I did
it! I did it! I went 30 (actually 31 days – I’m
mathematically challenged) wearing 6 pieces of clothing plus two
accessories. I began almost
on a fluke. I had decided – committed –
to finally do this challenge, but was still waffling on the pieces I was to
use. For some reason, on that Saturday,
I decided that I was JUST GOING TO DO IT!
The
reason I chose these pieces was for their versatility. I work outside the home, I attend church at
least weekly, I go on dates with my husband (almost weekly), plus other various
and sundry activities that a wife/mother/girl about town has to attend. The season was late fall in Georgia, so not
too cold though occasionally cold for someone that has gotten acclimated to
Georgia’s moderate climate.
Probably the two biggest
advantages to this challenge were one – it was fairly easy to get dressed in
the morning and two – laundry was SUPER EASY.
The
only piece I had in this particular grouping that couldn’t be worn more than
one way was the jeans (though I wore the yoga pants only one way also). The other four pieces could be worn as tops
at least. Two of the pieces (Oval Tunic
and Fractional) could be worn as dresses, skirts, and jackets. The Trapezoid Shirt could be worn as a skirt and
vest (for me). I wore more dress/skirt
combinations to work than I ever had before during this challenge period. And laundry!
That was an eye opener. This
challenge doesn’t limit your underclothing (thank Heaven!), but when I did laundry that first week I had less clothing to wash and fold than my husband which has probably
never happened before. One
time, when I had misplaced one of the pieces at laundry time and I was in a panic
- when you are that limited wardrobe-wise every piece counts. Gratefully, it was found the next morning and
one of my daughters laundered it for me. Hanging up 8 pieces of clothing is so much
easier (duh!) than the many other pieces I use to do. Hopefully this won’t gross anyone out, but I
only laundered once a week. I did use
Febreze® on occasion.
Over the course of these 30 (31) days, I learned some lessons – primarily about my designs and a little about
myself. Most of these pieces had been in
my wardrobe for over two years, except the Fractional. (This was a fairly new piece - quite possibly
finished just in time to be part of the challenge.) They all went together well in the
combinations and variations. Since the
Fractional was the newest piece, I wasn’t sure how it would work. It did well.
In fact, one week, I wore it 5 days straight – putting it through its
variations. Since this was more or less
a prototype, it will probably be modified in the next revision. The Trapezoid Shirt was also in its prototype
stage and the sleeves were WAY too long – I didn't take the time to figure
out to what length to shorten them. 
What
was the ugly about the challenge? As
mentioned before, it did get a little, tiny bit boring towards the end. Otherwise, I can’t really think of anything
else that was bad about doing this. I
did miss my leggings and my white button down. shirt.
Oh, I almost forgot about wearing black – it does show some “dirt” when
other colors wouldn’t show it so blatantly.
The
variability of the pieces is very likely what saved me. But, I didn’t use all the variations of the
pieces either. Some of the pieces can
literally be worn more than 20 ways and I know I didn’t stretch any of them to
that limit.
If I
was to do this permanently, I would probably up the number of pieces to 10 at least – to
include my leggings and some more tops.
(Stay tuned – this is one of the purposes of this blog – to explore
wardrobes and convertible pieces.)
I now have a huge boxful of
clothes in my closet.
I did
literally take all my clothes off the hangers, folded them and placed them in a
huge cardboard box. The question
is: Do I really need all those clothes? Some of them are definitely destined for
Goodwill, others though – I’ll have to deal with the separation anxiety.
What
did I wear on my first day not on the challenge? More plum and black…;-)
Would
you do this challenge?
CAVEAT: Full disclosure: Items not “numbered” by the challenge
include: undergarments, coats, workout
gear, pajamas, accessories, shoes, socks and work uniforms. I did have two pairs of pajamas so I could do
my laundry in one pair while I was washing the other pair and the wardrobe. I did wear only one coat (when necessary)
throughout the challenge – a stadium length black leather coat. Shoes were limited because of the black pieces to
mainly black (though I might have snuck in my brown Clarks® when I
wore taupe and plum). I don’t work out
and I don’t have a work uniform.
