Year Without Shopping
Posted by mimi on Apr 22, 2009 in dish | 3 commentsMy friend Desiree is pretty much every average woman’s nightmare. She’s highly intelligent, has a fierce sense of honor, never gains an ounce, and is a walking clothes hanger. Literally. Desiree loves fashion and shopping.
Despite all these flaws (virtues?), she’s engaging and thoughtful, so even though you could hate her, you don’t. This year, Desiree has launched a project, the Year Without Shopping. She’s determined to make it an entire year without shopping for new clothing.
When she told me of her goal, her question to me was whether I could go a year. Bien sur! mimi doesn’t care about clothes enough to shop very often at all, and when I do, it hovers on the existensial angst and pain scale just slightly above a root canal.
Even when my weight is ideal (which it hasn’t been for a while, let me just say), my short stature and Portuguese curves make it highly difficult to find clothes that fit properly, much less flatter. Plus I’m not big into discomfort, which kills most shoe purchases. I also never frothed at the mouth about going to the mall as a teenager, either; I was far happier drooling over expensive writing papers or an elegant fountain pen or books that I ever was about a new pair of jeans or–God forbid–a bathing suit. Making it a year without shopping for clothes? No problem.
But I have to say that Desiree’s idea is intriguing. Knowing her, she definitely has the fortitude to see her way to the end of the year, even if it kills her off by inches in the process. She’s set up a blog to keep people informed about her progress, which includes snaps of favorite wardrobe pieces, new combinations, and thoughts about meatier topics, like consumerism and the fashion industry’s impact on global development (I told you she was smart). Hop over and give girlfriend some love, ‘kay?
Whoop whoop! Thanks, Mimi! I’m also trying to teach myself a little html and wed design in the process, so there’s that for entertainment as well!
I don’t see that as a problem for me, especially now. Working at home, and living in this climate, there’s not much need for many clothes. I avoided buying anything new at all for the RT conference.
However, if we do manage to sell our house and move before year’s end, I’ll probably have to buy clothes since at the moment, Colorado is our target, and it’s going to require a whole different type of clothing. My shorts and tanks won’t cut it, I fear.
I read this blog, although I don’t shop. Desiree brings up some interesting topics, and has transcended grammar and spelling. Unlike Mimi, however, I do not think she’ll make it a full year. We shall see.