The Great American Apparel Diet
no buying for one year

Tina C

I'm a 36 year old mother of 2 1/2 year old twin boys. For the past 2 1/2 years, I've been a stay at home mom, and for a year of that, ran a non-profit women's volunteer organization. The volunteer job required a few cute outfits each month for fundraisers, recruitment events and the like. For what I felt were obvious reasons, I often used that as an excuse to go out and buy something new. Couldn't be caught in the same thing twice!! Contrast with my 'at home' wardrobe of tank tops, jeans/shorts, and flip flops. Now, running around after two little boys is of course nuts. Many of my friends with little ones claim that they are so busy the wouldn't have time to shop, so they're just digging through the closet for whatever fits. Not me. My philosophy has been that it's way faster to go buy a new top than to dig through the closet for something that's already there. I recently took on the daunting task of organizing our home. I was a bit appalled when I discovered that I had duplicates of so many household items. At the same time, I'm on the brink of re-entering the workforce, partly for some intellectual stimulation (I hate to admit I sing Elmo songs when my kids aren't around!), and partly for financial reasons. So when I heard about The Great American Apparel Diet on NPR's Marketplace this past weekend, I knew it was time for me to take the wardrobe plunge. I am looking forward to purging (Seriously, what girl really needs 6 different red tank tops!?) and organizing what I have and finding ways to repurpose what I already have.