I might actually do this.

I tend to shy away from participating in wardrobe “challenges”– or any of the various challenges that are always circulating around the Internet (no-buys, handmade-only, make-or-do-something every day, wear only x number of items, etc.) Not that I don’t want to– they look like great fun! But I know that I’m easily bored, and that I change my mind a lot. I have a hard time sticking to rules (especially if there are no real consequences to breaking them); so I usually don’t even try.

But last year, I decided to try it. I quietly put myself on a “shopping ban” for housewares and home decorations. And it worked! I was able to stick to it.

I did this because

• I knew I had everything I needed in my home for daily living.
• I wanted to give more careful consideration to my next purchases: to think about the difference between needs and wants, and to consider what level of quality would be most appropriate for new items when the time came to purchase them.

Over the past year, I haven’t bought any new housewares, but I’ve been making a list of things that need to be replaced, or things I want to add to my home environment. I’ll buy them in 2013. It’s not a long list.

I’ve also gotten rid of a lot of stuff around the house. I learned that when you take time to live with your things, you start to notice what gets used or enjoyed– versus what is just taking up space. By making do instead of shopping, you learn the difference between what you “might need” vs. what would actually save you time or make your home more comfortable.

And I haven’t had to make do very much at all. If anything, I’ve learned that getting the excess out of the way solves more problems than does buying something. (And I didn’t have much to start with!)

Really, we need very little to have a comfortable, easy life.

……….

All that above is a long-winded way to introduce the actual point of this blog post:

I think I might do a wardrobe challenge in 2013.

I’m not following anyone else’s rules, although my challenge is inspired by The Vivienne Files’ “Common Wardrobe” plan which I mentioned in my previous post.

Here a tentative outline of my own plan:

• Throughout this autumn, I’ll shop to fill some holes in my basic core wardrobe. I’ll stick to neutral colors only. (I’m including a few conservative shades of blue as neutrals.)
• Starting in January 2013, I’m going on a self-imposed shopping ban for both clothing and cosmetics (except to replace cosmetic products that are used up).
• Accessories are not included in the shopping ban.

The reason I’m not including accessories in the ban is because I actually need to build my collection of accessories, and I want to improve my accessorizing skills. (I’m not very good at accessorizing! )

I think I can do this, and I think (hope!) it will be a good learning experience. Already, as I shop for basics, I’m realizing how much I tend to be drawn to brightly-colored clothing. Oh my. No wonder I have gaps  in my basics wardrobe.

Color is not a bad thing; but I think it will be good for me to learn to use accessories as my source of color, for a change.