Made a purchase!

That's right - I bought something new that is wardrobe related...and on CyberMonday, no less!  A few weeks ago, I noticed that my 4+ year old dog walking waterproof clogs were no longer waterproof. I wear these every single day and my feet were getting wet.  I wasn't sure if it was sweaty feet until I started needing socks (as it got colder) and now I can see from the socks that the wetness starts at the toes. Upon further investigation, I could see that the seals along the rubber were cracked open on both feet.  I actually tried gluing them back together but I think the rubber has dried out or deformed as I could not get it to seal again.  The whole purpose of these shoes was to be able to walk my dogs with dry feet (and good traction) so I am going to replace them.  LLBean was having a sale and free shipping, so I ordered a new pair. I will donate the old pair to Goodwill.  The soles are super worn (traction is failing) but they are still thick and while they do leak slightly, they will still keep one drier than a pair of tennis shoes.  In the PNW, that's a pretty big deal.  I'll donate them as soon as my new ones arrive.

I've also been removing things from my closet on a weekly basis (not daily, but I make sure I have one thing for each day that passes).  My latest donation was a pair of Mountain Hardwear tights.  I wore them once ages ago and didn't like them much but I couldn't remember why.  I wore them to PT last week and now I remember!  They are oddly not stretchy in the right places, somewhat 'thin' looking in other places and they are dog hair and lint magnetic...not good for solid black tights. They are now in the donation box along with a couple of sports bras, some pairs of thick wool socks and enough barrettes and headbands to outfit an entire cheer-leading squad! I finally pulled all the tortoise-shell colored accessories out of my stash...I'll never wear them again even if I have long hair again one day as they look stupid with silver hair.  I'm not counting the hair accessories as 'wardrobe removals' but they are in the donation box anyway.  I'm also tossing out a ratty nightshirt I used to wear.  It's way too full of holes to donate, the wrong material to be a rag, so it's going into the trash.

11/22: # Nike sports bra
11/23: # dk grey oddly un-supportive sports bra
11/24: # ratty nightshirt
11/25: # pair of wool hiking socks
11/26: # pair of thick cable socks
11/27: # pair of wool hiking socks
11/28: # mountain hardwear tights

Quick Run to Goodwill

On Sunday my husband purged a bunch of things from his closet/office, so he wanted to make a quick run to the donation location.  Always looking to combine trips, I grabbed a few donations to take along.  It was a rush job, so I didn't take any photos.  My last post brought me up to item #46 (11/15), so here is what's happened since then.

11/16 #47: hooded running jacket that I just don't wear anymore
11/17 #48: Iluminight cycling vest that I also don't wear anymore
11/18 #49: Wrap plaid skirt for covering up bike shorts (never worn)
11/19 #50: snap wrap skirt for cover up post-races/triathlons that is too big
11/20 #51: running wind-shirt jacket thingy that I bought because it seemed like a good idea at the time and then never wore

For today, I'm removing a super worn out sleep tank from my wardrobe.  I'm not going to donate it as it's really ratty.  It's also not the right material for the rag pile, so this will be my first 'throw away' item.  It's actually so worn out, that I'm embarrassed to admit that I was still wearing it, so I'm not even going to take a photo of it. Use your imagination!

I also donated a couple of older frying pans, some decorative items that are no longer our style and a pile of books.  These don't count as wardrobe items, of course..but it always feels good to get some of the clutter out of the house.

Digging into the drawers

When I did my first closet purge (and subsequent capsule wardrobe) more than 18 months ago, I focused on clothing and shoes.  I really didn't pay too much attention to accessories because I tend to dress simply. A few scarves here and there, a belt out of necessity, simple jewelry...  I use the same purse every day and I only change it out seasonally (mostly because it rains all winter and I don't like using open-top leather bags in that situation).  When it was time to simplify and cut my over-spending habit, accessories were low priority.

I wear the same black leather belt almost every day. It's actually reversible, so even when black isn't right for the outfit, light brown/tan often is.  And because I've got big legs and plenty of 'back' but a small waist, all of my jeans and most of my dress pants require belts.  Every night when I get undressed, I roll up my belt and tuck it into one of the top drawers in my dresser.  There is a cute pink dyed snakeskin belt in the same drawer that I bought for one particular outfit that I notice each night.  And before I started this challenge, I bought a second black leather/silver buckle belt to tide me over because mine is looking worn.  That one also is in the same drawer.  There were just three belts in the forefront of my brain.

Now that I'm giving away things every day, I find myself having to go into places I never bothered cleaning before because I'm not ready to lean out my closet even more just yet!  This weekend, I opened BOTH of the top drawers of my dresser and stumbled upon a belt mecca!  I guess I knew that I had a lot of them that I'd been pretending were not there, but I didn't realize how many were still left after the house-moving purge 4 years ago.  I decided on twelve that will be donated (pictured above).  The remaining 5 or so are all uniquely suited to certain outfits and until I do the big final purge of my wardrobe, they'll remain in my possession.  Once the decision is made on each of their corresponding clothing items, then I will likely be getting rid of even more belts.

This covers me until 11/15, or item #46. :-)

Donations Still Happening

Item 25 & 26: 2 Black t-shirts.  I can only wear one at a time so who needs 3??

Item 27: Tankini top.  Bought this AGES ago and never wore it.  Not even sure which bottoms I'd originally intended to wear it with as it was so long ago.  

Item 28: Cropped black workout pants.  These have a fold-over waist which on me means 'fall down every time I bend over' waist.  They were never used for workouts but for lounging around and how many pairs of ugly lounging around pants does one girl need?  Time to go!














Items 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, & 34 will bring me up to date through tomorrow (11/3).
Three tech t's, a pair of workout shorts that are WAY too short and that I'll never feel confident enough to wear (feels good to finally accept that!), a sports bra and a workout bra top thing.  I'm happy to be making room in my fitness clothing drawer!

New Shoes!

About a week after I posted my 'rules' for this challenge (including the one where items won or given to me is acceptable) I actually won a new pair of Nike ID shoes!!  For September at my Orange Theory Fitness studio, we had a bingo card full of random tasks to fill up as much as we could.  An example would be 'take Alycia's class' or 'complete the DriTri'.  For every row of 'bingo' we got a ticket into a raffle.  I filled up almost my whole card and to my great shock...I won the grand prize!!

I actually picked out and ordered my shoes the day of my eye surgery and they just arrived today.  I'm so excited as they look exactly like I pictured AND they fit and are super comfy!!  These will be my studio shoes and the other pair I've been wearing will be set aside for distance running only (outside).

Super cute and totally on theme, right?

Catching up on donations

I wasn't sure how much I'd like 'blogging' about the items I donate but I think it's a good idea.  It's keeping me on track because it turns out that it is really easy to forget about this as life goes on!  I know that it's not the most interesting subject matter, so going forward I will try to condense as much as possible and only take pictures of items that might be unique (once I've finished the current collection).

On the 'buy nothing new' front, I faced a challenge last week.  While traveling to Florida for work,  I did a few workouts in a local Orange Theory Fitness studio.  They had some OTF branded gear different from what they have at my home studio and I was really tempted. I even considered making an 'excuse' that it was OK since I was traveling, but then realized that was really stupid.  I don't NEED anything.  Temptation averted!

Donation #18 & 19: Two baseball hats.  I bought the Napali coast one after our epic kayaking adventure and as much as I loved that trip, I've never worn this hat.  I have memories...I don't need the hat.  The other hat is left over from my days in retail at Polo Ralph Lauren.  It's a minimum of 20 years old and it also doesn't get worn.

Donations 20 - 23: Three t-shirts...in a pile.  Nothing interesting about these except maybe that purple wall behind them.  That's the accent wall in my office/guest room.  Fabulous color, isn't it? :-)

Donation 24: workout pants.  Bought these from Fabletics because they had a drawstring (key feature for workout pants for me) but they are just way too heavy-weight for indoor workouts but not suited to outdoor running in the wet Oregon winters.

More Donations

My eye is healing well.  It actually seems to be faster this time around, but I think that's because this time, I know how to do the drops better so that half of it doesn't run into my nasal passages.  More medicine in the eye where it belongs means that it works as it should.  Duh.  Anyway, I'm glad its going well because tomorrow I'm traveling for work and that dry (and pressurized) environment on the airplane would have been torture a week ago.

Today I'm doing some 'catch up' on my donations.  I'd pulled the items from my wardrobe already, but today I took the photos and boxed it up.  We'll drop the donations off this afternoon.  I also took photos of my items for the upcoming week since I'll be on the road.

Item #12:  An O'Neil rash guard that I bought for either a Hawaii trip or a kayaking adventure that I never wore.  What a waste.

Item #13: Black cowl neck sweater dress from Madewell.  Wore this twice.  Cute but too much volume in the middle for me and a tad too short for work-comfort.  Plus, now that I work on the second floor of our building, it's way warmer than the first floor so I can't imagine ever being comfortable in something this bulky again.













Item #14: Reebok tank.  Cute, but not comfortable in the OTF environment.

















Item #15: Polka dot silk scarf.  Also cute, but too big...there was just way too much material in this scarf for my style.  This one still has the tags on it.
















Item #16; Mini Cooper T.  This one is going into the rag pile.  I love this t and it's gotten a TON of wear, but I bought it in Nov of 2003 and it looks it.  It's getting a new hole every time it goes into the laundry.  Farewell faithful t.  I'll miss you!













And because I'll be in travel mode all day tomorrow:

Item #17: Truckette bag/purse by Queen Bee (local company).  I used this bag for 5 or 6 years...every day.  It's really worn on the bottom and the material is bubbling and coming apart on the cover flap above the flowers.  I replaced it with a similar one a couple of weeks go, so it's time to send this one to goodwill.  Great bag...another item that I'll miss!