day forty

… and that's it - my restricted wardrobe is no more, and I can go back to the rest of my clothes.  Here is my last outfit, and my first.  (Yes, I am still wearing the same jeans - just because I can wear the rest of my wardrobe doesn't mean I can't still wear my forty!)

So what have I learnt?

1.  I need less than I have.

2.  Sometimes it is easier to have less choice.  If I only have a few options, it takes less time in the morning to get dressed!

3.  But sometimes it is harder to have less choice.  Limiting my clothes was a temporary measure, and I knew I would be able to go back to my old wardrobe in the end.  But when your overall resources are limited, every choice becomes a trade off - choosing one thing means you can't have another - and the time and energy that goes into weighing up these choices is stressful and demoralising.

4.  Each item I own represents different people who made the material, the clothes, shipped and sold the clothes, and I have a duty of care to each of them.

5.  Clothes are fun!  But that's all.  (Okay, they are also necessary for public decency.)  But other than that, they are not that important.

(But shoes, of course, are life itself…)

day thirty-nine

Nearly there… and I have to say I am getting bored of my forty items.

(Actually it is thirty nine at the moment - when I was on holiday, I left a jumper in the holiday house.  Fortunately my sister picked it up and brought it back for me, but it is in Edinburgh right now, alas.)

I know, I know, forty items are plenty.  And it really has been simpler in many ways, to choose from a smaller wardrobe.  But I am looking forward to getting back to all my other clothes!

However, I have managed a bit of a clear out...

day thirty-four

So, the great thing about going on holiday with so few clothes?  It takes no time to pack, I just throw all my clothes in my case.

The bad thing about going on holiday with so few clothes?  I have to do the washing as soon as I get home…

Day thirty-three

Just coming to the end of a holiday in the North West of Scotland with my family (and out of internet range most of the time…)  Took pretty much all of my clothes.  Wore pretty much all of them most of the time.   Weather pretty good (apart from the rain), and had a pretty darn good time!

day twenty-two

Am just back from a trip to one of my favourite places with some of my favourite people.  The Cathedral of the Isles, on the island of Cumbrae is the smallest cathedral in the British Isles.  My choir, Voicebeat, went for a weekend trip - we had a lovely time singing and relaxing in the peaceful surroundings.

Also, today marks the day I wore my fortieth item of clothing.  This stripy jumper is quite special.  Years ago, I was on holiday in the States, and had all my luggage stolen on the last day of my holiday.

In my luggage was a stripy jumper from Gap that I loved.  This was one of the three things I most regretted losing (the other two were my computer, and a necklace I had been given as a present).

Years later, to my delight, I found this one on eBay, and bought it, to replace the one I had stolen.

By the way, if anyone tells you I bought a new handbag in the charity shop on the island, don't listen to them...

day twenty

‘Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these.'  Luke 12:27

Halfway through, and what have I learnt so far?

1.  It is easier to get dressed for work when I have only three outfits that are work-smart.  Saves time in the morning.

2.  I do miss the fun of deciding on an outfit for going out.

3.  I like coats and shoes most of all, because I miss them most of all.

Our study group at church tonight was looking at Luke 12:13-34, and thinking about possessions - one of the questions was whether our possessions end up possessing us. 

I enjoy using clothes to express myself, which is fine.  The challenge is not to let the clothes be more than that - not to use them to project an image, or to hide behind.  God made me as I am, and if I'm not perfect, I should be growing into what God made me to be, not pretending to be something else.

Okay, only 23 days to go...

day eighteen

Okay, now I have thirty nine items.  I've lost my little black vest top.  I was looking for it this afternoon and couldn't find it anywhere it should have been.  I did wonder about taking the identical one I have in my wardrobe and wearing that instead, but I thought that would probably be considered cheating...

If anyone sees it, let me know!

Third Sunday of Lent

How can I forget what items I have in my wardrobe, when I only have forty??

Looking at my clothes last night to decide what to wear this morning (it's not being organised - it's giving myself five minutes more in bed in the morning) I came across my long brown top.  It's one of my staple items, I wear it all the time, yet not only did I forget it was in my forty items, I didn't even miss it!

Am beginning to wonder if I have too many clothes…

Oh, we've started putting our sermons online at St Margaret's, today was my first recording.

day fifteen

During the war, people needed to use not only their hard earned money to buy clothes, but also their clothing coupons.  A typical allowance was 48 coupons a year.  

Given that the outfit I am wearing today (brown jumper, jeans, and all the relevant underwear - you don't need to know the details) would use up 14 coupons, and a coat and shoes would use up another 10, I think I would have had to develop my needlework skills pretty quickly!

day fourteen

so what does domestic abuse have to do with clothes?  Not much, I would have thought.  But then I was watching a short, and very touching, dvd at work today, aimed at children who have lived with domestic abuse.  Mikey and Jools (in the picture) watch their mum being humiliated because she wears a dress that their dad does not approve of.

We don't thing about how clothes are used to control women in our society - we probably assume that is something that happens in other cultures.  But it happens in our culture too.  For some women, as in the dvd, it is very immediate.  For others, forced to wear certain clothes or make up at work, it is more subtle.

I can choose to restrict my wardrobe to only forty items.  But no-one else should be able to restrict my wardrobe to keep me in my place.

day twelve

"Buy less. Choose well. Make it last. Quality, not quantity. Everybody's buying far too many clothes."  

So said Vivienne Westwood last year at London Fashion Week.  

To be fair, my sort of buying - that is, charity shop buying - is different from Vivienne's.  I enjoy making 'a find' - clothes that prompt people to ask me where I bought them, so I can reply 'British Heart Foundation, a fiver' with a smug look on my face.  

For me, then, perhaps the most useful comment is 'choose well'.  I amaze myself how often I come home with something that I quite like, or fits not too bad.  I wear it once or twice, then it just sits in my wardrobe until my next clear out.  Really, I should only buy clothes that look great, that I love, that I'm sure I'm going to wear.

And if I had fewer clothes, I would have more room for books...

This green top and black jeans, for work today, are both recent purchases, both of which I love!

day eleven

From the sublime to the ridiculous today...  I spend the day at uni talking theology (stripy top, denim skirt, with my red coat and black gym shoes).

Then off in the evening to see Miranda Hart at the Hydro - such fun!  She told us to be more three to six year old, wise advice I think.  I wore my last new clothing purchase before Lent - it's a coat which looks vintage (but the label has been cut out so I think it is probably River Island) but old or new, makes me feel fabulous.  Ain't that what a good coat is for?!

Second Sunday of Lent

Just been away for the weekend.  After visiting my brother and his girls, and my pal and her girls...

... I met up with my girls - friends from university.  We met over 25 years ago, and we get together for a weekend every year - this year we were back in Edinburgh, and had a wonderful time wandering around town,

visiting our old haunts,

stopping for tea and cakes,

(and of course celebrating Ireland's nail biting victory in the Six Nations!!)

My weekend wardrobe was all selected from my forty items - slight disaster when I left my boots at my brother's, but fortunately he noticed them so I picked them up before I headed back to Glasgow, phew.

day seven

I thought I was doing well cutting down to forty items, but a friend has beaten me.  She was travelling for 2 months, through 3 different temperature zones, with only one suitcase - much respect!

Just packed to go away for three nights (packed about half of my forty items I think).  Will blog what I wear if I can work out how to do so from my phone...

Working today, so I was wearing my grey dress, one of my best pick ups at a clothes swap.

day six

I was listening to Radio 4 today (as I do pretty much every day) and I heard an interview on The Life Scientific with Mark Miodownik.  He is the founder of The Institute of Making bringing a hands on, creative perspective to academic study.  He spoke enthusiastically about the joy of making stuff.

I haven't made any of the clothes in my forty items, but I did make a brooch, which I'm currently wearing on my red trench coat.  My sister's friend hosted a craft evening, where we blethered, drank wine and made these brooches - a great idea in every way.

Today's outfit was my red cardi and denim pencil skirt:

day five

"We cannot see differently if we're not prepared to look."

We were challenged at church yesterday during Lent to look at our lives and reflect on where we might need to change.  My Lent fast is somewhat frivolous, 'tis true, but there is a slightly more serious level, as I want to challenge myself on how I engage with things.

One of the things I recognise is how disconnected I am, as a consumer, from the people who produce the things I own - not least all those who have made my extensive wardrobe..  

Fashion Revolution is a collection of people connected with the Fashion industry, who are asking us all to look again at our clothing, and those who make it.  They are marking Fashion Revolution Day for the first time this year on 24th February - the anniversary of the deaths of over a thousand people when the Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh. 

This year they are encouraging us all to ask the question 'Who made your clothes?'  So go on - contact Gap, M&S, Primark and Topshop, and ask them!

Okay, back to the frivolous stuff...

Today it was the black dress and green coat for work again, and after a quick run (clothing not included) I changed into my black polo neck and denim skirt, put on my red trench coat and rushed off to choir practice (Oh, we're singing at the Glad Cafe in Shawlands on Sunday night at 8pm, if you want to come and hear us!)

First Sunday of Lent

Sundays are not officially part of Lent, apparently.  Count the days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day and you will find it is 46 days not 40.  The reason for this is that even when we are fasting, we take time to give thanks for the resurrection of Jesus. 

However, I am sticking to my forty items on Sundays.  Clerical wear for women is not terribly exciting, but I have a rather smart little black crop top with a clerical collar (made by my lovely friend Angela if anyone is interested).  I can then wear it under other items - like my purple cardi here:

day four

Off to a friend's tonight to watch the classic eighties film Footloose.  My little sister made up a dance to the theme tune that we can still do to this day.

Unfortunately all my eighties style clothes are tucked away in the part of my wardrobe I can't access - I still have a rather lovely (?) pair of stone washed, high waist, tapered leg, button fly jeans from when I was a student the first time round (I keep them because I can still fit in them!)

I do, however, have a charming collection of eighties earrings I have held on to, so I shall wear a pair of these:

and also that indispensible eighties item the body warmer, which is in my forty items (I believe the fashionable people these days refer to it as a 'gillet')

all over my green cardi and jeans (which I bought in the '90s, that's not too far out...)

day three

It's not only clothes that I am giving up, but coffee as well.  Haven't had a caffeine headache yet though - don't know if it's because of all the tea I have been drinking or whether my body is still of caffeine from all the coffee I used to drink.

Today is the first day I have hankered after an item not on the list.  My black trench coat would have been perfect with the black polo neck and purple skirt, but alas I chose the red trench coat for the collection... D'oh!

and into my evening wear, a red top and jeans

day two

Our Lent study group this year is looking at 'Parables and Possessions' - quite appropriate for me!  We were left this evening with a question about how we might change our spending in the light of Jesus's teaching - we've become disconnected from the people involved in producing the things we buy, but each time we spend is a chance to show love to a neighbour.

Anyway, today just one outfit.  With red tights and a green coat, to bring a bit of colour to a dismal Glasgow day!

day one

"Ash Wednesday is the  moment of accepting what we have allowed ourselves to become and beginning to be all the rest of what we are meant to be." 

Joan Chittister

I've had a few complaints about not including underwear.  This is of course simply an environmental decision - pants, socks etc are single use items and so if I restricted myself to just a few, I would end up washing clothes every other day.   I'm saving water, then, by not including them.  (Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Okay, my clothes.  Working today, so for the day it was smart - black dress and boots (with purple tights) and green coat.

 

Then a shower and change for the evening - jeans and purple cardi, and black gym shoes - not Converse but Ethletic - look similar, but the people who made them are guaranteed to get fair pay and conditions.

It all began here...

I was on holiday in Svalbard, enjoying a beer float for pudding.  (Seriously - it was delicious, you should try one.)  My friend and I got to talking about the size of our respective wardrobes.  He wrote his down on a napkin, and it totalled about 40 items, more or less.  That was probably about what I had brought on holiday for a week.  Somehow this led to a challenge that I see if I could manage on a wardrobe of forty items, for Lent.

Challenge Accepted.

Okay, I have allowed myself some exceptions - underwear doesn't count, nor accessories.  I am also allowed any 'specialist' clothing - running and hillwalking gear, and robes for church.

And I know that forty items sounds like a lot.  But my wardrobe is extensive, it would keep a small charity shop going for several months.  For me, sticking to just forty items is a big deal!

So, after much agonising (mostly over shoes) here are the items that made the cut...

four dresses

eight t-shirts

four cardis

six jumpers

three pairs of jeans

three skirts, one pair trousers

five coats

four pairs shoes

two pairs boots

... and that's it.  Forty items for forty days - here we go!