Fashion Fast Week 2

The bow is barely off the New Year and I’ve already experienced my first real temptation. Wow, it was tough! I was shocked at how hard it hit me and how easily my mind slipped into shopping mode without as much as a flinch. It was an unconscious reaction to an item that caught my eye as I walked into one of my favorite stores. I know, you may wonder why I threw myself into the lion’s den by entering the place to begin with. Well, many of the shops I frequent sell much more than clothes. I didn’t go with the thought of clothing temptation at all. I went to purchase a small appliance and got distracted by my favorite color, yellow. And this was my very first test.

It was a Sunday and it was beyond cold outside so I wasn’t really thinking about venturing out into the brisk weekend air. But I had on my list to get a few things done, which included going to one of my retail hot spots. Like I did hundreds of times in 2009 and even more before last year, I walked in through the clothing department and decided to take a quick look before focusing on the things on my mental shopping list. What do my eyes devour but a whole rack of delicious lemon and buttery yellow clothes! There were blouses, and jackets, and pants, and dresses, and the one that got me into a tailspin of trouble, the perfect yellow skirt.

I could tell this was a new line and collection because they still had every size. So I clicked through the rack of hangers and yes, there it was in my size! Like an old habit I tucked it under my arm and was about to scurry off to the dressing room to try it on when my feet stuck to the floor like I was in quicksand. Noooooooooooooo! Stop right there Missy. You can’t buy this, remember? All kinds of expletives popped in my head as I recalled my decision to go the ENTIRE year of 2010 without buying any new clothes. Ugh, this may be harder than I thought.

Then my mind started to work. OK, how can I work around this? What method can I employ and not break my pack with myself yet still have this skirt? No, this wasn’t the inner workings of a devious mind but one of a person who has taken lemons (yellow ones of course) and made lemonade. So as I started to squeeze the pulp into the pitcher and come up with that cool refreshing way around my predicament I immediately thought of my original partner in crime, my younger sister Neice. That’s it, I’ll call Neice and tell her to buy it for me and keep it for a year. That way I didn’t buy it and I’ll just get it from her and pay her back in January 2011. Brilliant!

Not so brilliant, I realized. Then the other voice in my head, well one of the other voices anyway, reminded me that this would be cheating. Bummer! But I knew this was true. It would be cheating. So I slipped it back onto the rack, did a 180 pivot and walked away with my integrity, the shakes, and no yellow skirt. And with yellow being a hot color this year, I realized that I’m going to meet this challenge on many more occasions. I can’t begin to tell you all how much I really liked and wanted that skirt. And I had my eye on the matching silky blouse. The cut, the length, the fabric and the color, oh that beautiful, rich, full yellow color all made it a perfect complement to my already over abundant closet. Sigh.

I walked away sad but strong. I don’t own a yellow skirt and at least I wouldn’t be duplicating something. I felt good in knowing that I would have to work at this process and that I went through this realm of emotions and came out safe on the other side of the experience. But how would I do the next time? I think going through this actually helped to build a foundation for the next time. It was such an innate reaction to search for my size and proceed to buy this skirt. Then to remember I can’t was almost like when I was a little girl and I’d pick something off the rack and my father would quickly give me that look that meant put it back.

One of the tougher parts of the whole equation was about the color. Like a butterfly, I’m attracted to bright yellow. It’s hard to miss, which I guess is why road signs are yellow. So now I have to look with caution. Maybe I need signs that say Warning! Clothes for Sale Ahead. At least I need to have that imprinted on my brain.

So how did I find my way out of my yellow skirt funk? I went home and got creative with what I already have. I went shopping in my closet. I put together combinations that I’d never worn before. I pretended they were new and that I was in Helen’s Boutique, trying on things that I may have never seen as compliments to each other. And I even got to wear something new! Don’t tell anyone but there are a few things in my closet that still have the tags on them, from two or more years ago! So that helped me to let go of the yellow skirt and the notion that it won’t be there next year. But I probably felt better about the things I wore last week than I had since back to school outfits in junior high school! One challenge down, many more for me to tackle on the way!

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Fashion Fast Week 1

Happy New Year! It’s week one of my Fashion Fast. I’m on a shopping starvation clothing diet going the entire year without buying any new clothes and so far so good! No shirts, blouse, pants, shorts, skirts, tops, coats, jackets, blazers or dress for an entire year. Just accessories because I’m trying to accomplish a realistic goal!


Last fall when I was switching out my summer wardrobe, I reconfirmed that I have way too many clothes for one person. I was desperately seeking space to move one season’s set of shirts and skirts to make room for another. Whoa, I was met with clothing overload challenges. Yes, from time to time I’d practice the art of releasing the old clothes to make room for the new. But somewhere along the way I lost balance. Most likely it resulted from living between two homes.




It started when I was working in New York City and bought an apartment the size of a closet to live in during the week. My primary home was in Pennsylvania and I’d go there on the weekend. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence to find myself without something that I wanted to wear in New York midweek that was in my closet in Pennsylvania. Besides, both residences required totally different attire, style and comfort. So my solution was to go out and buy another, and another, and if necessary, another. Now this may sound a bit crazy but I also owned a condo near the beach in New Jersey. That meant another closet, another style and set of clothes. I didn’t set out to have this many residences with closets full of clothes but everything in life has its purpose. So after about a year of this three way madness I got a clue and decided it’s a lot easier and more cost effective to live in one place. I picked the place with the most closet space and ended up back in Pennsylvania.

In the process of reeling in my life I cleaned out two condos with two complete wardrobes, moved them both to the closets in Bucks County then rented both New York and New Jersey. It was at that point that I could visibly see that I had tripled my wardrobe. I had six black turtleneck sweaters, six white ones, and two or three of just about every shirt that I like. This is after I donated over an entire closet full of clothes to a women’s clothing charity. All that clearing and I still had more clothes than the five closets could contain. Not to mention that within the walls of these wardrobes there were quite a few items that still had the tags on them!


Now mind you, I’ve always had a rock star appetite for clothes and I think with an outfit perspective when I’m planning what I’ll wear. It’s never just a pair of pants and a shirt. There’s the jacket, the socks, the shoes, the belt, the jewelry, the purse, the hair accessories, and the even the underwear to make the outfit complete! It’s an adventure to get dressed, even if I’m just going to the dentist. I’m not as into fashion as I’m in to costuming my multi-color personas. We, meaning all of me, like to sport a lot of different looks.


As you can see the idea of a fashion fast makes a lot of sense. I have more than plenty and it’s time to practice a little dress up discipline. And here I am decked out in duds that I’ve had for a while and happy to be more efficiently using what I already have. Whereas it was tempting to binge at the end of last year because I knew I was headed to the mall strictly for window shopping this year, I didn’t take that route. I shopped my normal ooh and buy habits. I didn’t over or under do an effort to prepare for this year by adding fourth quarter profits to Marshall’s or Nordstrom’s Rack. I bought a few things but nothing unusual.


Then after the stroke of midnight when the champagne toast was clinked and the confetti was still in my hair, I strolled passed a boutique that was closed until January 2nd and saw the cutest dress in the window. It was at that moment that I realized I am here on this journey and I can’t even think about buying it. And I was fine with that. But let’s see how long that lasts! As for now, it really feels good to know that I’m abundantly clothed, I’m saving a ton of money, and I’m practicing a discipline I’ve never tried in my adult life. And you know what? It feels pretty good.