The Great American Apparel Diet
no buying for one year

Erin

Erin O’Connor Jones is a young (ha!), forty-something wife and full-time mom-extraordinaire to three, fabulous little ones, ages 7, 5 and 21 months old. When she’s not washing and folding laundry (too many clothes!), Erin can be found working as a career advisor and recruiter at the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group, blogging at Change.org and fundraising for the Small School PTA. A former follower of the “Preppie Handbook,” Erin spent her adolescent and twenty-something years fostering her love of the black dress, cardigan, turtleneck, khaki pant (wide leg) and practical, comfortable (but stylish) shoes such as the Tretorn tennis shoe and the loafer. A worshipper of The Gap, J. Crew, Talbots, and LL Bean, Erin is right at home in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. She lived briefly in Seattle, but after discovering that her clothes weren’t cool enough and her nonprofit salary large enough – she returned to Boston, MA. Erin’s nonprofit work is done from her home office, accommodating her school drop-offs in yoga pants (tries to get to yoga class, but not always successful) and warm, winter fleece, coupled with the Dansko clog. Given that she only has 4-5 face-to-face client meetings per year, Erin hopes to alternate her beautiful, grey suit, and a fashionable, black, wrap dress throughout the year without her boss noticing the “uniform”. In preparation for the cold, Maine winter, Erin replenished her selection of black, ribbed turtlenecks last week, and is ready for the diet. Erin says “after inviting my colleagues to join me on the Diet, I got excited by our discussions about why they might onboard or not. Following these lively conversations, I became more motivated to contribute, model behavior for my children, and hopefully, clear space in my head and home.”