Day #6, the six or less vacation

Here is my favorite accessory, Princessa. Today, everybody was in a rush to get out the door (after 2 hours of doing nothing while I cleaned), and so I threw on my shorts and purple shirt and rushed out with them. I must have set a personal speed record for getting ready. With three kids, it's certainly nice to keep the momentum going.

Tomorrow, we are leaving for a 5 day vacation. I absolutely dread packing for trips. Hate it! Yell at everyone and everything while I am doing it! Well guess what? My packing will be done in 2 minutes. I'm even thinking of giving everyone else a hard time for how much stuff I know they will bring. I also dislike returning home with a suitcase full of dirty clothes. Again, almost as if by magic, this unnecessary travel stress has been eliminated.

We shall see how much I like wearing the same thing over and over on a vacation. We shall also see what my mother-in-law thinks of it. Probably not much.

Hopefully, I can continue my posts while we are out of town.

Day #5, self expression

It is certainly premature to declare this exercise a success. But I really wanna! This morning, not only was I smiling at my clean closet, I was smiling as I rifled through my scarves, belts, and jewelry box. Especially the jewelry. I have a lot of it, of the costume variety. No surprise :) But I never wear much of it because I get so frustrated trying to pick out clothes. Well, today I just quickly picked what to wear (the little black dress and khaki button down shirt make their first reappearance), then put on a cute pair of earrings and a funky silver pendant.

I can still express myself through what I'm wearing. But for the next 30 days, it will be with little bits of accessories that actually show up against the plain palette of the magic six!

This all sounds a bit foolish but, to be honest, I am feeling more than a bit foolish that it took me such a long time to figure this out :(

Here's hoping that the lessons learned over the next 25 days will stick.

Day #4, Why all those shirts?

Today is an important day in sixorless land. I'm wearing the last two items in my "wardrobe", meaning tomorrow the repeats begin. I often wear the same jeans for a couple days in a row, anyway. The hassle is going to be washing items (probably by hand since we don't do laundry every day) every night so I have a clean top to wear. Truth be told, I wear the same shirt for more than one day on occasion (if it passes the sniff test, of course). But it would be good to save that for the dog days at the end of the challenge.

With all the new found time, I have been pondering the steps that led me to this madness. Why all those shirts? And why so many unworn? Here are some thoughts:

1- New things are fun (aren't evolutionary biologists claiming we are wired to enjoy novelty?)
2- I rarely try things on before buying
3- I rarely return things if they don't fit
4- If I throw out (or donate) things, I may have to acknowledge that they were foolish purchases
5- I rarely bother to think through how new items might coordinate with old ones
6- I don't set and/or stick to a clothing budget
7- I ignore the fact that seasons and styles change
8- Cleaning a closet is boring

This is a long list, and there are probably more reasons for my predicament. But after reviewing this list, I realize I can do something about all but #1 (and maybe #8). Maybe history will not repeat itself!

Oh, and by the way, I didn't lay out my clothes last night because I just couldn't settle on the sixth item. Originally it was supposed to be a greenish shirt, but I like the color of this purple one better and it's super comfy. After a night of thinking about it, the green one was out!

Day #3, motivation

A friend submitted an article to a local newspaper describing my sixorless challenge. I was thrilled to see my name in print until the first two comments rolled in. Both negative :( Well, you can't please everybody. But, maybe a couple thoughts on my motivation for this challenge is a good idea.

I certainly understand that the sixorless challenge will not end wars or hunger. But it seemed like:

- a lighthearted way to get me to clean out my closet
- an opportunity to re-examine my shopping habits
- a path to remove a tad of the stress in my life

That's it. No big deal. I don't mean to offend anyone or downplay their problems. When I tackle the mess in my utensil draw, I will keep it to myself.

Anyway, Day #3 has gone well. It makes me smile to look in my orderly closet. I picked the outfit and accessories last night while watching "Brothers" (not too bad of a movie). The jeans are from yesterday, but this is the debut of the khaki button down shirt.

(Photo credit goes to my 5 year old. I will try to take a less blurry one after my batteries recharge).

Day #2, replacement tank... emerging questions

After realizing that not a single one of my tank tops fit properly or didn't have ugly pattern, I decided I needed to shop. It wasn't breaking any of the sixorless rules, since I've haven't yet worn six items. But it still bummed me out, darn it, that I once again had to buy something in order to stop buying things.

It took some intense searching in 8 different mall stores (I was getting a haircut, so was there already) to find a plain, comfortable tank. Yes, it violates my no light colors principle. But finding a plain, comfortable, dark tank was impossible. The sales people acted like I was a heretic for seeking such a bizarre item, and at least one surely called mall security on me.

So here are items two and three (tank and jeans). All of the accessories were selected the night before (while watching the final episode of Jericho). This evening prep made getting ready in the morning a snap. I had even consulted weather.com so I knew the jeans would be OK.

But now questions are creeping in that I don't quite want to answer. Why in the world did I, until two days ago, have a closet full of ill-fitting, unattractive, unworn clothes? Why did I continually add to this collection? Was it simply laziness and a love of shopping, or something deeper? Maybe the answers will reveal themselves as the challenge continues.

Day #1, little black dress

Today, I opened my closet and smiled. That's the first time in 40-ahem-ahem years that that has happened.

But I then spent way too much time getting dressed :(

The choice of the black dress was easy. But I changed my shoes twice, and retied that scarf around my waist at least 10 times.

The tank top does not fit. Period. I've been wearing it under other shirts, but it doesn't work alone. It will definitely be replaced.

Turns out it's quite straightforward to use the self-timer on the camera. Good to know. Now I need some better poses, and to remember to keep my eyes open.

Tomorrow I'd like to put together a better outfit, but spend less time thinking about it!

A clean closet

I figured to make this as pleasurable (or painless) as possible, a little up front preparation would be good. So today, I took EVERYTHING out of my closet and made three piles:

1) candidates for the "magic six"
2) items that I will be happy to wear again when the 30 days are up
3) items headed straight for the local charity bin

There were 18 shirts in category #3!!! No wonder there was no room in that little closet. I can actually see my belts and scarves now.

Then I rehung the magic six:
- jeans
- shorts
- dress
- button down short sleeve shirt
- short sleeve t-shirt (green)
- tank top (coral)

The only piece I feel uneasy about is the tank. It turns out that I don't own a single tank that fits me comfortably and properly. Again, I am learning a lot. So, I may try to find a substitute before the day comes to wear it. I don't think that's cheating.

By the way, my friend Jason Setnyk put an article in the local online newspaper about this adventure. Gads, this is not the kind of journal article I am used to:

http://cornwallfreenews.com/2010/07/six-items-or-less-kris-rothley-takes-the-challenge-by-jason-setnyk-cornwall-ontario-july-26-2010/

To stop shopping... I shop!

The plan is to start the challenge in two days. Which means the six clothes items must be chosen NOW. But as I pawed through my closet, I realized that there was nothing plain enough to actually work with anything else. That in itself was a useful observation. So, it was off to the store...

Now before crying foul, note that the store of choice was a second hand store. And its offerings unfortunately resembled the selection in my closet. Lots of "distinctive" pieces, but not a lot of plain stuff that could be mixed and matched. Again, another useful observation.

As I made my selections, I had a couple guiding ideas:

- avoid light colors (I am a messy eater)
- solids only (a cute pattern might grate on my nerves after 30 days)
- no bells or whistles (minimize the likelihood that someone will recognize my clothes)
- no ironing required (hate it!)

I have not shopped with such purpose since looking for my first interview suit. And I tried on EVERYTHING. Usually, I don't bother, which may explain a lot of the unworn items in my closet :)

As the store closed, I came home with 3 shirts to go with pants, shorts, and a dress already in my collection. Will sleep on these choices, then lay them out tomorrow and make the final selection.

Getting started

My relationship with clothes is the classic cliché. A closet packed with items rarely worn. The daily, frantic morning rush to find something to wear. Time, money, and natural resources wasted. And the result (the clothes I actually end up wearing) is less than inspiring.

Well, all that is about to change... I hope.

Yesterday, I discovered a group called @sixitemsorless:
http://sixitemsorless.com/the-project/

The members of this group chose six items of clothing, then live in them and only them for 30 days. Sounds easy. Sounds impossible. Sounds like an interesting challenge that could help me to redefine my relationship to clothes.

With three kids, two dogs, three cats, two fish, and a full-time job, I'd sure like to find a way (or two), to make life a little less complicated. Yet, here comes a new complication... which six items of clothing?