Category: clothing ban

August Clothing Donation

August Clothing Donation

by No Makeup Mama ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This month I donated mostly workout tops that I don’t prefer any more, but also some sweatpants and pajamas I never wear, bras that don’t fit, and a Guess hoodie that I would like if I could fit my arms into it…but I can’t, so BUH-BYE.

All of these things have been well-loved at one time or another. Some of them even brought back wonderful memories of my early running days or special nights out with Brett… some were even [almost] hard to put in the “donate” pile. BUT my body and my style have changed a lot since those early days of marriage when Brett was constantly buying me trendy, form-fitting clothes in wild colors and prints. Now, if I’m leaving the house to go anywhere other than the gym, I much prefer my plain gray t-shirt (yes, it has a hole in it) with my one pair of jeans or, if I’m staying in, a loose fitting tank top over a bandeau with my jean cut-offs [or maybe sweat pants].

Maybe for date night I’d trade the ratty t-shirt for something a bit nicer…like a black t-shirt…but probably not. I like to be comfortable.

What can I say? I’m a casual gal. Plus, I don’t like being trendy. I’ve never been good at it – mostly because I’ve never been good at conforming. I prefer simple, monochromatic, functional clothing.

Here’s a secret I love to share: Brett has been buying all of my clothes [yes, ALL OF IT] and dressing me [not literally…] since we got married seven years ago. How many women can say that their husband is the fashionable one who picks out all of their clothes???

Anyway, another month down, a third of the way done. So far I’ve donated 104 items of clothing. 👍🏻 208 to go!

Also, in the past four months, we [Brett and I] have not purchased any clothes or accessories for myself or the kids. The kids did get some clothing as gifts for birthdays. But we have far more going out than we have coming in the house, so that’s good.

Karis

July Clothing Donation

July Clothing Donation

by No Makeup Mama ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Reducing my wardrobe feels like it’s going SO SLOWLY with only 26 items per month, so this month I was going to “re-home” 78 pieces of clothing to cover the next three months.

OMG, WHO WAS I KIDDING?

I could barely find 26. I guess slow and steady is the best approach after all.

I’ve also learned that I have some emotional attachments to my clothing – which is so strange to me because I don’t have emotional attachments to ANY of my other belongings. And since I’m not particularly fond of shopping for clothing or buying new clothing, I can’t believe that I’m having a hard time letting go of some of these things.

When I did my original clothing inventory in May, my biggest category was [of all things] tank tops. I had a whopping 57 tank tops! That’s about the same number of warm weather days in Chicagoland each summer! Each month, I look through my entire drawer dedicated to tank tops and try to pick the ones I don’t need…and I can never seem to let any of them go! It’s like my love of summer has me hanging on to these items I will never even get the chance to wear.

Anyway, this month I’m [FINALLY] letting go of 10 tank tops. [Yay! I did it!]

The other clothing items in the donation bin this month are five t-shirts, two workout pants, three scarves, two pajama sets, a blazer, one pair of sweatpants, and two pairs of shorts.

Good thing I have thirty days to find the next 26 clothing pieces to purge!

Karis

May Clothing Donation

May Clothing Donation

by No Makeup Mama ♥ 1 Comment

Only four days since I began my clothing ban and it is already time to make good on my first promise. So, I’ve chosen the 26 items of clothing that I am donating for the month of May.

For being only the first month and having already admitted that I have so much I don’t wear [or have never worn], this was surprisingly difficult.

For example, the top two items on the pile are the same style half-zip fleece sweaters, just in different colors. And I really like them a lot. They fit great, the look good, they are very comfortable. But I have another one of the exact same sweater in white – which I like the best. When I had the choice [which I always did], I always wore the white one. As a result, these other two sweaters have each been worn maybe once [probably when I first got them]. So I have decided to donate them. Unfortunately, a ton of my wardrobe is duplicates. In fact, the majority of this pile is made up of duplicates. What was I thinking buying all this extra clothing?

This has been another reminder of what a privileged life I live compared to most people. I never thought of it this way before [actually I never really thought about it at all], but I realize now that it is a luxury to be able to go shopping for anything I want at any time, much less to find a shirt that I like and then buy it in five different colors. These are luxuries that the majority of people on this planet do not have. In fact, a lot of people are just happy to have clothes to wear. Shame on me for ever thinking of myself as not being wealthy when here I am with so much clothes that I don’t even wear half of it.

I used to think of my wealth in terms of what I didn’t have, rather than everything I already do have. And what I had was never enough – especially when it came to clothing. While it is partially the result of being surrounded by good old fashioned American consumerism – it is also a result of my own willingness to be convinced that I need more than what I already have. That is partially what this clothing ban is about – realizing that I already have plenty. I don’t need more. And I won’t let clever marketing or special sale prices or even my own insecurities tell me differently. Especially when the cost of feeding my constant desire for “more” is the safety and well-being of people around the world.

Well, I hope these items find new owners who show them more love than I did!

Karis