7 project: more clothes

Clothing week is now officially over.  As I sit here typing this I am wearing the same pair of jeans for the third time this week, the same shirt for a third time, and a cardigan I wore to work on Tuesday.  I have now gone accessory-free for seven whole days.  Fashion/clothing-wise this week looked a lot different for me.  I like clothing.  I like style.  I'm pretty into accessories.  I sometimes even make my own.  Despite all of that, this week was so much easier than last week.  I think it was easier knowing that this was just for a week.  To think of doing this for a whole year or for my entire life makes me quite uncomfortable.  It was definitely good for me though.  I don't have a resolution.  I don't have it all figured out, but this week has me thinking and beginning to be nudged from my comfort zone in this area.

First of all, no one at work even noticed!! Seriously, no one noticed that I wore the same things over and over?  I mean, come on people.  I wore the same navy pants three out of four work days last week.  Maybe they noticed and were just trying to be nice.  Maybe they're secretly planning an intervention, because I've surely gone off the deep end this time.  Or maybe, just maybe, we care way more about our own appearances than anyone else.  Maybe we are so insecure and seeking approval from others when they're just parading around hiding behind insecurities of their own. 

Now, I'm not ready to embark on a specific challenge right away.  I'm not going to say I'm going a full year without buying clothes.  Not yet, at least.  I hope to one day, but my heart's just not there yet.  A few things I do know though:

 I have way more clothes than I need. 

Half of my closet I hardly ever wear. 

If you totaled up the amount of money I spent for my entire wardrobe (all those items I "needed" so desperately when I bought them)  I could've paid for a lot of true needs for others--- like clean drinking water and food and medicine for sick children.

So....what am I going to do about it?  Well, that's what I'm still figuring out.  I do know it will involve buying less.  I know it will involve giving away what I don't wear and don't need to others who do.  I know it will involve more thrifting, more upcycling, and more re-fashioning.  I know it will involve more of an effort to make sure the things I do buy do not come to me courtesy of child/slave labor. 

I've also done a lot of researching this week.  I'm just scratching the surface----just getting my feet wet----but that's a start.  I've started to look for clothing and accessory companies and designers that are certified fair trade.  I've looked into ministries to women here and abroad that combine fashion design and marketing with job skills training, healthcare, and spiritual mentorship.  I've read lots about various organizations that fight for freedom and human rights in the area of fair trade.  I've started brainstorming about how I could be a part of what God is doing in these areas.  I've started dreaming and asking God to use my passions and my gifts somehow.  I don't know what all of this means and what He has in store for me, but I'm excited.  I'm filled with an eager anticipation of what could be----how He might decide to use me.

7: an experimental mutiny against excess


"Jesus, may there be less of me and my junk and more of You and Your Kingdom"
                                                         ~Jen Hatmaker