Sometimes Serenity takes an odd turn. While pondering my direction for this day, I came upon the idea of revisiting the Mt. Everest Project. Even though I didn't talk about it much here it is a big part of my lifestyle change. Defining need versus want, categorizing the life I now live versus the very public life I used to live and how my wardrobe choices need to be adjused to accommodate that difference. During this last year I feel that I have accomplished that element of my goal.
A year has passed. Inspired by other Bloggers, I decided to start a project last year. The goal was to not purchase any RTW clothing that I could make myself. Not such a big deal, right? While I had identified some holes in my wardrobe, there were no significant gaps. So in one sense this was not a huge challenge to me. It also illustrates that a large wardrobe, seasonally separated is a good thing. I know some minimalist Sewists pride themselves in the knowledge that they can and do survive, in all their life pursuits, with a total of 10 or 20 pieces of clothing. Really? I do not believe it. There, I said it, cannot be done. On second thought, it can be done, but you will be bored to insanity. You will be a drone with the fashion sense of Mao! Women are supposed to care about their appearance. Women inherently are here to set a standard of cleanliness, dress and style. Fat or thin, short or tall, blonde, brunette or redhead, you have a responsibility to raise the level of the cultural limbo pole.
I have sorted out that I keep three essential categories of wardrobe. One, my at home casual. Two, my public casual and three, my public dressed-up. A fairly simple breakdown of comfortable knits run through each category. I would be in a questionable situation without the T-shirt. Short sleeve, 3/4 sleeve or long sleeve, basic knit to elegant silk they are the strongest element for my life-style. I made essentially nothing much in clothing this year, I didn't need to. I did stock-pile some lovely fabrics though! I have spent most of my Needletime quilting or knitting or crocheting!
So where do I go from here and what is one strong conclusion I can draw from this experience. It was fun to not be tempted by RTW knowing I could replicate an item with my current patterns, fabrics etc. Unfortunately, I have not addressed my fitting issues properly. Because of this and because of the marginal quality RTW I have decided to extend my project another year. In the spirit of full disclosure I did purchase some cheapo long sleeve T-shirts at Macy's a couple weeks ago. They are adequate for my home wardrobe and/or public casual until I dribble coffee or tea!
So, that's it. I am happy to have made this decision. My dates will remain the same October 12, 2013 until October 12, 2014. This will exclude under-garments, sweaters, shoes. (you cannot expect me to not add to the shoe collection!) Gifts are also off limits. I cannot expect gift-ers to adhere to my rules. Just saying.
| Another attempt will be to document my |
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| progress or lack of progress on a Monthly basis. | | |
The Original Mt. Everest Post.
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