Six Items or Less - I Did It, So You Don't Have To

Put your closet on a diet!

When it comes to food, you probably know what your bad habits are.  Mine is Coke.  The sugary corn-syruped one.  But what about your clothes?  What bad habits do you have?  Did you even know you had clothing habits?

Before I challenged myself to attempt the Six Items or Less clothing experiment last fall, I think I would have said the following about clothes: "It's hard to find clothes that are comfortable."  And, "My 9W feet are why I don't wear cute shoes."

What I learned was I actually had bad habits.  For example, buying clothes in a hurry that didn't really fit!

Eight months into my journey, I no longer make excuses.  I have learned what works for me and make an effort at the beginning of each month to create a set of comfortable, versatile options.  Down to the toes.

What bad clothing habits do you have?  

Discover what a clothing diet could reveal for you!

I am not suggesting you attempt the Six Items or Less challenge - because I already did that for you!  Your goal (as with a food diet) is to eliminate the bad habits and create new ones.  You can start by reducing (not eliminating!) the percentage of clothing items you have at your fingertips on a daily basis.  Focus on just keeping the good stuff!

Phase 1:
As with any diet - PREPARATION IS KEY!
1.  Locate a "staging" area large enough to temporarily accommodate ALL of your clothes.  Yes, ALL of them.
2.  Sort clothes by type.  Yes, ALL of them.  T-shirts, Cute Tops, Blouses, Long-sleeve shirts, jeans, pants, shorts, dresses, leggings, long skirts, mini-skirts, costumes, prom dresses, sweaters, cardigans,...   
3.  Take a break.  From ALL of it.

Phase 2:

Prepare the environment by removing distractions.  
1.  Select a few items from various categories that fit RIGHT NOW and might be useful in the next 30 days.
2.  Put everything else away.  In your regular closet and drawers. 
It's just 30 days!  No big deal.  You can have them back :) 
3.  Bonus points - Donate some things.  Or give them to your sister.  Or whatever.

Phase 3:

Get your CLOTHING DIET PLAN IN ORDER!
1.  Try on what you did not put away.  Scrutinize the fit.  Eliminate a few more.
2.  With what remains, try all kinds of combinations together.  Eliminate a few more.
3.  Set aside an area of the closet to access these items for the month. 
Get sweaty items, pajamas, and underwear don't count.  Use what you need.  :) 

Did you pare it down to 10? 15?  Put one more away!
Good Luck and Bon Appetit!

Maintenance...
You shouldn't need to pull ALL your clothes out again. :)

It just helps the first time to see what you have.

What to Wear - The Six Items or Less Clothing Diet

Fourth in a series:

Six Items or Less - becoming a habit.   

After applying the Six Items or Less philosophy to my clothes for two months, true change began to set in!  No longer racing around in the morning trying to figure out what to wear, I could focus on the task ahead.  I learned it's NOT all about the accessories (It's All About the Accessories, Right?) and I certainly learned What NOT to Wear.

I also learned that, because of the temperature controlled world we live in, my clothes did not get THAT dirty.  It was rare that I would sweat or play in dirt! without time to change.  As a result, I began changing out of the selected items as soon as possible.  This way, I could get a 2nd, or 3rd! use out of them before laundering.  Two particular cotton t-shirts and yoga pants became my uniform around the house - or when getting sweaty or dirty.

I learned to hang-up my clothes.  I know, not a big deal, but it was not my habit.  Take it off.  Hang it up.

In anticipation of November, I began to scrutinize my wardrobe and add to the donation pile.  Sweaters with any trace of wool - gone!  Too itchy.  Cropped pants - gone!  They look all wrong on me because they hike up in back.   Cute tops that hung limply at the wrong length no matter how much I liked them - gone!

November was upon me, and I was ready.  I thought through my month - Homebound Tutor for special needs child, Battle of the Books coach at the Elementary School, Thanksgiving hostess, Temple Library volunteer...I spent 30 minutes here and there scrutinizing my options.  The clear winner was the black stretch pant, as it could be dressed up or down.  Two cardigans followed.  And my favorite brown corduroys.

In the closet, I pulled 10 brown hangers to use as a guide for my new hanging habit.  And culled my November wardrobe to 10.  No need to limit all the way to six.  I had learned my lessons.

The Six Items or Less challenge reminds me of when I tried the South Beach Diet.  Eating consciously and eating the good stuff - spinach, tomato, and egg omelettes.  I didn't last two months without cheese mixed in, but I carry habits from that experience to this day.  Whenever I need to drop a pound or two, I skip the carbs.  And I always have eggs for breakfast!  

Thursday...Synopsis and takeaways.

What NOT to Wear - The Learning Curve

Six Items or Less, cont...

Per yesterday's post (It's All About the Accessories, Right?), I learned from my "Get Really Sweaty" options that clothes should be comfortable and flattering.  Common sense, right?  It was a message I had not been heeding.  It was one of those Oprah ahas - my clothes should always make me FEEL GOOD!

One of the shirts was clingy in all the wrong places, so I avoided wearing it.  Unfortunately, that didn't leave many options!  The white shirt wrinkled too easily, so it didn't look fresh by the end of the day.  I got in the habit of changing out of the six items whenever possible and wearing my Life is Good t-shirt.

The result?  At the end of the 30 days, I wanted to try it again!  Getting the other six items out of rotation was a relief.  The weather was changing and I had more pants options to choose from.  And I decided to use eight items instead of six.  Just to make it a little less work.

This time, I tried everything on!  And scrutinized the fit.  Jeans were no longer an option, as I was working and volunteering more often.  I had always felt unprofessional in jeans anyway.

During month two, I was no longer thinking about getting dressed, so when someone complimented my clothes (which was happening more often!) I saw it as validation I had selected better items.  I looked more "put together" because - I WAS!  Pants that poked and shirts that hung without shape were in the back of the closet.  The clothes were no longer wearing me.  

I learned I had "put up with" certain items of clothing for the sake of variety.   

More Tuesday...still going!

What to Wear - It's All About the Accessories, Right?

When I selected my six September clothing items for the 6 Items or Less challenge last August (see yesterday's - What to Wear), I thought of all the possible combinations.  I did the math.  Because two tops could also be worn UNDER the dress AND with or without the white button down shirt, I determined there were about 20 possible options.  Here are photos of three:
 

Cute top OVER dress

3 items at once

White shirt OVER dress

Next up - the accessories!  I piled jewelry from various sources (read - tween) and selected color stories.  Then I organized them in bags for easy retrieval.

I also selected 6 options to "Get Really Sweaty" in.  These were clothes to use when cleaning house, completing yardwork, walking in forest preserves, or doing pilates. I chose to use them as pajamas too.

2 items with icing

Etc...etc...etc...

6 "Sweaty" options

In the end, however, I really only used 4 of the "Get Really Sweaty" options.  I just kept throwing the Life is Good t-shirt and the yoga pants in with other laundry.  They were comfortable and flattering and I got good use out of them.  

It was from my "Get Really Sweaty" options that I began to understand how to achieve success when wearing fewer clothes.  

It was NOT:

1. How the items looked in tandem on a bed.

2. How the pieces hung in two feet of space in the closet.

3. How chunky turquoise accessories accented the black.

4. How white floral accessories highlighted the floral print.

5. How creative it was to layer shirts OVER a dress to make it look like a skirt.

The way to achieve success was finding clothes that fit.  And only one of the six items was comfortable and flattering and made me feel good.  It took me nearly 30 days to figure this out.

Tomorrow...trying again.

What to Wear

Please join me as I prepare my 8-10 wardrobe pieces for the month of May.  What started as an experiment last fall, has become a life-long habit.  It changed the way I use my clothes. 

WEAR it all began...

In August 2010, I read about the 6 items or less challenge in the Chicago Tribune.  The challenge?  For people to look critically at their clothing and keep fewer items in rotation.  The actual challenge was to wear the same 6 items for 30 days.  Inspired by the photos, I spent several days thinking and paring down.

Looking back at the earnest photos (followed by supportive comments) posted to Facebook eight months ago, causes me to shake my head and smile - I have learned so much since then...

September 2010.  First attempt at pairing down my wardrobe for 30 day stretches.

1.  Jeans

2.  Black Shorts

3.  Colorful T-shirt

4.  White Shirt

5.  Cute Top

6.  Dress

More 6 items or less tomorrow...

Going Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

from,

Declare Order Kids

This mischievous leprechaun chose soccer socks 
to complete his school ensemble  :)

St. Patrick's Day Quiz for kids from Funschool Kaboose

Patty's Day Quiz for tweens from Holiday Spot

Do or do not...there is no try

"Do or do not...there is no try."  ~  Yoda

Warning:  The following is a clothing experiment that requires more than an, "I'll try."

The only way to fully grasp the freedom of the "Six Items or Less" challenge is to DO it.

Or do not.

From the website, "Six Items or Less"
http://sixitemsorless.com/the-experiment/: 

"What do our clothes say about us? 
Why do spend so much time on what we wear? 
What happens when we don’t?

 

Six Items or Less began as a small experiment between friends and quickly grew to become a global movement questioning the power of what we don’t wear.

The scope of the Six Items project expanded rapidly around the world, exposing individuals and even entire families to explore a life with less. The community now acts as a participant-driven platform that features discussions on everything from fashion to financials to personal feelings and development.

The experiment is simple: each participant gets to choose six (and only six) items of clothing and pledge to wear only these six items of clothing for a month.

Logistically, there are exceptions that don’t count towards the six: undergarments, swim wear, work-out clothes, work uniforms, outer wear (rain slicker, outdoor jacket), shoes and accessories. You can get multiples of the same item for laundry purposes, but different colors count as separate items.

Most people have asked about the reasoning behind the experiment and most also assume it’s a grand statement about consumerism. In reality, there is no dictated driving thought–it’s for you to decide its meaning and relativity in your world. It’s about putting a challenge out there and seeing what people bring to it, do with it and talk about." 

Six items for 30 days.  
It will change the way you think about your clothes.    

Just Do It.  

There is no, "try."

Good Will Hunting

     Shopping for clothing at Goodwill - when it is not an economic necessity - is not universally appealing.  I get that.  I also get a Liz Claiborne shawl collar cardigan for $4.99!  I recommend inspecting every inch of the garment, shopping on half-off certain colored tag days, and always, always trying pieces on.

     If you are not inclined to poke around Goodwill, here is a colorful tip about Lands End Inlet.  I was in search of a robe to replace my ratty maroon old-timer with the broken zipper.  I learned I could get an additional 20% off the already discounted price if I selected an item that had been monogrammed.  Monogrammed?  Always intrigued by unique ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle, I kept an open mind and found my new best friend, "Patricia."  

     "Patricia," as she proclaims from below my left shoulder, is my red fleece hoodie robe.  She falls about mid-calf and zips up the front.  My family teased me at first, but have come to accept Patricia as an honorary member of the family.

my good will ambassador :)