So far so good on the diet! I haven’t cheated… though I was rather tempted one day recently when dropping off a bunch of my kids’ old clothing at a local consignment shop. Instead of dropping off the goods and hightailing it out of there, I poked around a little bit “just to see” what they had. While I was primarily peeking at housewares and kids’ clothing, I found myself drawn to the many racks of women’s clothing. There I found tons of crazy-good bargains on lovely, beautifully-made pieces that I’d never dare purchase full price. I even gathered several items in my arms and was heading for the changing room (”just to see” how they looked on me) when I caught myself and thought, “What the hell am I doing?!” I quickly regained my senses and put the clothes back on their respective racks for some other lucky woman to take advantage of.
While that experience left me a little shaken regarding the strength of my commitment to TGAAD, it did confirm for me the effectiveness of my primary strategy for sticking with this… STAY AWAY FROM APPAREL! I’ve made a point of staying out of malls and retail clothing establishments whenever possible, which has definitely made the diet easier. It’s on my infrequent excursions into stores with women’s clothing that I feel the greatest temptation to make a purchase. It’s also on those occasions that I feel the most “deprived” by being on this diet. I have to hand it to the advertisers, merchandisers and marketers at these establishments… they are really good at what they do! They have an insidious way of making you feel you truly NEED their item(s) of apparel in order to be a better/sexier/hipper/more successful, confident woman!
Anyway, I plan to keep going strong with TGAAD into the New Year. I wish all of my fellow dieters a happy, healthy 2010 and great successes on their continued journeys with their own diets! I look forward to hearing about your various trials, tribulations and triumphs!
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So, does out of sight mean out of mind for you? If you avoid the stores do you not think about buying clothes, or does it just get you out of arm’s reach?
This afternoon I was in Diana’s store (it’s where I get my business mail) and realized that I will have to walk past the cute tees and hoodies for a year while withstanding the temptation. She promised not to sell me anything. I can’t help but picture me begging her for one this summer!
Yes, Jennifer, it is primarily an “out of sight, out of mind” thing for me. If I’m not actually LOOKING at some lovely little number accessorized beautifully on a svelte mannequin – or seeing a giant, red “50-75% OFF!” sign atop a rounder of apparel I think I “need” – I’m kind of OK. There are so many other things going on in my life, that I don’t have time to think much about fashion and apparel if it’s not right in front of me.
Good luck traipsing through Diana’s for a year… maybe she’ll take pity on you and “gift” you something you’ve been jonesing for in order to hold you over for the duration!
I left this comment on Jan 4th, it was not published and I don’t understand why. I was respectful and took obvious care to make my points. I hope its exclusion was merely accidental. That my opinion diverges from yours or fails to validate your choices should not determine criteria for inclusion.
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Fact: You’re more likely to stick to a resolution if it’s moderate. Extremes are difficult to maintain and then guilt can ensue if back sliding occurs.
This is what pains me about the whole mission of this site, that your future choices (once you’re off “the diet”) can be impacted negatively. While you’re sitting on the sidelines, innumerable independent designers who make products of integrity, fairly and domestically, will go out of business. I think it’s more a measure of making more cogent choices. Once you begin consuming again, you will likely lament diminished choices in the market place. I think it’s more fitting to vote for good products by buying them lest they disappear altogether. We have less good stuff; it’s worse every year. They’re crowded out by cheaper and more heavily marketed brands. The issue is, you must look for the good stuff now rather than sitting passively by and waiting for it to come to you or to be presented to you in your retail venue of choice. Which reminds me. Retailers buy what consumers buy. The solution isn’t to abstain altogether, it’s to step outside your comfort zone and buying choices your retail stores have not. It is only then that better products may be available more readily.
You don’t know me. I suppose it’d be easy to wave off my criticism by saying my vested interest is paramount and colors my opinions. It’s true but it doesn’t mean I’m wrong. Each of you work in industries and businesses…what if the rest of us were to respectively boycott them in turn? It would be silly, your endeavors may be perfectly sustainable and ethical regardless of what your competitors may do. Why is apparel singled out? I think this speaks more to one’s acquisitive nature than the industry itself. Blaming an external when more introspection is required. Simply be more mindful of the products you choose to consume. This says more about the consumer and what they choose to purchase -than that they do.
Fwiw, (again, you don’t know me) I’ve become increasingly dismayed with my industry over the past ten years. I’m more of a critic of it than a cheerleader -but then yet again, you don’t know me. Whether by internal controls or a naturally minimalist acquisitive nature, I’ve never purchased clothing habitually as women do. I’m very selective. It is a rarity for me to purchase a mass market product; it has never attracted me. Marketing appeals bounce off, there’s no receptors for those to hit. Most of my selections are made by independent domestic manufacturers of integrity.