Day 14 was one of those Mondays when it’s cold and rainy and your kids are finally all back in school. After having at least one kid home sick for 10 days straight, I knew I had a ton of catch up and running around to do. Sunday’s monsoon-like weather continued, so as I opened my drawer to grab my tee-shirt, what did I see? My oh-so-comfy Peach heather joggers and fly away. Tempting: if I chose that it would be much warmer and comfortable in the cold rain. But as I’ve mentioned as a running blog theme, I think it is often unwise and short sighted to be a slave to comfort clothes (yes, there is a time and place for them … but that’s the exception, not the rule). But that Monday was so cold and I was already weary from all I had to do … I had so much on my plate to try to get ahead for upcoming plans on my calendar this week, like my Nourish group dinner party. What to do? I chose to stay the course with my static wardrobe. For a bit of added warmth, rather than my Birkenstocks I wore socks and my sneakers, and also layered on my cardigan sweater. And my trusty rain trench was back in action. In and out of the car, dodging puddles, my white sneakers kept my feet perfectly dry … and they are fun, as I get tons of compliments on them. The jury is in: they were surely a good fashion choice.
We had our Bible study that night and that is one spot that is typical of where the static wardrobe is a good time saver: not to having to change again late in the day. I am really not missing options too much, because the trade-off in favor of simplicity is often so much better than the time sink required to get the most out of having options. I am trading time and effort, brain space, thought space and closet space as the upside for the risk of being repetitive.
I cannot really say that my static wardrobe experiment has actually saved me any money at this point. I have just transferred my spending to other things. This time it is just more supplements and “health products” I have wanted to try. I have never found any diet, weight loss, performance products that I think are truly amazing or give me true transformation. If I did I would not be so tempted to try something new every time I see a before and after float past on Facebook or Instagram. Also, wearing the same thing day in and day out, I can feel even the most miniscule fluctuations in my weight by the way the clothes feel on my body: tighter or shorter one day, looser or hanging more the next … either way, they don’t lie.
I am always looking for more energy, more mental focus. I joke that I am a product tramp, because I keep hopping around trying to find the product or the diet that works. I was talking with a good friend yesterday and I said, “I guess I am looking for the golden egg,” and they reminded me of a famous sports quote (Tim informed me this was made famous by his all-time favorite, Wayne Gretzky): “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Yes! Yes, that is my new motto! I love it: why not take a shot? It worked out for me in theSkin care business. I loved the products, they were amazing for my skin, so I started a business. If I had not taken a shot, I would have missed it. This concept does also very much apply to my static wardrobe. I could always sit around and wonder if I could minimize my wardrobe to the lowest amount of clothes possible, but I would not have known until I tied.
I am still questioning if the static Static Wardrobe is sustainable for the long haul. I think adding in a special occasion dress might be a necessity. I was looking at a copy of NC Living that had an article on tiny homes. As I read the article I noticed what the people were wearing: it just so happened the Mom was in a jean skirt and a tee shirt. I thought, “if you live in a tiny home, do you automatically have a static wardrobe by default?” Tim thinks tiny home living is unsustainable. And he may be right: the family in the article was on their forth tiny home space since 2012. Maybe tiny homes are just sustainable as a vacation property or second home. In any experiment (diets, tiny homes, static wardrobe), you find your threshold, incorporate what works, toss out what doesn’t. You just never know what works for you until you try! You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
