Day 21 With all the rain we are getting in NC this spring, I am super happy I bought my white sneakers. They keep me warm and cozy and my feet dry. All the fashion forecasting reports say the white sneakers are here to stay, it’s a trend that will stick. One of those things that will go down in fashion history: when people google (or whatever) fashion from the late 20-teens, you will see a pic of a gal wearing white sneakers. Kind of like Keds or off-one-shoulder sweatshirts from the 80s, or ball gown skirts with sneakers from the early 90s. I don’t particularly care if I am totally on-trend or not, because many times I am pretty far ahead and then when the trend hits big time, I am already sick of it and onto my next trend. Like jumpsuits, for instance: 8 years ago when I saw the first glimpse of the trend, I ran right out and I had to have one for my bestie’s 40th birthday party. Now, 8 years and three jumpsuits later, I am seeing them everywhere and I am getting a little tired of them. Same with culottes and bell bottoms. I got them a while ago and I do love them, but I am already over them. Bell bottoms rear their ugly selves every few years anyway.
You know you’re starting to get old when things you wore 20 years ago are back for the younger peeps. Like mom jeans with half shirts – totally the trend, and I cringe when I see it because it looks as bad now as it did then. You know I am getting old when I am thinking let’s just stick to classic silhouettes and change the colors and the patterns as they go in and out of trend.
My daughter reminded me of the shift in color trends just last night. She is a burgeoning jewelry designer (among many of her other talents), and she is currently working out of a box of beads that my sister had left her. She says, “Mom, I can tell neutral colors, browns and earth tones were the trend 10 years ago. Can we get some bright colors and pom-poms, for my trendy, less classic designs?” Yes, we can. She has followed her Mamma’s entrepreneurial lead, and I will open an etsy store for her to showcase her latest designs. She is pretty excited to use her earnings to tither to the church, save for college, and donate to causes near and dear to her heart. I am encouraged by it all because when I see her working hard and acting out of such bold ambition and compassion for others, I am thankful that the example Tim and I are setting is not just flying over our children’s heads. Unfortunately, you get the bad with the good, and she had also absorbed my lack of organization skills in reference to my closet (sigh). Another reason I need to get this thing under control before it is too late.
I love that the internet has opened our opportunities up so much. When I was a kid the entrepreneurial spirit was still strong: lemonade stands were a no-go because we lived on a dead end street out in the sticks. So I would make tissue paper or toilet paper flowers and sell them door to door, I would walk miles for a few dimes from an old lady who felt sorry for me because I was going door to door selling toilet paper. Now it’s too dangerous to go door to door, but ahhh, the internet. An even better tool to foster our children’s entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirits.
There are so many deals around today – community marketplaces, mom’s marketplaces, etc. You really never have to pay retail again, and if you are patient almost every store issues coupons. Wait for the special and you can almost always feel like you are getting a good deal.
I hear people say all the time, “I am not a sales person.” If you live in this world and you talk to people, you are selling. When you share your ideas, you are selling. When you want your children to do something for you, you are selling. When you tell a friend about a great wine bar you discovered or the nail salon you go to, you are selling. Every time you read a blog (including mine) or anything else written, someone is selling you on their ideas. Thinking back to my old life in NYC, and also to my daughter’s jewelry, as a designer you’re always selling: selling your designs to people around you, selling your talent (in order to get work), selling your designs (so you can keep on working).
As I get closer to the end of my experiment, I am evaluating if and how much I will incorporate my static wardrobe. When the day gets crazy, I think “there is no way I am giving up my static wardrobe.” On the days when someone is asking me about my fashion background and they give me the once over, I feel like they are wondering if I wear the same thing all the time. Then I want to ditch it. Even though I am only 9 days from the end in my blogging of this adventure (I’m behind a bit, but all in all not too bad), tomorrow is actually my last calendar day of the experiment and I am pretty excited to see what is to come.
Reflecting on the experience at this point, I would absolutely recommend a static wardrobe for everyday use, and an occasional cute outfit for an occasion or something special. This is so doable for the minimalist, traveler, hectic mom trying to keep her head above water or even the person who just wants to minimize the brain drain of our limitless choices.