Mission: (Hopefully Not) Impossible
Everyone can put away the tissues; I'm back to blogging, and life as we knew it can now resume. For the thousands* of people who asked me what happened to the regular posts, I'm simply blaming it on the holidays, followed by the post-holiday season, followed by a crippling fear that nobody reads the blog anyway (just kidding, kind of).
*roughly two
So here I am, after almost five months, which I'll point out as a fun fact, is longer than the span of time I was actively blogging. I'm back to business; I'm in a great routine at work and at home and in the gym, and I'm excited to keep the blog up to date with consistent new content going forward into the rest of 2017. At the bottom of the post, you'll find a little look back at some of my favorite outfits and my daily outfit posts from my blogging hiatus.
SO: onto my mission for the next six months and the main reason for this post. I was recently reading an article about a woman who gave up buying new clothing for an entire year (literally zero clothing items - not even socks). Her rules allowed her to spend money on other things such as essentials: groceries, grooming products, everyday cosmetics, etc., however, they disallowed her from trying any new products in the grooming and cosmetic categories. For an example, she could replace her existing makeup and other toiletries as she consumed them, but she wasn't allowed to spend money on new products she was interested in trying out. I guess I'll have to say goodbye to my dream of testing out those peel-off charcoal face masks I see advertisements for on the reg. She could also spend money on whatever experiences she'd like, whether that's a weekend getaway or a skydiving adventure (don't worry mom; you know I'm too scared to do that).
I'll be honest; an entire year seems extreme, and the possibility of me snapping and going on an outlandish shopping spree seems high if I were to attempt it. That's the reason I'm making my goal only six months. It will undoubtedly still be challenging for me - you know how much I love clothing, and there's no feeling like wearing a piece of clothing I love for the first time.
The entire point of this is twofold. First of all, I spend a lot of money on clothes I don't need. It's money I could be saving or putting toward memories either by myself or with people I love. What am I going to cherish more a few years down the road? Is it going to be that top I bought in the summer of 2017, or will it be the memories from tubing down a river with friends? It obviously depends on the level of cuteness of that top, but my guess is the time spent with friends will always win. As a side note, I've only had hilariously fun experiences tubing down rivers. I highly recommend it.
The second reason for the ban on clothing purchases is the entire point of this blog post, so if you've made it this far in the novel, congratulations! I'm doing this to challenge myself to create unique outfits every day for the next six months with the clothing already existing in my closet. That means I can wear the same tops, bottoms, shoes, and accessories, but the combinations in which I wear them can't be repeated. So often I (and I'm sure a lot of you) get stuck in a rut wearing the same items in a cycle. Earlier this Spring, I realized I wore the same shirt and scarf combo three Tuesdays in a row. What has my life come to?! There are a handful of items in the front of my closet that I keep going back to because I know exactly how I can style them, and I don't need to think about it when my brain isn't quite fully charged yet in the morning.
As I mentioned before, here are a few of my favorite looks from the past few months. I hope you can gain some inspiration from them!
I hope you'll follow along as I take on the next six months, during which I'll test my creativity as well as my discipline. I'll be showing you how to put together fresh outfits with pieces you already have in your closet. If you have a piece of clothing you don't know what to do with, leave a note in the comments, and I'd love to help! Happy Spring!
xoxo,
Maryweather