A Clothing Challenge

I have a lot of clothes... almost an embarrassing amount. I just LOOOOVE them. Shopping and outfit planning make me happy, and clothes are often what I bring home as my souvenirs from my travels. I really love my clothes.

So then I read this article from Apartment Therapy. So what really does happen to your clothes when you donate them? Not as much of what you donate ends up with the less fortunate as you would think... and a lot of it ends up in Africa. I know because I have a very clear memory of shopping for kind of hideous neon shorts at the market place in Iganga as a joke/bonding experience. And all our clothes ending up there... is not particularly a good thing for the African economy...

So then I read this article from Fashionista a couple days ago... and I really got to thinking...

For the last 5 months in California, if we wanted to shop, we went to the Salvation Army's sale... because when you're an unpaid intern, you don't have a very high shopping budget... ok, you don't have ANY shopping budget. The clothes I found for a dollar were often just as cool and far more unique than anything I could find at the shopping mall... not to mention cheaper and more eco-friendly!

So here's the deal... my birthday is exactly 5 months from today. I made it 5 months in Cali without too much shopping... so I can do it again, right? Here's the challenge... any clothing that comes into my closet in the next 5 months will either be from a thrift store or handmade by a local artist. And if it comes into my closet, I better plan on keeping it there for a very, very, very long time. And if I make it 5 months... maybe I'll make this a forever thing... who knows?

Anyone else willing to take on this challenge with me?

Guilt free shopping, eco-friendly, helping the world a little, saving money, forcing you to get a bit creative? Sounds like a win - win - win situation to me!

Image from this other really good article you should probably read.