To Swap Or Not To Swap?

I recently discovered a website called clothingswap.com which allows you to swap clothes and accessories with other people who are also members of this site (which is free to join by the way). What a marvelous idea! And how absolutely perfect for someone like me in my situation right now. I've already signed up and am now an official member but ask me how many items I've swapped or attempted to swap so far? Zero. Zilch. Nada. Yes, partly because I'm a procrastinator but mostly because every time I come across an article of clothing I've had for a long time and haven't worn in forever...something I think would be a good swap item...I find myself falling in love with it all over again. 

A Heartfelt Letter

Dear Gilt Groupe,
Thank you for the lovely email reminding me that I still have a $90 Gilt credit burning a hole in my account. I think about you often and dream about the day I can finally use you for my next 'fashion emergency'.
Sincerely,
A fashionista in limbo

3 weeks in and I'm still going strong. I think I've been successful so far largely due to the fact that I have STEERED CLEAR of stores and online shopping websites. Out of sight, out of mind right? Except I have continued to indulge in one of my favorite past times, flipping through fashion magazines...hey, don't judge me...I do read actual novels too....and it seems like every page I turn there's a trend for summer which nothing in my current wardrobe represents. And my poor Gilt Groupe app now has cobwebs on it. I've been avoiding the Gilt app completely...even though I still have a Gilt credit I could use. I'm rationing it in case of another fashion emergency. 

A Lesson Learned

After a really rotten and horribly stressful week at work, I'm tempted to treat myself to a little retail therapy. But after happening upon a 'Dan Rather Reports' episode about the current unemployment rate in America and how highly skilled people with degrees and MBA's are being laid off, unable to find a new job and losing their homes and life savings...I'm reminded of another reason why I'm doing this challenge and should stick to it. I think the economic collapse was a tough lesson to be learned from (duh) and I strongly feel that people, whether unemployed or not, need to reevaluate how they live their lives and spend their money....and this challenge is an example of me doing that.

I think I've been doing pretty well with my challenge so far. But flipping through my In Style magazine during my lunch break today reminded me of all the fabulous trends I'm missing out on this summer...like maxi skirts and dresses and cut off Jean shorts....things I don't currently have in my wardrobe. So, in the spirit of thinking outside the box...I'm going to attempt to make my own pair of cut off Jean shorts from an older pair of Jeans I don't wear much anymore. A rather bold move for me since I'm not a very crafty person. I don't even own the right pair of scissors to do something like this for crying out loud. Thank goodness for 'how to' videos on YouTube.

Noooo!!

My favorite sunglasses broke the other day! I was so upset. And even though I have probably about 4 other pairs, I don't like any of them nearly as much as the ones that broke. I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised that they broke on me since they were just some cheap-o pair of aviators that I bought a year ago at Forever 21 (no offense to you, Forever 21, you are still one of my favorite stores...even for sunglasses).  So now I'm faced with my first dilema of the challenge.  Survive the rest of the summer with the other sunglasses I have, which I only like, not love.  Or, do I use the $25 Macy's gift certificate that I've had sitting in my wallet for a few months now and have been saving for emergencies such as this one?  Well, since the gift certificate was just that...a gift...it's not like I'd be spending my own money so I'm not breaking the golden rule of my challenge to not spend my money on clothes, shoes and accessories.  Thank goodness for loopholes!  But now I'll be faced with another challenge within a challenge...my first trip to a department store since my challenge began, will I be able to resist temptation?

Someone at work today asked me if I was still doing the 'no shopping' thing. 'Of course I am,' I told him. Why did he ask me this? Because he happened to notice that what I wore the last couple of days looked like new stuff.  Ahem...I think someone is doing well on her challenge!  Nope, nothing new.  All things I already had in my current wardrobe. Today I even wore a skirt I've owned for a few months but have never worn before. See?  This just goes to show that I really really don't need to be shopping for myself right now...especially if I have stuff in my wardrobe that I've never worn before!  Not to mention, I just made a payment on my credit card today and boy, oh boy, if I ever get the itch to shop for clothes in the next few weeks, all I have to do is take a peek at my credit card balance. I should just cut out the section on my statement that says 'current balance' and tape it to the front of my debit card.  There's a sure way to resist temptation.

Hurray for me

I'm almost one full week into my wardrobe challenge and I must say I've done very well so far. Last week I even took a pair of wedges to a shoe repair man to have him fix a strap that had broken and to stretch out a pair of black patent leather pumps I got online recently (before my challenge began of course) that fit just a tad too snug. The non-wardrobe challenge me would have gotten rid of a pair of wedges with a broken strap and all too happily just gotten myself a new pair of shoes...because, of course, us shopping lovers are always on the look out for an excuse to buy a new anything. But I marched myself down to the local shoe guy and shelled out a few dollars to get my 'still have a lot of wear in them' Banana Republic beige wedges fixed.  Maybe this challenge won't be so challenging after all.

I just found out yesterday that my husband needs to have major dental surgery and it's going to cost us over a thousand dollars. As if I needed another reason to validate why I'm doing this. Should I add food to the challenge as well? Eating is overrated anyway.

One day almost down, too many more to go....

Alright, day one of my mission is proving to be a challenge already. I got off work a little early today and my first impulse was to drive myself to the nearest mall (preferably an outlet mall because I love deals!) or the nearest Kohls...but I resisted and drove myself straight home.  I'm really not that bad and do have a reasonable amount of self control when it comes to buying things for myself.  It's not like I've ever had to go through therapy for this or anything like that. But now that it's something forbidden...I desire it that much more! 

It also doesn't help that I get email alerts on a daily basis from shopping websites that I'm a member of and my favorite retail stores that I foolishy and way too easily give my email address to, reminding me of the fabulous designer sales I'm missing out on. I guess the obvious solution would be to cut off the memberships and block the emails until this mission is over, but I'm not quite ready to do that yet. So I'll just keep putting my self control to the test for now.