", and "Your scarf is so pretty", and, this from a 6 year old boy, "I like your earrings. Where did you get them?" (um...little boy...you do not need to worry about where to get earrings.)

I don't know if I'm convinced yet that 6 items is the way to live, but it hasn't been as awkward and boring (yet) as I thought it might be.

Now, see if you think I've accomplished my goals for this week...  

P.S. If you are feeling inspired by the leg warmers to go see "Black Swan", please don't (it might be the most disturbing movie I have ever seen). Just buy some leg warmers and get "Center Stage" from the Redbox!