Six Items or Less, Part 1: The Experiment

Today marks the start of Six Items Or Less. Basically, it's one month of wearing only six articles of clothing. Yep. Six.

Now, this doesn't count underwear (thank goodness), socks, workout clothes, shoes, outerwear, or accessories. Or bathing suits. It's still a shade less than frigid out, so I wasn't particularly concerned about that one.

I've decided to participate. As today is the first day, everything I am wearing is now part of my six. I've got me some dark wash trouser jeans, a green patterned tank top, and a black cardigan. Three down, three to go.

I'm really interested to see how this works out. I'm not usually good at accessorizing: sure, I've bought the stuff with every intention of fancing myself up, but rarely do I ever execute. It's hard enough every morning to just pick the durned clothes themselves, nevermind adding a belt, necklace, other jewel type sparklies, and whathaveyou. I'm really pretty lazy.

So this will be an interesting challenge. It will (hopefully) make my morning wardrobe choices that much easier, and thus free up my minimally available morning brain cells for the task of "accessorizing."

I've read some bits of the experience others had on this journey, and they said people didn't even notice they wore such a limited wardrobe. And they actually recieved more compliments on what they did wear than usual. They felt they looked more put together overall.

Now, I'm not doing this to fish for compliments. I am doing it as an accessorizing test - to see just how creative I can get with limited options, and also to see if I prefer having a limited choice pool. Than maybe I will actually donate some of the clothing, which is long overdue.

I, admittedly, have too many clothes. I keep endeavoring to cut back the crap, but then I look at something, remember the one time I did wear it and think, "That was a cute outfit! I mean, I might wear this again..." and back it goes into the Narnia that is my wardrobe. Actually, it feels more like the Island of Misfit Toys:

"We're on the Island of Misfit Clothes
And here we don't want to stay
We want to travel, and be worn by Sarah
On her curvy bodacious frame!
 
A closet of clothes
Means we'll never be worn
For millions of hours
And for millions of days
We sit and wait and pray
To be worn at least one day of the year!

A jacket and socks waits for Sarah to shout
"Wake up! Don't you know that it's time to come out!"
When she'll wears us all again
The most wonderful day of the year

Clothing galore, locked behind closet door
There's no room for more
And it's all because it's Sarah's fault

A pair of small pants
For if she lost weight
Though we'll ne'er say, "that'll be the day!"
We'd rather she just gave us away,
Then other nice people could buy us to wear on
The most wonderful day of the year.

If we're on the Island of Unwanted Clothes
Just bring us to charity for someone to love
When Purging Day is here
The most wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful day of the year!"
 
I could barely remember the tune, so chances are this doesn't even remotely resemble the original. But I'm pretty sure this is what my clothing would sing, should they spontaneously grow mouths and vocal chords.
 
I'm excited. Apparently I should actually be blogging about my experience on their website. However, here at work, my browser is more like Brontosaurous Explorer, so on most websites I can't see very much of anything. Which I'm pretty sure is Big Brother trying to curb my procrastination.
 
Anyway! I'll post updates on how it's going here. Whether I succeed, go completely insane from these self-inflicted limitaions and take up wearing everything I own at once, like some miniature, cotton Michelin Man (or Joey Tribbiani), or if my other clothes get sick of being ignored and declare mutiny. 
 
It'd bring a whole new meaning to the term "clotheslined."