I have nothing but good memories of my early childhood and elementary years. This is mostly thanks to my wonderfully creative, stay-at-home mother. I was an only child until I was eight, but my friends Allison and Sarah, and often two or three other kids, were our house every day. While we had plenty of free reign, it was my mother that helped orchestrate, and often joined in, our grandest adventures.
Summer was the best of all. We constructed elaborate slip n'slide set-ups in the back yard, where we'd tack tarps onto the end to make it longer, and still ruined the grass and our stomachs from overzealous sliding. My dad would bring refrigerator-sized boxes home from work, and we'd cut and color and open our own drive-through restaurant in the driveway. Bicycles were the vehicles of choice, and the "food" was usually tacos made from magnolia leaves. Sometimes we'd even schlep the plastic play food outside. Super Soaker water fights were a common occurrence, as were trips to the library and the public pool.
But the day that stands out above all the rest, the one that we still talk about as adults, was the day my mother
let. us. have. a. pie. fight.
She even bought the supplies. She was that cool.
I don't know where the idea came from, probably Bugs Bunny or Nickelodeon, but we got it into our heads that slopping whipped cream pies into other people's faces had to be the epitome of a good time. Maybe because you just don't see people walking down the street, slapping whipped cream at others' heads, I dunno.
So, mom went to the store and bought a carload of Cool-Whip and pie tins. We donned our bathing suits, laid the pie tins on a picnic table, and began divvying up the Cool-Whip. We had amassed quite a few more kids at that point, I think, so this was a big deal. Everyone got two or three pie plates full, so you had to aim wisely. Our backyard was immense (at least it seemed to be back then) and full of shrubbery. Trees and bushes became fortresses, globs of whipped topping met would-be invaders.
I'm sure the fight lasted only minutes before our supplies were depleted, the grass was coated in corn syrup and hydrogenated oil, and we were sticky, dirty messes. So my mom did what any reasonable mother would do.
She broke out the slip n' slide.
(That picture up there really makes me want a Little Mermaid t-shirt.)
I successfully went a whole year without buying any new clothes. Shocked?
I am a little bit, too.
Last year, when the presents were unwrapped, the bubbly uncorked, and people were resolving to be thinner, wealthier, and better-looking (or something like that), I decided to challenge myself to buy no new clothes for the entirety of 2009. “New” is really the key word here – I bought clothes that were new to me, just not new to the rest of the world.
I like clothes. A lot. Legend has it that I began to pick out my daily attire at age two, because something my mom had chosen for me didn’t “mats” (I was apparently aware of the color wheel long before I had enough teeth to say “ch”).
I treat clothes like souvenirs. I like to buy them when I travel, bringing a little piece of the world home with me. Currently, my closet holds shirts from Dublin, scarves from London, a skirt and sunglasses from L.A., Cubs shirts from Chicago. . . it’s kind of like World Market, without the well-coordinated décor, edgy music, and off-brand Nutella.
And, being a good, thrifty Presbyterian, I am also highly susceptible to the “itsareallygooddeal” disease. This illness can strike suddenly and without warning, usually within a tight radius of the Gap clearance racks. And no matter how cute that $12 Target bargain is, those add up fast, and were leaving my closet too full and wallet too, well, empty.
I also stopped buying new clothes to lessen the environmental impact of all those clearance rack spending sprees. If I don’t buy a new sweater, it means someone has to make one less sweater, and those materials and energy aren’t used. The consignment shop sweater has already been made, it’s already “out there” in the world, and by reusing it, I reduce my resource consumption, albeit by a very, very small percentage. While one sweater isn’t going to make a very big difference (or for that matter a whole year of clothes purchases) it is still something I can do, and in the end has changed by buying habits.
The rules of my experiment were simple. No buying new clothes. Consignment stores, thrift stores, garage sales, Ebay, and Craigslist were all were acceptable clothing sources. In an effort to learn a new skill, I was also allowed to wear anything I could sew myself (which sadly turned out to be, well, nothing). I could wear anything given to me as a gift, because I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings (and I have a rule to never, ever turn down free J. Crew. Just sayin.’).
Surprisingly, my year-long experiment was much, much easier than I expected it to be. Probably the most difficult was when I traveled to L.A. and had to deal with the candy-shop assortment of colorful boutiques laid out before me. I bought accessories (not forbidden) and sought out some cool thrift stores and consignment shops. I didn’t get to clear out the H&M as I would have liked, but my shopping need was well satisfied. For the rest of the year, I found a few key thrift store jewels, and got creative with how I put the rest of my wardrobe together.
If I had to summarize everything I learned this year in one word, it would be this: Ebay.
No, seriously.
I never knew what a treasure trove of fashion awaited me in cyberspace! Ebay-ing for books, electronics, and Christmas presents was old hat, but clothing was a new challenge. One that takes patience, proper measurements, and some more patience. In order to be a successful Ebay clothier, you need to know your measurements and stick to brands you know and trust (for me it’s the ever-lovely J. Crew). I would scour Ebay for the particular item I was looking for (most of the time jeans or boots), add a bunch of items to my watch list, watch as most of them went out of my desired price range, bid on a couple, and maybe win one. It took me about two months before I finally found the tall, brown boots I was looking for (new shoes weren’t off limits, just more than I wanted to spend), and I had to buy two pairs before I found one that fit (after a few forlorn sighs, the other was promptly re-listed). But in the end I ended up with a great pair of brand new $300 boots for $60, that I wear almost daily. Jeans are a bit tricker, but if you find a brand and style you love, keep scouring Ebay for them. I bought two gently used pairs of (J.Crew!) jeans for under $12 each, and that is so much more satisfying than buying the same jeans out of the catalog for $80.
I ended my retail-fashion-fast on New Years Eve by stopping at an outlet mall somewhere in Indiana. Or maybe it was Kentucky. (We were driving home from Wisconsin on our Christmas adventure across the Midwest, and I’d spent so many hours in the car at that point, I wasn’t even sure what state I was in.) All I know is, while we were chugging along I-90, my sweet husband suggested we stop and stretch our legs and let our dog relieve her ever-patient bladder. And then we pull up in front of the J.Crew factory store. Yes, folks, my husband loves me.
All that to say that one pair of cargo pants, corduroys, and a sweater later, my fast is over. And while it will be really nice to walk into a store and buy a white dress shirt if I need one, rather than scouring every thrift store in town, I don’t think I’ll be returning to my old shopping habits any time soon. I still plan to turn first to Ebay whenever I’m looking for a new pair of jeans, and thrift stores can more than satisfy any hint of “itsareallygooddeal” disease that may come my way.
And for all of you who stopped reading five paragraphs ago because this post is so damn long, here’s a recap: I didn’t buy any new clothes for a year, I survived (thrived, even!), and you should try it too.
I threw that last little encouragement in there for good measure. If you’re thinking of giving up new clothes for a while and need some pointers, let me know.
In the meantime, I’m going to try to figure out something to resolve for this new year before I blink and it’s 2011. Any suggestions?
Fall is most certainly my favorite season. It is one of those times I am very grateful to live in Tennessee, especially in Chattanooga. If I ever have to live somewhere that doesn't get to experience fall in all its colorful glory, it will be a sad day. In case you didn't get to experience fall this year, or you weren't able to get outside and enjoy it, here are a few pictures I took on campus at McCallie last week.
(If that flag pole wasn't in the way it'd be even prettier. :-))
(The view from Missionary Ridge is beautiful.)
(The iconic McCallie chapel)
We have a few more good days of fall left, then most of the leaves will be gone. I'm trying not to be sad about it, and just soaking up the beauty as much as possible.
The end of July was a very satisfying time for Project Rewear, mainly due to a kick-ass clothes-swapping party I held at my house. I invited a bunch of friends to clean out their closets and come over to have dessert and trade clothes. We were so busy digging through the mounds of clothes, however, that we never really had time for dessert, nor did we have time to take pictures. So the only photos I have to show you are of the loot I ended up with.
The dress on the left is the super cute strapless number from J.Crew that I found on ebay for $14. Then, we have my clothes swap finds: a black cashmere sweater, a brown leather purse, a stretchy and silky dress (new with tags!!) for fall, and a sleeveless purple button-down. And I completely forgot to take pictures of the two pairs of summer-y dress sandals I ended up with. May I remind you this was all free?
Everyone that came to the swap ended up going home with something, which made me really happy. And afterwords, I took seven or eight bags of clothes and shoes to the Northside Neighborhood House thrift shop, and organization that is doing awesome things for our neighborhood. It was certainly a win/win, and I think the clothes swap might become a yearly event. You should host one, too!
On another fashion note, I will leave you with a bit of eye candy. I made this corsage belt with a couple of silk flowers, a few scraps of chiffon, and an old sash, and I love it. I might make one in every color family.
Sorry, folks, it's been a while. The semester has been drawing to an end, work got busy, and yada yada yada, the usual excuses.
I never posted an April edition of Project Rewear, but I'm not really sure that I bought or made anything. I'll wrap up a May edition soon after I finally remember to get pictures off of my camera, but here's a teaser - it involves a bed sheet and a showing machine, and a successful consignment shopping trip.
Apart from swooning over each J.Crew catalog that comes in the mail (mmm. . . beautiful and soft vintage prints . . .drool), my year of non-retail shopping has been easier than I'd imagined it would be. I think I'm going to throw a fashion swap party sometime this summer, where everyone is invited to clean out their closets and bring clothes, purses, shoes & accessories to swap. We can donate whatever isn't claimed at the end of the evening. So ladies, start digging through the back of your closests - if you're anything like me, there's a ton of stuff in there that either hasn't fit in 5 years or you've just never really liked anyway. . .
In other life news, one more week until summer hours begin - woo hoo! While I'm still jealous of my teacher friends that get the entire summer off (seriously, what was I thinking majoring in journalism??), it is really, really nice to get an extra hour and a half to each weekday during the summer. That extra time makes a big difference when it comes to walking the dog in the morning, and getting dinner ready at night. It's nice.
I booked a ticket to LA this week! I'm going to go see a dear, dear friend in June, and I'm so excited! I've never been to LA (ok, I went to Disneyland when I was 6, but that doesn't count), and I probably wouldn't choose it as a vacation destination if my friend didn't live there, but she's a local I'm hoping she'll know all the cool places to visit, eat, etc. Maybe I'll have to look up some cool consignment shops while I'm there. . .
I like eplipses . . . :)
My summer projects are going to include art (I hope to work on some more pastel drawings, at least), learning Illustrator (I found some good tutorials online, I just need to make the time to do it), and . . . applying to grad school! Well, at least getting ready to apply to grad school. If I can get my thoughts gathered enough to write a kick-ass statement of purpose and application, I may apply for the fall semester, but otherwise it might have to wait 'till spring. I'm hoping for fall - I want to get started as soon as I can, since Im just going to try to take one class at a time (online) while I continue to work. I took the GRE about two years ago and I'm trying to avoid taking it again. I didn't do as well as I would have liked, but I'm not a very good test taker. I studied for the stupid thing for months, but the longer I studied, the most anxious I got. When I finally went to take the test, I didn't do nearly as well as I should have because it just freaked me out. So, I'm not sure it's worth it to put myself through that all over again. I hope the admissions people understand, and my GPA helps make up for it.
Sorry for the stream-of-consiousness post, kids. I just had to get something out there in the bloggosphere, before I gave it up all together.
I figured I had better add a March installment of this series before March is gone completely, so here it is.
Avoiding retail clothing this month was quite simple, mostly because my sweet and thoughtful husband gave me a J.Crew gift card for our first anniversary (that's right folks, 1 year!). I happily shopped the J.Crew sales (remember, gifts are ok) and made out like a bandit with a super cute navy cotton taffeta skirt, a salmon-colored cardigan (one of my 2 favorite colors), and a black sleeveless sweater with chiffon rosettes (I love J.Crew's embellishments).
In other "non-retail" shopping news, I have been on the lookout for a pair of brown/tan gladiator-style sandals that wouldn't break the bank (actually not hard to find in this economy, as cheap fashions are popping up everywhere), but would also be good for my feet. Enter Dansko!
Now, I nursed a mild hatred for the famous clog company for some time. You see, I think clogs are ugly. Clunky. And hard to walk in. And even though Danskos were supposed to be marvelous for your feet and back and such, I figured there had to be cuter ways to take care of yourself. Then, I discovered that Dansko made other things besides clogs! Who knew! In fact, they made some very cute non-clog footwear. Now, there was comfort I could get behind. I found my first pair of Danskos, black strappy sandles with a slightly chunky heel, on a clearance table at a local shoe store. Cute? Check. Comfy? Check. Cheap? Check. Tongue tied? Yep. Then, I found the illusive cute and good-for-me gladiators a couple of weeks ago on ebay. Score! Here are the beauts:
(photo couresty of ebay seller theshoemart)
So, if you're in the market for some shoes, can't spend much, but still want something a little more durable than Payless, try ebay. These were one of last season's styles, but, um, really, who's going to know that? And they were less than half of the retail price. The moral of this story? Don't be afraid to look for clothing and shoes through venues you normally wouldn't think of (ebay, craigslist, etc.). You might be surprised at the selection and price, and you're preventing the needless manufacturing of an item that may already be out there floating around someplace.
Let's see, we'd had an amazing dinner at Marrakesh, and, happy and full, we wandered around some of the other countries for a bit while we waited for the fireworks show. Here we are dancing in Italy.
And attempting to take no-flash pictures in China.
The fireworks show was great (sorry, no pictures), but as soon as that was over, we took our weary feet back to the POPS Century (our Disney hotel) and got a good night's sleep.
Next, onto the Magic Kingdom! While all the Disney parks are wonderful, there will always be a special place in my heart for the Magic Kingdom. You know, it's the one with the Dumbo and Peter Pan rides, and of course Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. So many good ones! :)
The quintessential castle/crowd shot.
I think I was tired at the Magic Kingdom (it was day 3 after all), because I didn't take nearly as many pictures. It was also threatening to rain most of the day, so maybe I was afraid of getting the camera wet. To make up for the lack of pictures, I'll post a couple of videos for you.
We got to Magic Kingdom early, before it opened, which is great because Mickey and friends come out, and do a song a dance for you before they open the park. It's all very fun. We did all the popular stuff early (Buzz Lightyear [my favorite ride at MK!], Space Mountain, teacups, Haunted Mansion, Pirates), then headed back to Hollywood Studios in the afternoon (when MK got super crowded) for the Indian Jones Stunt Show (we didn't have time to see it the day before). It's a great show, so we were pretty excited.
A little clip from the show:
A funny story at this point in the day: on our way out of the park, Lyndsay and I were pulled aside by a cast member doing customer satisfaction surveys. We got to fill out this little online survey about the quality, price, etc. of the food available. The funny part was that I had waited in not one, not two, but three lines that day, trying in vain to buy a snack, all of which sold out just prior to me reaching the snack stand. I was able to tell the survey "your food is great but please, have some more of it!", and was rewarded for my efforts with a Disney pin, which is happily perched on my dresser at home. :)
Ok, from there we headed back to POPs for some pizza, rest (us girls), and pool time (the boys). We needed to be refreshed for our late-night Magic Kingdom adventure!! That day happened to be Magic Hours, which basically means that anyone staying in a Disney hotel gets to stay later than everyone else. We could stay till 3 a.m.! We put on our rain jackets and hit the soggy but brightly-lit park.
We particularly enjoyed Tomorrowland, with the People Mover and the spaceship ride - the view was great. I loved the glowing castle, as evidenced by the 100 + pictures I took from various angles around the park.
You get the idea. My favorite new MK attraction was the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, an interactive show where the cartoons talk back to you. Somewhere, somehow, there's gotta be someone holding a mic. It's awesome. It's a hard one to take pictures of, though, because it's on a screen, so here's one of the waiting area.
Another highlight of the evening: Lee's "extreme" version of the Tea Cups. While each cup spins around the big circle automatically, there's also a little wheel inside the cup you can turn to spin in little circles as well. The harder you turn, the faster you go. Terrifying, and super fun! :)
By this point, we were getting tired. This is our "I'm soo sleepy but I do not want to leave!" face.
Ultimately, Lee and I only made it 'till about 1 a.m. I think the Slatens made it till 2 or 2:30. Even though I've been to Disney many times, being in the Magic Kingdom at night was something I'd never gotten to do before, and it was a blast!
To conclude this Disney World adventure recap, let me say that if you ever have the chance you should so go to Disney World! I would recommend that you wait until small children are at least 7 or 8 years old, or their experiences will be limited, and probably forgotten. And if you don't have kids, go anyways! You may be surprised at how much fun you have. :)
