Feb 03
Sally Bjornsen

Thanks to all of you who participated in the interview with the Time Magazine blog reporter.  I think he did a good job telling our story.  Once again a great example of how all of our motivations are different and yet the same.  I encourage you to read it when you get the chance!

Since last September, a group of women have been on a fashion fast, refusing to buy any article of clothing for 12 months. What have they learned so far from The Great American Apparel Diet, as the experiment’s called? For one thing, giving up clothes shopping is much easier than giving up wine.  

 

When The Great American Apparel Diet began, 20 women made the commitment to make due with rummaging in their closets for a year. At last check, there were 97 participants from seven countries.

Six of these dieters, including GAAD founder Sally Bjornsen, answered my questions about their experiences thus far. As you’ll see in the Q&A that follows, their reasons for joining the movement vary. For most, it was simply a personal choice to reevaluate shopping habits. Saving thousands of dollars in the process is a bonus.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/yhq6sv4

 

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Oct 30
Rebecca Kotch

It’s just about the end of week one of this “unemployment” business. I can tell the days are just going to blend together and that there is no such thing as “hump day” in my new world. Even my young son said to me on Monday morning as I was dropping him off at school, “Mommy  – we don’t have to rush out of the car”. Right. My sentiment exactly. Mommy doesn’t have a job! Of course I silently replied to him, as I am quite sure that he has not mentally registered that Mommy seems to be around the house MUCH more now. Or that Mommy seems to be wearing her pajamas all day.
Which gets me to the point about our apparel diet? Are we allowed to purchase new pj’s? Is this part of the “new underwear” clause? If underwear is an approved purchase over this year long haul, are night-night clothes okay too? Of course if this is allowed, I will be sure to head straight to TARGET and avoid J.Crew at all costs.
TARGET – Affordable and fashionable. And at this point, the former descriptive is all I care about.

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Oct 27
Sally Bjornsen

LadyDianaFlowersI have a friend who judges women on whether or not they remember where they were when Lady Di died.  She uses this as a barometer for what kind of woman you are.  If you can’t remember or don’t care my friend would instantly dismiss you as “not her kind of girl.” 

Well I can take that concept a step further…I know what I was wearing when Lady Di died—a pair of burnt orange Gap jeans, a gray short sleeved t-shirt and a pair of ratty Nike Pegasus shoes, sans socks.  I was probably wearing a bad bra too; I don’t remember the brand.  Underwear? Who knows?  I had been painting my office and made a quick trip to the paint store when I heard the news.  I wish I had been more appropriately dressed for the occasion.  It was Lady Di after all.  

I know it’s silly and probably a giant brain drain but like songs from the 70s I remember almost every important event in my life by the outfit I wore.  I am not just talking about clothes I wore in pictures; I am talking about clothes that I wore to my first gyno appt., my first kiss, and my first day of third grade.  The list goes on and on, it’s kind of embarrassing.  

I also have a list in my brain of my top ten outfits of a lifetime.  It starts with an ensemble from third grade.  A knit pant suit with yellow and white horizontal striped bell bottoms (who knew that was ever a good look) and a solid yellow knit tunic.  And then there was the pair of footless black leggings paired with a fuchsia shaker sweater that went down to my knees—In retrospect I looked like The Big Fig Newton with a ratty perm.  Then there was the Rayon black blazer from The Limited that I wore with pleated Seattle Blues acid washed jeans, The Nicole Miller aqua and black print flapper dress with the long waist (it looked hideous on me but I loved the print). 

I won’t bore you with the rest of my top ten, but here’s my point.  Apparel makes my world-go-round.  It’s part of who I am, how I approach the world and how I organize my mind.  Weird, and quite possibly shallow, I know.  Just think of all the world’s problems that have been left unsolved simply because my brain is filled with memories of polyester and wool. But, oh well, that’s me. 

 For the record, as I write this I am wearing a J. Crew heather gray long sleeved cotton t-shirt, a pair of strategically ripped jeans by Big Star, my Frye engineer boots with Hue stripped socks, a pair of Calvin Klein undies and a flesh colored Natori bra.

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