Saturday, September 14, 2013

The Dress

I first heard of the October Dress Project last year from my friend Pam. I thought it would be fun to try and an interesting challenge. However, I did not have a dress that I thought would work OR the time or energy during the first month of school to try and find one, I put the idea at the back of my mind with plans to try it this year. 

What is the October Dress Project? Here's a snippet from the October Dress Project blog:

Here is the basic idea: for thirty-one days, from October 1st to October 31st, you will build all your outfits around one single dress. You will put this dress on in some way, shape, or form, every time you get dressed.

Why? There are a lot of a different women participating, and each participates for different reasons, but the motto sums it up as 'anti-consumerism, pro-simplicity, anti-conformity, pro-imagination.' This can translate into a lot of different motivations, from an out-of-control wardrobe to a concern for environmental sustainability, from an intellectual exercise to a deep rethinking of what you do with your clothes and why. It encourages thinking of your clothing more creatively as you use one dress as a canvas for the other clothes you have in your wardrobe. It prompts dressing more responsibly as you begin to reevaluate the versatility of a single garment. It helps you to cut away the clutter surrounding personal worth, body image, and consumer culture (one of the first thing many people notice is that no one else notices them wearing the same dang thing every day!) It gives you a starting point to begin challenging cultural norms of buying habits and our perception of needs.


So, I've accepted the challenge. I've also been doing some pre-shopping (I know! Totally against the rules of becoming an anti-consumer!) as the winter clothes were being cleared out at the end of the winter season. Last winter, I also found a dress that I think with be versatile enough to wear all month. I found it at Value Village for $7.99. The brand is "Sinequenone" and it's a jersey knit material. 



A few of the teachers at my school are also interested in joining this challenge and we hope to get some daily pictures of us to also post to this blog. My cousin Lori did her own ODP challenge in April and it was fun to watch her post about her daily outfits.

Why?

I want to attempt this challenge:
- to realize that the same item can look different depending on what you wear with it.
- to realize I have more than I think I do.
- to try out some accessorizing.
- to realize that no one is going to notice if I wear the same thing so many times in a row.
- to have some fun with others who are attempting the same thing and to be inspired by their choices.

Who wants to try this challenge with me?