That’s right folks, I am a quitter.  I quit the Six Items of Less Challenge yesterday.  It was my second go round, and I was just simply tired of doing it. I made it through day 24 of 30, but couldn’t finish.  I spent a week trying to talk myself out of quitting but didn’t succeed.

The reason I started doing the challenge to begin with was because I had a good time the first time I did it, and I thought I would enjoy it equally this time.  Unfortunately I did not.  I don’t know if it was the clothes I picked or the time of the year or the fact that I was sick for most of it, but I was not into it.  I realized that wearing clothes I didn’t enjoy was affecting my mood. I was spending far too much time stressing in the morning about how I could possibly make the same six items of clothes look different or make me happy about what I was wearing.  But for a long time I wouldn’t allow myself to quit.

I thought I would let people down:  At least a few people have enjoyed seeing my photos each day.

I though people would think less of me:  Who quits a challenge six days before it ends.

I though that Matt would pick on me:  He had a much harder time the first go round but didn’t quit.

I thought it meant I was a failure: I have a very hard time not being able to complete something.

But I realized that if the point of doing this was for enjoyment and I was no longer enjoying it, then it was time to stop. And I think I might have learned more from quitting than finishing.

What I learned

• My friends and family aren’t going to stop loving me just because I don’t succeed at something or if I change my mind.  They don’t like me for what I do or accomplish.  They like me for me.
• I don’t always have to be perfect.  I don’t always have to “win”.  People will not think less of me.

Personally, I think these lessons are more important than anything I might learn about my clothes or my relationship to my clothing.

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Outfit for day one

Well it is official: I have lost my mind.  I am going to do the Six Items or Less (SIOL) Clothing Challenge again.  There is an official cycle starting today on the SIOL website, so I am joining the community and jumping in.  For those of you who don’t know or remember what SIOL is, here is a quick reminder. Each cycle of SIOL is 30 days and you choose six articles of clothing to wear for the full 30 days. That does not include: undergarments, socks, shoes, accessories, workout clothes, work issued uniforms, outerwear, or pajamas.

I am still picking out my six items of clothing, but as long as I don’t wear something I still have a few days to make a decision.  It is a lot harder this time to make a decision, because I don’t want to just usethe same clothes I did last time. I actually broke down and borrowed a few items from a wonderful friend so there would be some variety in my wardrobe.  Plus there is the added pressure of living up to my last experience.  I have decided on four main pieces, but I am struggling with the last two.  I am waffling between a purple dress and a pair of black dress pants for one item and a black sweater or something more colorful for the other.

I have selected the following itmes for sure (I’ll post photos once I get them all chosen):

• Dark-wash skinny jeans
• Purple v-neck sweater (One item from last round)
• Grey striped long-sleeve shirt (On loan from a friend)
• Grey button-up shirt (On loan from a friend)

As with last time, I will take a photo of my outfit every day and post it on Facebook. I will also be blogging here and as a part of the SIOL community.

I am a lot more nervous about this round than I was the last one.  Especially with the weather being so cold.  I am worried I’ll end up wearing the same combination all the time just because it is warmer than others.  Either way, it will be an adventure and I am looking forward to learning more about myself and my relationship to clothes.

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I went shopping while Matt was at Community of Song practice and found a pair of shorts I loved that were only available in a size 6.  I figured it would be a long shot, but I tried them on.  And…They Fit!  I couldn’t believe it.  I was in a size 10 a year ago, and while there is still a part of me that believes as soon as I publish this post that I will instantly and magically return to my previous size, I wanted to share my joy!

UPDATE: I will post a photo of my cute new shorts later this week!

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Now, I am worried that faced with so many clothing options I will use up my creative energy just trying to figure out what to wear, and I won’t take the time to pull my outfits together with accessories.

So I am faced with the dilemma of what to do next. The clothing I have been wearing for the past month needs a break, so I won’t continue wearing them everyday.  However, I don’t want to just fall back into things as they have always been. So for now, I think I will do a bit more closet cleaning until I am down to just the items I love.  I won’t give myself a number of pieces, but if I don’t love it, I’ll remove it.  The items I remove will go into a box for the time being, and after I am sure I don’t have to have them any more, I’ll give them away.  Either to the Goodwill or to friends.

I will, however, miss taking photos of my outfit everyday and posting them for others to comment on.  It has been a lot of fun and quite a confidence booster.  I wonder if there is someway I can reasonably continue this practice…. thoughts?

This whole process has been quite fun and eye opening,and I will write another blog post soon about what I learned from the whole experience.  Other than the obvious fact that I like to have my photo taken.

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What is especially interesting is the fact that when I have access to all my clothes, there are outfits I often wear at least once a week or once every two week, and it never bothers me.  However,  take away all my options, and I am desperately trying to keep from repeating.  Go figure!

I have also started to long for one or two more options.  Particularly, I have been wanting to wear my grey turtleneck sweater and my purple corduroy pants. I guess that means I have picked out the first items I’ll be adding back into my wardrobe when I reach the end.

If you want to see my outfits so far, checkout my facebook photo album

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What has struck me the most is how many options I have had all along and totally ignored for all these years.  Apparently, having a versatile and stylish wardrobe does not require 3,000 articles of clothing. It just requires a few nice pieces of clothes, killer accessories, cute and comfy shoes, and some creativity.  Who knew?!?!

I have also greatly enjoyed posting photos of my outfits everyday.  Not only has it been fun to get feedback from friends, but it has really been a total self-esteem boost.  I am really pleased with how those photos have turned out.  I feel like for the first time in life I am really pleased with how I look.  My hair is cute, I am pretty close to my self-imposed ideal weight, and as long as I smile you can’t even tell I’ve had 6 surgeries on my lip.  I am not even letting my typical negative outlook on all things related to me get me down.  If nothing else, this challenge has helped me see myself in a better light.

If you want to see more of those photos, head over to my Facebook photo album and check them out.

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Even though it has only been one week, I am already starting to think about what will happen at the end. Probably based on the fun I have had this week, I am energized to really use this as a chance for a change.  I currently have a closet full of tons of clothes that range from a few items I love to pieces I avoid wearing at all costs.  Mostly consisting of inexpensive pieces that look nice in the store but start to lose their shape and style after one or two washes. After a week of really focusing on how my outfits look and wearing items I really love and I feel look good on me, I realize that the way I was previously thinking about my clothes is not the way I want to continue moving forward.

So, for the time being, when the challenge is over I am considering adding one or two pieces to my wardrobe at a time instead of jumping back in all at once.  That way I can purposefully only add back clothes I love and that fit well.  Then I can take stock of my wardrobe and decide what pieces might be missing and what from my old wardrobe that I won’t miss if I give it away.

I still have weeks to make these decisions, of course.  But it is fun to start thinking about it now.

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So after much deliberation and outfit-trying-on, I have selected 6 pieces I think will work well for the next month and I will feel good wearing:

Dark wash skinny jeans by Levis:

Dark plum v-neck wool sweater from Ann Taylor Loft:

Teal 4-button cardigan from Ann Taylor Loft:

White long-sleeve peasant shirt from Eddie Baurer:

Purple and Blue striped button-up shirt from Target:

Simple black wrap dress from Target:

As I selected my clothes, I tried to pick pieces that were going to hold up to repeated wear and gave me the option to create lots of combinations.  It will be fun to see how long I can go without repeating the exact same outfit.

Here is my day one look. You can see all of my outfits in my Facebook Photo Album.

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I know what you are thinking, why on earth is Becky doing this?  And honestly I am not 100% sure what the whole answer to that question is.  Partly it is because I am bored with my clothes and want to spice things up.  All those clothes I am tired of wearing are going to seem super-exciting after 30 days of wearing the same six items.  Partly it is to help me weed out the clothes I don’t need any more.  I have clothing that I have owned for no less that 8 years and rarely wear but cannot seem to get rid of.  (I mean when was the last time I needed an X-Large tie-dyed Grateful Dead shirt, really?) Partly it is because I love a good challenge.  And last but not least, it is partly because I am curious. Maybe I really do have too many clothes. Maybe I can get by with less items that I truly love instead of a closet bursting with clothes I am tired of wearing. Maybe I will go totally crazy and give up after two weeks.  I can’t wait to find out!

So here is what I am going to do:  while Six Items or Less.com does sponsor official challenges, they do not seem to have one going on right now, so I am going do my own.  On March 1, 2011, I will begin my very own Six Items or Less challenge. Per a request from friends, I will post a photo of my outfits to a public Facebook album and blog about the experience here.  That way anyone who is interested can follow along or give me outfit suggestions.

Here are the rules:

1. Select six items of clothing and wear those and only those items for 30 days
2. The six items do not have to be selected on the first day, but if you wear an item it becomes part of your six
3. The following items do NOT count towards the six:
   • underclothing (underwear, bras, undershirts, camisoles, thermals, etc)
   • socks
   • workout clothes (only when you are working out)
   • work uniform
   • outerwear (jacket, scarves, hats, gloves, etc)
   • shoes
   • accessories (jewelry, scarves, headbands, ties)
   • sleepwear
   • swimwear
   • in-home lounge wear (If you are having people over, you are no longer lounging around the house)
4. Multiples of the same item are legal for laundry purposes, but different colors count as separate items.
5. If something gets worn out or no longer fits to the point where you wouldn’t continue to wear it outside of the challenge, trade it out for another item. The point of this challenge is not torture yourself or be overly restrictive.

Sound like fun? Then join me.  It will be more fun with friends! You don’t have to commit to posting a photo of your outfit everyday or even blogging about it regularly.  Just pick six pieces of clothing and play along.

I will post photos of the six items I have selected soon.

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Overall, I am very happy with how the sweater turned out and will wear it with pride.  The body is a little longer than I intended but still stylish, and the sleeves are a little shorter than I expected but can be corrected with blocking.  For those of you who knit or know this sort of information about clothing,  the sweater is a raglan style (something to do with the shoulder seems) and was knitted from the top down, which allowed me to knit the sweater in the round and not have to sew all the sections together at the end.  There really is no better way to make a sweater in my opinion. Who wants to sew pieces together?

When I began the class at Unwind Yarn Shop, I thought there was no way I would ever finish a wearable sweater, but I have really surprised myself. While it did take me seven months to complete the project, I did not spend all that time working on the sweater. I put it down this summer to work on other projects. All in all it is very empowering to complete such a big complex project and feel good about the result.  Of course, at least part of the credit goes to Vicki and Julie from Unwind for answering my seemingly never-ending questions and being great teachers.

I think I will definitely be knitting another sweater someday in the future!

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