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!