One Dress.... One Hundred Days
Ladies and gentlemen, I have worn my dress for 100 consecutive days, and thus completed the Wool& challenge! (Actually I am now on day 104 but that's mainly down to laundry, which I'll come on to later).
There is something slightly incongruous in the challenge's claim to help combat the 'spotlight effect' (where people tend to believe they are being noticed more than they really are) - by encouraging the posting of a photograph of yourself daily on Instagram, and the reward for completion coming in the form of a money off voucher for some new clothes - having supposedly just proved to yourself that you don't need any, but..... I ABSOLUTELY LOVED DOING IT and I hope the lessons learned will stay with me forever.
I feel liberated, empowered and free which feels particularly pertinent on an International Women's Day dominated by coverage in the media of a woman who felt anything but.
When I stood in front of my wardrobe on Friday and thought, for the first time since November 'What shall I wear today?' It didn't take long for the answer to reverberate back at me 'Your dress'. Yes, there was a part of me that couldn't face the thought of a waistband and finding out if my clothes are more or, fingers crossed, less of a squeeze than when I last wore them, but the overriding conclusion that I kept coming to as I weighed up the options was a distinct lack of interest in doing any laundry. I didn't want to wear anything else to walk the dogs because of the effort involved in washing the clothes once worn, as opposed to either airing my wool dress overnight or popping it in the machine, hanging on a hanger to dry and putting it back on the next day. This, in terms of future clothes purchases, has to be a game changer.
More than a freedom from laundry however was the blank canvas with which to create upon each morning and, in the absence of being able to paint the scene through my choice of clothes, I have, instead, had to illustrate my intentions with my actions.
You want to feel creative P? Then you'll have to BE creative - and not just in terms of trying to find that day's location for my photograph. I have begun experimenting with printing and dyeing textiles and discovered that even when I'm not making any new clothes, a fabric delivery still managed to find it's way to my door. I am beginning to fully understand that this as an inherent part of me and am grateful for the clarity something as simple as the absence of variety in my wardrobe has brought.
But perhaps most of all I had fun. The taking of the daily photograph involved an element of play, and that brought laughter which in turn fed my soul.
Twelve months ago, on International Women's Day I stood, armed with my sewing machine, pondering my part in the fight for equality. A year on it would appear that I am still being drawn into considering the role that clothes and fashion have in determining how we view ourselves and how we are perceived by others, coupled with an ever increasing conscience regarding the lives of those involved in their manufacture and the need for transparent supply chains. I am both educating and discovering myself which, in a year where so much has stood still, strikes me as progress.
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| Inspired by the work of Erica Zolli |
Yes! 🌟🏆💫🌿
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