Wardrobe Challenge: Buy Nothing New for One Year

You read that right.  This former consummate consumer is going dark on her wardrobe!

From October 1, 2016 to October 1, 2017, I will buy no new clothing.  My mantra will be 'Less is More'

Here are my official rules:

1. Buy nothing new for myself for 1 calendar year beginning Oct 1, 2016. This includes all apparel including athletic wear, shoes, bags, jewelry and accessories.
2. Vacation is not an excuse to break the challenge.
3. Gifts, prizes and giveaways do not count and are acceptable.
4. In addition to not buying anything new, every day, I must get rid of one item.  Preference will be to thrift it, donate it or recycle it, but if it is not usable, disposal is OK too.  Pairs cannot be separated to cover two days for this part of the challenge! 
5. Items being removed will be documented here on a regular basis (may not be daily).

There are three exceptions to these rules:

• I am allowed to replace something that cannot be fixed (i.e. dog chews up a bra, I can buy a new bra to replace it)
• It shouldn't need to be said, but in the case of disaster (house burns down), game is over.
• I've been shopping for a new winter coat for 2 years.  Should I find the perfect coat, I can buy it as a replacement even though my current coat is still usable (it's too big and really worn but I'm super picky about what I want and I can't find it!).

For the past week, I've had to resist the urge to go on a shopping spree (similar to the urge to pork out on ice cream the day before starting a diet!).  I have bought a few basics (new bra, new pair of dress pants, black flats and a couple of layering tops for work), but I did not go crazy.  I've also spent the week unsubscribing to every apparel related company that emails me.  I'm amazed at how many I get and how I've just gotten used to deleting them without noticing the volume. I've also instructed my husband to dump any clothing catalogs we receive directly into the recycling bin on the way back from the mailbox. 

Excited.  Nervous.  Curious. Determined.  Let's do this!

(anyone want to join me?)

The Wardrobe Transition

My current closet 'before'

As anyone who's known me for while can attest, I like clothing.  I'm not really a fashion diva as my style has typically trended fairly 'classic', but I have exhibited varying levels of obsession with wardrobe over the years.  A large chunk of my teens and 20's spent in the retail industry is partly to blame.  Personal insecurities contributed.  Financial freedom sealed the deal.

My last career position in retail was working as a store manager for Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Stores.  I manged a large volume 'outlet' not far from NYC.  As such, we not only carried all the typical factory store inventory, but we were occasionally recipients of boxes of random cast-offs from the full retail stores in the city.  This meant some pretty unique and outstanding items.  It wasn't uncommon to find pieces with the names of the runway models marked on the inside in our shipments a few weeks after fashion week was over.  Add to that the policy that employees got a 50% discount on top of the already discounted prices, and suddenly I could afford things that only the very wealthy would typically buy.  And buy I did.  The credit card debt mounted and my closet walls were pushed to their limits.  Funny, because I could still only wear one outfit at a time. ;)

Fast forward many years and I still had some lingering habits from those days.  A penchant for super high quality items, the inability to pass up on a screaming deal, and the need/desire to have EXACTLY the right combination of shoes/outfit for whatever the occasion happened to be...

The contrast was that I was an engineer by day and a small farmer by night...neither of which required any fashion beyond jeans and t-shirts.  The good news for my wardrobe was that our farm house had a master closet the size of a room.  Further good news is that my husband had very little to store which left me with TONS of room to keep all my clothing.  Beyond this, we also had a 10ft pipe suspended from the rafters in the basement that housed all clothing that either didn't fit, or was so far out of season that it was not needed.  Lastly, I possessed a full sized (bulky) dresser that also lived in this mammoth closet...

When we sold the farm and moved into town, my closet options shrunk drastically.  I had to downsize to one 6 foot bar and a normal sized dresser.  This required a massive purging and Goodwill was the biggest recipient!  I also managed to take possession of our guest closet as well, so I managed to get by...

A few years of fighting with this closet situation (it was still a battle), and I was ready to look into remodeling options.  Then I had a bit of an epiphany.  I was traveling for work and realized that I'd mis-packed and was short quite a few things.  I managed to re-arrange my outfit plans using only the things I'd brought and was able to make 5 days worth of outfits from the reduced amount of clothing.  It was kind of fun!  It also made me realize that maybe less would be more.  Then I stumbled upon Project 333.  Live with 33 items for 3 months? The idea both scared and excited me and I figured that meant I should try it.

July of 2015, I did.  I opted for 47 pieces of clothing.  I chose to not count purses, outerwear or jewelry (or socks and underwear) because I felt I had zero issue with 'overbuying' these things (still don't).  I didn't count athletic wear (biking, camping, running, etc) either.  I curated my 47 pieces (47 because I was 47 years old) out of the things I already owned, packed away everything else in bins (or donated it) and went for three months using only those items.  I LOVED it!  Packing for trips was so much easier.  Mornings were smoother.  And oddly enough, I felt better about how I looked because I really enjoyed 95% of the things I'd kept in my wardrobe.  When the quarter was over, I donated a few items, switched out a few items (mostly sandals for boots), bought a couple of things and did it again.  It was great!

Things I discovered:

• I need way less than I think I need if those things I have are carefully chosen.
• Shopping is significantly more fun if I limit it to a short period and to carefully curated items
• It's much easier to recycle magazines or delete marketing emails when I know I'm not buying - I'm less tempted
• I have my own style!  Each quarter I would gravitate towards certain things/styles...and I always felt good wearing those things
• When your items are limited, you don't tolerate mediocrity very well.  If I wore something that I only felt was 'OK', it might get a second chance but would likely be permanently removed from the rotation at the end of the cycle.
• Keeping certain things set aside for 3 months makes them feel new and exciting again when they make a re-appearance (like tall boots do every fall).
• A whole dresser is SO not necessary

I kept this up for all 6 cycles (changing out every quarter) since the first time.  Over time, I was finding that I got a little careless with the 47 item count.  I only have 36 nice wood hangers in my closet, so if I run out of hangers, I know I've let items creep back in (knowing I have things in drawers, too).  I've been ignoring the fact that some things are still on dry-cleaner hangers and yet there are no empty wood ones.  I've also gone a little crazy the past few months on updating/increasing my workout clothing since we'd joined a new fitness studio.  Now those things are getting overwhelming and I need to scale that back, too.

Enter the new challenge.

Starting on October 1st, I will buy no new clothing for 1 year.

Simplicity - Our Journey Continues

Since it's been more than three years since I last posted, much has happened (as would be expected!).  I've decided to begin blogging regularly again because I have created a new challenge for myself, and I'd like a place to document the journey.  This new challenge starts October first, so I have about a week to get 'my readers' (*snicker*...like I have any anymore!) up to date and to lay the groundwork for what will be happening.

But first, a bit of a recap:

Our trip to Kauai was fabulous...a trip of a lifetime...particularly the sea kayaking down the Na'Pali coast.  That was not something either of us will forget, ever.  Truly spectacular!  My photos truly did not do it justice!

During the second half of 2013, I re-joined Leanness Lifestyle (now called Leanness Lifestyle University) and lost most of the weight I wanted to lose.  My recent weight/nutrition journey is a whole post in and of itself, so in the meantime, suffice it to say that I'm up about 10 lbs from my lowest but still feeling great.  My body size will play a role in my upcoming challenge, so there will be more on that to come.

In May of 2014, Rick shattered his lower left leg in a slow-motion motorcycle crash in the woods of south western Oregon.  Surgery one was May 18th to have an external fixator attached to his leg.  Three weeks on the couch (literally) in prep for surgery two on June 5th.  I was tasked with a LOT of home-care for this poor guy over the following few months.  To say 'it was a challenge' just does not do either of us justice. But we made it through.

2014 was the year from hell at work, too.  That horrific word 'busy' doesn't even begin to describe it.  End result, was a job change in the spring of 2016.  I've left my role as the University Program Manager for my company (which also went through a crazy merger in that time-frame) and now I'm back on the technical side of things as a program manager for our R&D organization.  I am much happier in this role, despite the inevitable challenges that come with any new position.

2015 included a long recovery for Rick, another trip to Hawaii for both of us (Maui, this time), ridiculous work hours and travel for me, nowhere near enough biking, hiking, kayaking or running as we'd like and all of this prompted an overwhelming desire to regain some control over our lives.

In July of 2015, I did my first total closet clean out and spent the next three months with only 47 pieces of clothing in my closet (not including underwear or athletic wear).  It was an interesting challenge for me and one that I repeated with each of the following quarters - allowing for one 'change-over' the first week of each quarter to switch out a few items as needed for seasonal changes and variety.  It was a fun way to do a little simplifying during an insanely busy time and one that actually helped me feel more in control when I desperately needed it.  there will be more information on this in posts to come as well.

2016 has been a whirlwind so far.  As I already mentioned - I made a major job change in the first few months of the year.  We also saw the staggeringly devastating loss of our sweet dog, Maggie.  As much as life is easier with just two dogs, Maggie was something special and we miss her daily still...

Rick and I joined our local Orange Theory Fitness studio in March of 2016 and have been more consistent about going to those workouts than any fitness-related thing either of us has done in over a decade! It's been great fun doing this together.  He's benefited from the all-around workouts (not just weight lifting) and I'm benefiting from the motivation I get from seeing results.  Plus, it's fun (most of the time)!

This past May, I had surgery to remove pterygium (Surfer's Eye or sun damaged tissue) from my left eye.  The healing process was the single most annoying thing I've ever felt. But one eye is as good as new, now.  Pterygium is likely a remnant from my days of 80's tans with no sunscreen and years of living in the south and hardly ever wearing sunglasses.  Remember to wear your sunglasses, boys and girls!  Surgery on the right eye is in two weeks.  As much as I dread it, I'm excited to have both eyes done so that they can heal and I can get updated glasses.  My Rx is clearly off but until I'm through this, new glasses would be a waste because this affects my vision in varying ways.

And at the end of August, Rick changed jobs, too.  For him, the change was from a very, very large company, (Intel fully absorbed McAfee in 2015) to a much smaller one.  He's been in this new role for less than a month and so far, so good. We have high hopes!  If nothing else, he is looking forward to supporting products and a company that he believes in and that's always a big improvement.

I think that brings us up to date since my last posting.  Nothing like covering 3 years worth of life in a few paragraphs, huh?

We still have plans for early retirement. In fact, we've been shopping for land, off and on, for awhile now.  I think the plan will be to buy some property (hopefully on a lake) and build an off-grid tiny home (and a tiny barn for tiny goats!).    But...we aren't there yet.  Life continues with dual incomes, still living by a budget, working on retirement savings and watching the value of our home virtually skyrocket.  It's insane but we aren't complaining.  We are also trying to simplify.  I can't say we'll ever get to true minimalism, but we definitely want to work in that direction.

My challenge starting October 1 will be our next step down that path.