Just popping in...

...to say I've got a Pinterest board where I link relevant articles, charitably-focused fashion lines, and the like. Right here.

Also: I'm starting to get really excited for October. I feel like this year I'm really starting to hit my stride with how I buy clothes, and looking forward to testing some of that water in October. Also, I'm dreaming of a big post-Project clothing swap with all the women I know. Not sure how it would work, logistically, but I'll figure it out...

Lemlem

Have you ever heard of Lemlem? It was started by a supermodel from Ethiopia; their website says,
"Liya Kebede discovered that traditional weavers in her native country of Ethiopia were losing their jobs due to a decline in local demand for their goods and wanted to do something about it. Recognizing the beauty, quality and historic significance of their work, Liya started Lemlem in 2007 as a way to inspire economic independence in her native country and to preserve the art of weaving."

I linked it not because I think you can afford the clothes (because if you're anything like me, you can't), but because I like the initiative. For the 2012 October Dress Project I thought it would be nice if people could use their project to raise money for a charities or movement that did something along these lines-- empowering/assisting women through fashion and clothing. Does anybody know of any charities along those lines?

Goodbye, October

October came and went incredibly fast this year (at least for me.) I didn't post as much as I would like but I made it through the month with relative ease. I really appreciated the sense of community this year-- lots of blogs to follow and comments and exchange of thoughts on the Facebook group. If you haven't been there, I encourage you to. It's not too late to join; if you sign up now you'll be getting my friendly reminders in September 2012 to start choosing your dress and mentally preparing.

Because I feel a little nostalgic for the Project, I think I'll be posting occasionally here throughout the year. I have an idea of maybe attaching the Project to some kind of charitable work next year but I'll need to hunt around and mull that over for a while. Check in here or the Facebook group periodically and it may be that I'll post some musings on clothing, or links to relevant sites, or photographs of me making silly faces here from time-to-time.

Thanks for a great month, everyone, and see you next year!

This is me during the original October Dress Project in 2008, when I was still referring to it as the 'October dress experiment' and it was just Tala Azar Strauss and I participating.

A Second Lesson

Another lesson that I have learned through this year's October Dress Project is that my tendency is to define 'needs' too loosely.

I have included below a list that I had been composing in the six months leading up to this October (I missed last year's Project so it wasn't really very fresh in my mind). This list was/is an attempt to limit the amount of frivolous money I spend on clothes by trying to carefully delineate EXACTLY what I was looking for in a wardrobe, down to the colours and styles of the items I felt were necessities. I edited this list carefully, pruning and tweaking as I felt the need, and felt pretty happy with the final product that you see below.*

In fact, I'm still pretty happy with it, but I look at it in a different way now than I did before the October Dress Project 2011. I've used this list when shopping, and kept a tally of the things I still 'need'. This is the thing, though-- looking at it now, after a month of wearing the same thing every day, it seems pretty extravagant.

I'm not sure it actually is. After all, I want to be able to be gracefully and appropriately dressed for whatever occasions my life brings up, and it is often true during the ODP that one doesn't feel quite appropriately dressed, don't you think? But I'm going to be more careful, after this month, to refer to the items on this list as things I need. A little mantra of, "One dress for weekdays and one for Sunday" will be skipping through my head to remind me to be careful how I define necessity.

Formalwear

1 winter formal dress, knee-length, blue, fitted so it can be layered and warm enough that it needn’t be

1 summer formal dress, knee-length, shell pink, light enough for dancing in

1 grey formal cardigan in a tone that will match both summer and winter dresses

1 pr. black formal heels, simple and elegant

1 vintage silver clutch to hold a few essentials

Dresses

1 black winterweight dress, knee-length with fitted sleeves for layering

1 red winterweight dress, knee-length with fitted sleeves for layering

1 white summerweight dress, light and airy, knee-length.

1 yellow summerweight dress, light and airy, knee-length

1 transitional shirtdress, knee-length, blue-and-white striped

1 transitional tunic, navy, good for layering

Tops

2 winterweight flannel button shirts

2 winterweight jersey long-sleeve shirts, black and forest green

2 winterweight blouses, white and forest green (silk is nicest)

4 cardigans/pullover sweaters in a range of colours

2 summerweight cotton t-shirts, white and navy

2 summerweight sleeveless tops, shell pink and blue

2 summerweight short-sleeve blouses, white and red, (silk is nicest)

Bottoms

1 pr. black leggings

2 prs. shorts, one camel and one jean

2 prs. Levi's straight-leg jeans, dark wash

2 knee-length skirts, high-waisted, navy and red

Footwear

1 pr. snow boots, shearling-lined for warmth

1 pr. brown leather dress boots, riding style

1 pr. black leather jazz shoes

1 pr. leather sandals

1 pr. suede moccasins

1 pr. hiking/work boots

1 pr. slippers (fur-lined for winter)

Accessories

1 watch, ladylike and old-fashioned

1 leather belt, basketweave

1 mid-size leather purse for everyday use

1 small leather clutch, large enough for wallet, keys, phone, and sunglasses

1 canvas tote for beach, etc.

1 canvas duffel bag for overnight trips

1 pr. tortoiseshell sunglasses, vintage shape

1 swimsuit, navy or forest green, vintage-style one-piece

3 necklaces (1 statement, 1 pearl, 1 silver cross)

1 green silk scarf

Outerwear

1 goosedown parka, forest green or navy

1 black wool peacoat, suitable for formal occasions

1 raincoat/trench

1 black leather jacket

1 autumn coat, shearling-lined

1 wool hat

1 pr. wool mittens

1 pr. leather gloves

1 wool scarf

1 fur stole

*I didn't include the underclothing portions of the list, as I felt that would be kind of awkward in the public domain like this, but it is that thorough of a list. I also have a smaller maternity list in the works.

Some Thoughts at the 3/4 Mark

It's hard to believe that there's only a week left of the Project. This October has gone much faster for me than other years. I'm still decently fond of my dress, too, which is unusual. Maybe I'm getting better?

Anyways, I was noticing in the Facebook group some of the girls talking about their dresses starting to look shabby and/or actively fall apart. My own dress (thrifted jersey wrap dress) is looking pretty good except that the seam on the front side of the wrap seems for some reason to have stretched out so the front of the dress is longer than the sides and back. It got me thinking about buying cheap ready-to-wear clothes.

I prefer to buy thrifted clothing whenever I can. Buying online from little handmade shops is a nice idea but without being able to try garments on, I know I would probably waste money on things I thought would look good on me, but didn't when they came. I don't like shopping at malls or big-box stores though, for a lot of reasons-- ethical concerns about the sourcing of the fabric, the integrity of the design process, and outsourcing of labour for one, and for another I'm not a fan of the way buying mass-produced garments goes against two of the tenets written into the Dress Project motto-- pro-creativity and anti-conformity. That said, buying more conscientious and creative garments can seem like an unnecessary expense to those of us without a lot of spare cash.

But is it? If you bought a mass-produced dress at a cheap price (and I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad about doing that; I'm going in a different direction), how have you seen it hold up? Is the fabric pilling or stretching? Are the seams unravelling? Is it holding it's shape? If not-- stop and consider.

You've been wearing that dress for twenty days.

Just twenty.

The inspiration for the Dress Project, as you probably know, came from some remarks my grandfather made about the dressing habits of the frugal Dutch immigrants who settled the area I lived in in the first part of the century-- one dress a week and one for Sundays. Another group that I find inspiration from is the pioneers-- I think of the Ingalls family buying the fabric for one new dress a season and making over outgrown clothes for the next child down. For many of us, though we may have saved money, supposedly, by buying a $10 dress, if it's wearing out after twenty wears, it's really not saving us money.

I had never noticed or thought of this, because if you're not wearing that $10 dress every day, you might find it wearing out after six months of ownership without realizing that you've only worn it a handful of times in that six months.

I remember a quote from a Japanese craftsman that I read on the Kitka Design blog:
"Professor Oda pulled out a scarf and a pair of leather gloves that he has ... owned for over 40 years. He held up his scarf and told me that when he was younger he purchased this wool scarf that was well beyond his salary. It took him a very long time to be able to afford it, but he purchased it with the intention of having it for at least 25 years. That, he said, is the magic number. If you can’t pick a product up and say confidently that this product will serve you well for a minimum of 25 years, it is not a good purchase."

I saved the quote when I read it because I thought it was sound and sensible. But I think one of the big takeaways from this year's Project for me is going to be a concrete sense, which I never had before, of just how much sense it makes to buy this way rather than just buying what's cheap.

What about you? How's your dress holding up? Where did you get it and how much for? What are you learning?

*Not sure of my image source here. Please let me know if you know it.