{30 Days Dressed}

So my sister Eliza and I have been chatting lately (whining? bemoaning?) about the classic problem of having far too much clothing and yet nothing to wear. And don't get me started on the seemingly endless mountains of laundry. In a semi-dramatic fit we decided to do something DRASTIC and cut back our wardrobes for the month of June and just see how it goes. Many, many, many skype sessions later we decided to make up our own challenge instead of going with one of the ones already out there; since most of them are either working in the single digits (6 pieces seams a little risky with my boys) or are for the entire season, and I don't think Virginia summers work like that. So after much debating between my preference for even numbers and her's for prime, we compromised on 21 pieces. Then came the (slightly humiliating) tricky part. Which pieces?? And...do I really have that much clothing?? Now I (like a lot of mamas) need to keep a few sizes around because this post baby version just doesn't shrink quite as...permanently as I like, so that accounted for some of it, and then there were those winter clothes that never got packed back up... But really what good is it to constantly be looking at clothes I want to be wearing that are a size or two too small? I've heard the arguments for a "goal item", but a closet full of clothing that is too small is not inspiring, it's depressing...which doesn't help anyone reach any goals...and more often than not results in yoga pants and Joe's t-shirts because if that cute dress doesn't fit then why bother?? Of course I am working on these baby pounds so it seemed silly to just toss everything into the donate bin when there most certainly will be a day when I need them again. For now they are all bagged and binned up and stashed in one side of my closet...baby steps, folks, baby steps. 

Now insert into the story a few frantic, stressed/panicked skype sessions where we were convinced we had come up with the WORST IDEA EVER...thankfully not at the same time so we were able to help each other out. ;) Before we knew it we were down to 21 items... and more excited than worried (maybe. mostly.)

Now for a better idea of the guidelines we created... 

What counts in for the 21 items? ~Clothing, accessories, and shoes

What doesn't count? ~Pajamas, work out clothes (to only be worn for working out and gardening--no yoga pant errand days), underthings (including camisoles and tanks worn under clothing) and any jewelry that's worn all of the time-- for me that's what I like to call my "bonus piercings" and one or two rings, depending on how swollen my hands are on a day to day basis.

Rules? ~We kept it simple, no buying any new clothing all month (duh), wear every piece at least once, and get fully dressed each and every day.

I went mostly with separates that I can mix and match about a million different ways. 

~Two knit dresses

~Four skirts: black maxi, black yoga skirt, khaki wrap skirt, and a gorgeous hand died wrap skirt from etsy

~Six shirts, they're pretty clear in the above photo

~Two cardigans: one black, one green, although it's pretty washed out in the photo

~Two pairs of shoes: my charcoal grey TOMS and a nice pair of wedges for the fancier occasions 

~One white scarf, one layered silver necklace, silver hoops, a wide brown belt and a narrow grey belt

And folks, that's it. I pulled out my pajamas and work out clothes so that I didn't have any reason to poke through the locked down items and I have to say I'm feeling really inspired! There's still time if you want to join us, we're starting Saturday, but we wont tell if you're a day or two late! If you want to follow me on Instagram (mackenzieh87, and Eliza is eliza_stclair, we are both set to private but approve anyone who isn't obviously spam), we are using #30daysdressed to keep track of our pictures there, and will be doing a weekly blog update with our thoughts and outfits from the week. Now make sure to run over and read Eliza's intro post! For as close as we are, and as heavily as we depend on each other for clothing advice, we most certainly do not dress alike ;)