I first heard of the October Dress Project from
my friend Pam, who heard about it last year, but didn't commit to doing it until this year - check out her
ODP blog here. And she's managed to talk me into joining her.
What is the October Dress Project and why would anyone do it?
Here's a snippet from the
October Dress Project blog....
Here is the basic idea: for thirty-one days, from October 1st to October 31st, you will build all your outfits around one single dress. You will put this dress on in some way, shape, or form, every time you get dressed.
Why? There are a lot of a different women participating, and each participates for different reasons, but the motto sums it up as 'anti-consumerism, pro-simplicity, anti-conformity, pro-imagination.' This can translate into a lot of different motivations, from an out-of-control wardrobe to a concern for environmental sustainability, from an intellectual exercise to a deep rethinking of what you do with your clothes and why. It encourages thinking of your clothing more creatively as you use one dress as a canvas for the other clothes you have in your wardrobe. It prompts dressing more responsibly as you begin to reevaluate the versatility of a single garment. It helps you to cut away the clutter surrounding personal worth, body image, and consumer culture (one of the first thing many people notice is that no one else notices them wearing the same dang thing every day!) It gives you a starting point to begin challenging cultural norms of buying habits and our perception of needs.
I'm a little nervous about this project because, although I have quite a few
clothes, I don't have many
accessories, nor do I have a tremendous eye for fashion, particularly when it comes to layering and accesories. I'm a more than a little concerned that I'm not going to be able to make the dress look that different from day to day.
But that's also exactly the reason why I'm doing it. I want to get more creative in my clothing choices, and putting outfits together, and utilizing the items that I already have in new ways.
I am, however, giving myself two exception clauses.....
1) Nathan and I have a trip planned to Minneapolis to watch the Jets play. I must wear my Jets jersey to this event. I will try to make it work with my dress, but if I can't make it work, I won't wear it to the game - but then I will wear the dress one extra day at the end of the challenge to make up for it.
2) Due to this trip, I am allowing myself to shop at the Albertville outlets and the Mall of America.
So, with those two caveats in place, here is the dress I'm going to use for the challenge.
Unfortunately, it's navy instead of black, but I'm hoping it will work out well anyway. I believe I got it from Kohl's.
I admit, I may be picking up a couple of accessories with this dress in mind on our church's ladies retreat in Fargo this weekend. :)
Well, here goes nothin'!
