The Great American Apparel Diet

no buying for one year

I was weak. I’ll admit. I had been doing so well!

Not really.

I’ve bought more shoes since starting TGAAD than I have in the last few years combined, I’m pretty sure. I’ve bought now THREE pairs of boots since September, plus shoes that replaced broken shoes, PLUS the “OMG they fit!!!! must buy!!” (at a 5~5.5 it’s really hard for me to find shoes that fit that I like)…. minus the OMG-they-fit shoes I ended up giving away to my similiar-footed friends b/c I was just never wearing them, or they started to hurt after coming out of their winter-hiberation.

Yesterday, I went to brunch with some galpals I hadn’t seen in a while right next to a shopping center. And one needed new shoes (she’d lost her good flipflops during some baggage loss), and the other needed a dress to wear to a wedding.

So I also bought some shoes to replace a pair of wedges that are breaking down due to getting caught in sudden rains and also another pair of boots that I don’t need, because they were just too cute, and too much on sale. Of course. I thought this was enough to sate my shopping hunger. Wrong.

I tried on some clothes to see what they would look like while my pals were also trying on new looks. I discovered that I actually really like ruffles, and planned on busting out the sewing machine to hack some old tanktops to recreate the look this weekend…

and then came the skirts.

For work… they look so nice. and were on moderate sale. but would be a great “other” option to my Ann Taylor dry-clean-only power skirts. And I’m so bored with my other skirts, and they don’t make me feel good. And it’s hard to accessorize a skirt. My old skirts make me feel OK, but these nice, new, trim pencil skirts made me feel good. And they fit. (I’ll admit, I’ve been tempted to buy thing before, but never could, b/c they weren’t in my size.) So I bought them.

New clothes!

BUT now I’m also really excited about the new season starting, the old summer clothes I can bust out again, and the modifications that I can’t wait to make to recreate and update some old garments to make them actually wearable.

I’ll be good again now!!

Onward!!!

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84
days since I began this diet.
49
days until I broke down and bought “something”
875
what that ‘something’ cost. “shh..”
35
days since then
8
items I tried selling on eBay in hopes of M.M.M [making more money]
1
item that actually sold [jeans]
69.99
was the price I sold them for [yay!]
200
was what I paid for them [boo]
281
days left in this challenge!

HAPPY FRIDAY LOVIES :)

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The only thing I have been lusting for since joining 3 and a half months ago is work pants. I dream at night about black pants.
I have also been saying all along “The trick is to not look.” Well, I guess I should have taken my own advice.
I used a gift card (which are not allowed under my own rules) and purchased a pair of gray and a pair of black pants for work. My total after the card was $4.32. This purchase opened up at least 20 more outfits that I could wear to the office.
Here’s the clincher: I cannot bring myself to wear them. I feel like a cheater. A failure. An anti-minimalist. I have decided against returning them at this point just because they were such a good buy and I don’t want to have to search for them in 9 months when I finish the diet. So for now they sit, untouched, in my basement. I would have been much better off if I had just not looked. I could still say I went the entire year without buying. I’m going to make the best of it though. I have learned my lesson and I will no longer say to myself “It can’t hurt just to look.”

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SoOoOooOoo I’ve done it. I have fallen off the proverbial wagon and bought something.

Was it expensive? Probably…
Unnecessary? Probably..
Worth it? TOTALLY.

To be fair, this isn’t juuusst ‘something’ it’s more than that…I bought a limited edition type coat by Smythe for HBC. It’s ABSOLUTELY 100% GORGEOUS!! And I LOOOVVVEE it and it LOOVEESS MEEEEE back! I want to have its babies! 100,000,000 of them!!

………annnyywaaayyy.

Let’s slow things down with a little history lesson about this jacket: In 2009 HBC [Hudson Bay Company] asked 10 Canadian Designers to re-create one of a kind coats from a HBC Point Blanket. Originally, they weren’t for sale, however, Smythe’s jacket in particular was so popular that they made a special order of 100 coats and sold them during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Anyhow, this is just one little minor blip on the radar. I will continue on with this challenge. After purchasing my jacket, I started thinking; I wonder what the success rate of this challenge is. I know you can measure ‘successes’ in a number of different ways yadayadayada. But if you measure your success rate as 100% = no buying anything and 0% = buying a new pair of Louboutin’s every week, what would it beeeee?!?!

Perhaps we can start a poll: For those on the challenge, how many non-essential items have you purchased? Don’t’ be shy, be honest…but be warned, I WILL JUDGE YOU! [just kidding, I won't - cubs honor]

Zero
1 – 4
5 – 9
10 – 14
15 & Up

I suppose it was rather ambitious of me for thinking I could go an ENTIRE year without shopping. Mehhh…oh well, it was a good run; 7 weeks of zero shopping. That’s pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good…if I say so myself. All in all, No regrets. And whatever your number is; keep on keeping on.

For previous post, and more ridiculousness check out Naked Susie; A year without [new] clothes

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So it’s official:

I’M FREAKING OUT MAN!!!!!

As i get closer to to my start date, I’m getting more and more nervous, anxious, doubtful… that I will be able to actually start and finish this challenge.

So nervous that I bought a pair if True Religion jeans yesterday morning… Blarrrgg. I’m doomed!

My friend and a fellow dieter mentioned taking an inventory of my clothes. So I did, and I’m disappointed with the choices I am left with. I cant help but think this diet could have been a whole lot easier if I had made rational, thought out purchases when buying my current wardrobe. Instead of the “Oohh! This is pretty, Oohh this I cute” approach I inevitably ended up taking. Double Blarrg.

Another thing that bothers me is the fact that it’s not a really great wardrobe as a whole. Sure I have some fantastic individual pieces, but most of it is just, well, blahhh..uninspiring, really. Which is rapidly decreasing my confidence.

Update* I had another meltdown last night and ended up purchasing 2 button down shirts, a lovely striped hoodie, and two pairs of jeans [one for me and one for the bf..] from Abercrombie.

I KNOW!!! I’M A HORRIBLE PERSON, 100% HORRIBLE!!!

… on the bright side, I haven’t bought anything today! Baby steps…baby steps.

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I wanted to reaffirm my participation for this diet at least through the end of the year. I’m too much of a chicken to raise my hand to join for a year, but I do want to keep going. I joined this ‘diet’ July 23rd, about 6 weeks ago, and promised myself I’d try it out until the Sept 1st deadline. It’s been over-all a good experience: I have more time to do (non-shopping) other things, and more money to spend on more experiential things, and I want that to continue. I very much treasure the idea of appreciating, enjoying, and really using the things I already own.

This is kind of embarrassing, but over the past six weeks, I have fallen off the wagon and cheated once and skirted things another time, but I have lots of justifications for my ‘transgressions.’ I bought ONE (not two) new pair of skinny jeans that were 30% off, from Gap (so they were cheap), would allow me to utilize the three pairs of boots I couldn’t wear with pants, they fit over the additional 10lbs I’ve gained in the past 6 months, and I coveted the pants for about two weeks and I also can wear them to my new job, landed last week. While this is a definite cheat, I restrained myself, and it wasn’t an impulse buy. To brag, I have worn them three times in the past 5 days, so I am enjoying them.

I feel better now that I’ve admitted my guilt, and can feel better about moving forward over the next few months, shopping only in my closet!

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I’ve been pretty successful on this diet, though I have had a few “cheats”. I will catalogue them now for full disclosure: 1 pair boots this winter (I actually did not have a pair of boots that were waterproof, and now that I am commuting a few blocks in the snow, they were necessary), a new t-shirt from a state park and a new shirt from a local artisan. I think this is pretty darn good! It’s way better than I’ve ever done on a food diet anyway! Besides the practicality of the boots, the two shirts were supporting things that I want to support. I could have just given the park money, but I like advertising for it. And the artisan was at a local craft fair, so it was a one-time chance.
What’s been the most interesting to me throughout this diet though is how I’ve found a new value system.

When I first started, every day that I walked past Anne Taylor was torture. And I walk past this store every week day. I would stare in and LONG for the outfits in the window. A couple of months ago, I went into the store. I was nervous, and I found I wanted things. But then I looked at the price tags. Suddenly dropping $180 on a new dress “just because” seemed appauling! I used to do this weekly without batting an eye, now it just seems frivolous, despicable even. I saw these cute t-shirts with ribbons and pearls on them, and thought about how much I wanted one. It wasn’t very expensive either. But I realized that I could actually take a pink t-shirt I already own and turn it into this cute be-dazzled shirt. This was especially a good idea because the shirt has a small coffee stain on it, and I have therefore not worn it. But I could turn it into something I want to wear again by attaching decorative items to it!

I now find myself exploring store windows, not with lust and envy, but with a curious eye turned towards “how did they make that”? I am re-discovering my once artistic and creative self, and finding fulfillment. I am also discovering that I have managed to save a lot of money for things that matter more to me, and feeling less stressed out.  It’s nice to be able to walk to work without feeling completely depressed that you “can’t have” that cute dress in the window.  Now I realize that I can have whatever I want, but my “wants” are changing.

Who knew that deprivation would lead to so much gain!?

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The day after I posted on this blog last month, all proud that I hadn’t felt the need to cheat, yada yada, and saying that really the only thing on my post-September list was a pair of running shoes, what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a pair of my favorite brand of running shoes at 70% off!

I briefly considered walking away but then quickly ran down a hasty list of justifications and in no time at all, well, you read the title so you know what comes next…   Do you want to hear my list?  OK, here goes:

1.  This is fate.  A higher power has spoken.  I just blogged about this…”ask and the universe shall provide,” right?

2.  Running shoes are a tool, not really apparel.  I don’t buy them because I want to and get a fashion high from them, but rather because they wear out and I need to replace them to stay healthy.

3.  Though this is a purchase, it does comply with my new pledge to stop recreational shopping, and to only buy things that I have decided that I need.  This is the one thing I’ve said I need and will buy, right?

4.  Wow.  70% off!

5.  I will buy them now, and keep them in the closet until September.  So really it’s just a budgeting issue–post-TGAAD I get new shoes that I just happened to pay for a few months before.

Did I convince you?  Obviously, I convinced myself.  However, at the end of the day and this list of justifications, the truth is that I cheated.  But I’m back on the wagon now!

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I cheated. Nine months in and I cheated. I bought two new yoga tops. I could give you some good excuses like – my droopy boobs that seem to have dropped two additional inches this year – needed a bit more support, but that would just be an excuse. A real one none the less, but still I could have held out. The real reason is that I started ‘not to care’…just got tired of all the other pressures of my life and this seemed the easier route to take. Just got back from a very rough trip to NY while my brother received chemo for 4 days in a row, with me by his side. Many, many family dynamics and a long flight delay home, to MORE RAIN and MORE family pressures and I just got plain tired. I’m sorry. But I’m not returning the tops. I will do my best to stay on track for the remaining months. As much as I say I don’t care…it does matter.

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Me in a formerly "too small" dress from my attic!

Well, I’ve been quite busy, so it’s taken me awhile to get around to writing this confessional… er, I mean, entry… but here it is:

I bought some clothes.

Yep, folks, I fell off the TGAAD wagon… actually, I jumped off it quite deliberately, but I can explain:

Many of you know that I’ve lost over 22 pounds over the last 6 months.  It was hard work and I’m proud of my accomplishment.  I’m also proud of the fact that – with the help of several belts, hand-me-downs from friends, and the timely discovery of a bin of clothing labeled “Cathy – too small” in my attic – I’ve remained true to my TGAAD commitment this entire time.

However, when I recently landed a part-time job (after being primarily a full-time stay-at-home mom for 11+ years), I knew some clothing purchases were on my shopping horizon.  I work mostly from home, but when I do need to go into “the office”, I’m with CEO’s and C-suite executives of major Manhattan corporations.  At those times, the dress code is “current & corporate”.  The few businessy items I still own that are even REMOTELY corporate positively scream, “I love the 80’s!” (think boxy with big shoulder pads), and just aren’t going to cut it!

SOOO, I quite intentionally took a little trip to a local off price women’s clothing store for the purpose of picking out a few “must have’s” for my new job.  In my mind, these included a skirt suit, a pants suit, a couple of business blouses, and an additional business skirt or dress.  Really not excessive, I thought.

On the one hand, I felt guilty shopping for clothes while on TGAAD, but there were many facets of the experience I enjoyed:  surveying the many colorful racks of apparel, feeling the various fabrics and textures as I thumbed through the hangers of clothes, lugging loads of items into the dressing room, trying on clothes I thought would fit only to find I was now a size smaller than I believed.  The only unpleasant part of my trip was the bingey sensation I had trying on loads of clothes after being on this clothing fast for so long.  With dozens of items in that dressing room, it was like being on a clothing pig-out!

Once I narrowed my dozens of potential items down to 8 pieces of apparel, I floated on cloud nine over to the register.  However, that’s when my mood changed.  With each swipe of that bar code reader across my apparel tags, my bliss decreased while my tab increased.  The thrill I’d experienced in the dressing room dissipated and uncertainty crept in, “Do I really need THAT?”, “Can’t I make do with just THOSE?”  After having scrimped through 12 months of my husband’s unemployment, the number at the bottom of my receipt seemed huge.  I left the store with garment bags over my shoulder and doubts swirling in my head.

Once home, I laid my new items of apparel out on my bed and took a long, critical look at them.  Those “must have’s” now seemed excessive and self-indulgent.  Yes, I needed clothes for work, but I didn’t really need that many, I just WANTED them.  Prior to losing weight, I’d been “dressing room averse” for awhile.  But, with my new svelte figure, I was like a kid in a candy store and got a tad carried away.

With a guilty conscience, I scoured my closet yet again for any apparel that could possibly replace some of the pieces I’d bought.  There was nothing in my closet but, at the very bottom of the clothing bin from my attic, I did uncover a passable pencil skirt, a businessy blouse and 2 pairs of businessy slacks.  SOOO, with that, I decided to go back to the store and make a few returns.  After having “binged” on all that clothing, the returns felt much like the concomitant purge, but I was happy to let them go.

I still own a lovely Tahari two-toned skirt suit, a work blazer, and a lovely asymmetrical neckline blouse (that can do double duty for evenings out), but the rest of my purchases ended up back at the store awaiting a home in someone else’s closet.  Depending on my new work schedule, I may still need a few more pieces of work clothing before TGAAD ends on September 1^st.  However, I’ve vowed not to cross any more clothing bridges until I get to them!

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