Cheat//GAC

Guilty as charged. :(

When you cheat it just means you didn't give yourself permission to fail/made up some outrageous challenge that could only function as intended in an ideal world.

Well, my friends, I have it on good authority that I'm not the only one that's cheating, and I'll tell you what: it makes total sense.  We're doing the equivalent of a crash diet here and we all know how well those work. Sure, for a week or so, you're doing awesome, but when you break, it can be ugly.

So now I'd like to talk about a little something called "permission to fail." It's a technique I use when I'm running, and the reason I employ it is because my relationship with running is really precarious - much like my relationship with the SLC right about now.

In high school I was obsessed with exercise, especially running. But I would push myself too hard, end up failing and giving up, then starting again, knowing that I would fail again, and pushing myself all the harder for it. It was a vicious cycle and ended up in hard-core burnout. Since quitting wasn't in my vocabulary, every time it happened it became an epic fail and psychologically it was so hard on me that I would shut down for several days before going back into the ring, so to speak. I finally just stopped completely.

Eventually, a little older and wiser, I picked up running again, this time with the condition that the minute it stopped being fun, I was free to quit. And that worked, and running slowly became about more than just exercise. It became a vital part of my life, a chance to think through tough design conundrums and life's little difficulties, a metaphor for how to live, and the closing parenthesis to my day.

Now the rules are:

1. I have to show up BUT I have permission to fail. This means I have to get out there and finish my "run." It also means that if I want to walk, I can. If I want to stop, I can. For the longest time just knowing that I could quit when I wanted allowed me to push myself harder. And then finally, I had a day where I called it. And I slowed down to a walk, expecting the world to explode, expecting the guilt and blind rage of my high school years to flood in. What happened was, I walked for a block or two, and then rule number 2 started nudging.

(Rule 2. Be your best. I made this rule when I was running one day and I kind of just checked in with myself and I realized I wasn't even breathing hard, yet somehow my mind was trying to convince me that finishing the run was impossible - a strange disconnect. So now I run as though each step is a fresh chance to be my absolute best. And with every step I try to be the best I can be in that moment. And since it's just a moment, followed instantly by another moment, "best" doesn't seem like too much to ask. And just like with permission to fail, once the pressure's off, I can actually rise to the challenge. In some moments, my best might be walking, but in that moment, it's still my best, and that's all I ask. )

I have this thing about wasting my own time. After a few blocks of walking, I was like, what are we doing out here if we're not going to go for the gusto? So I started running again, and ended up having a harder, better run than I would have had if I had not let myself walk a few blocks. Permission to fail makes quitting far less likely, I've found. You let failure happen, and realize that not only is it not the end of the world, but it awakens the part of you that has been waiting for a second chance. Another chance to be the best.

 I guess the point is, quitting doesn't have to mean failing and failing doesn't have to mean quitting. Cheating is just a reminder that we've pushed ourselves to a place close to our limits. Regroup and move forward. Let's not flip out people. We're not saving lives, we're just reassessing our relationship with our clothes.

Wear//Tear

Whose brilliant idea was it to pick my favorite clothes and wear them into the ground? Oh, right: mine. So below is a little photo essay documenting the wear and tear my clothes are sustaining. Probably the most intensive damage has been incurred by my navy silk pants - they are literally a squat away from ripping down the backside. But how intelligent was it to pick silk pants to wear? I remember I eschewed silk shirts, owing to the delicate factor, but somehow decided that silk pants would be ok? Right...

The marbled long sleeved top has gotten a rip where the tag is sewn in, not too worried about this. Considering the delicate knit, it has held up remarkably well. Really irritated about my white button-up - it's made from some poly blend and is pilling like crazy - ew. Not even a piece I wear all that often...And my good ol' jeans are scuffing on the inseam - not worried.

So the summer continues to be freezing and due to the fact that I still need a serious bit of outerwear I have traded the fur (my 11th item) for a leather jacket - the fur was far too delicate and a total emergency - from here on out I'll be sporting the moto jacket below - which dear friends, admittedly was a recent purchase - but kind of the deal of a lifetime - and I am seriously in love - wearing it as I type.

Okay, not going to lie. Suffering from shopping withdrawal (hence the above indiscretion). I troll the end of summer sales and spend hours drooling over my favorite sites on the interwebs. I bought an awesomely gaudy pair of gold mirrored aviators, made a necklace, and bought some cosmetics to parlay my shopping angst.

All in all, though, this experience has been awesome. I was packing the other day, and it was literally like getting a whole new wardrobe as I unearthed stuff I hadn't thought about in months. After having an impromptu fashion show for myself though, I realized:

how much frickin' time I've saved with these 10 items! Getting dressed used to take forever! And when I went shopping I would spend hours playing with my new toys - styling them all these different ways, only to never wear them out...Not to mention cleaning. I am not the type of person to put clothes back when I pull them out - I leave them strewn about the floor! I remember coming home to mountains and being like - was it really that hard to find an outfit this morning?

I definitely think 10 items is too restrictive, but I love using the idea of finding core items and always using them as the basis of an outfit. I think for fall, my approach to getting dressed will be far more considered and restrictive than previously - thanks to the SLC! How are you all doing? xx

A Word On Washing//11th Item!!!!

The eleventh item - you'll get to judge me later and wearing my house coat - you guessed it! - upside down!


So a couple of people took issue with this challenge because of the whole laundry sitch. They were like - but I'll be doing my laundry all the time! And I was like - fair enough. I grew up in a European/New Mexican household, though, which means many things but the relevant ones are:

1. Drought-mania/constant water shortage (I remember when I moved to SF I was so surprised that here you don't pay for water - it's usually included with rent. In New Mexico, you pay. Oh, you pay.)

2. Air so dry that it sucks the water out of your line-hung laundry literally faster than a dryer on hot summer afternoons

3. That convivial European blasé faire that looked pretentiously down its nose at America's obsession with killing germs, spotless counters, and 1001 different types of bleach. That is to say, I probably do my laundry a lot less than most people anyways. Don't worry, I don't smell (bad).

So the upshot is, laundry wasn't a daily affair, but more a weekly one. I wore my t-shirts more than once before tossing them in the hamper. 

After college, I spent a year in Poland and that was a laundry situation that finished the job that my upbringing had started. Our apartment had no washer/dryer, there were no public laundromats, and the dry cleaners were expensive and also few and far between. So friends, for a whole year I hand washed everything in our bathtub. Not just small things, like undies, but big things too, like duvet covers.

I did come across one blog that is doing this challenge that had some rationale for how this challenge is actually decreasing her laundry, but for the most part, I could see laundry being a sticking point.

This is what hand-washing looks like. :)


I have not been affected laundry wise. But I am lucky. Here are the unique circumstances that lead me to make such a bold assertion.

1. I am far less smelly than a man.
2. I use perfumes liberally yet no obnoxiously (as in, never on a plane!)
3. I have hand-washing locked down
4. I live a mile from the nearest laundry mat anyways and I walk there, so any excuse to avoid schlepping bags o' dirty clothes is appreciated.

So here's how it goes down. I wear something till it gets dirty. Usually this happens when I go out to eat. I got huge splotches of smelly curry (!) all over my jumpsuit the other day. I think I sat in a puddle of it? So then I take that one item and hand wash it in a little bucket that sits unobtrusively in my kitchen. You may be picturing lots of scouring and sweating. Nope. I slap some stain remover on the offending spots, then dump the garment in a bath of water and soap. It's all very arbitrary. Sometimes I use dish soap, sometimes I use laundry detergent, sometimes I use shampoo. Then I let it sit for a day. All the dirt gets loosened up and the water gets black and I didn't lift a finger! Then I rinse a few times, hang to dry and go my merry way smelling like Herbal Essences. Or is that so 1998? What shampoo are all the cool girls using these days?

Well, this is turning into a long post, which is my sneaky way of getting you to go away before we talk about this eleventh item. That sounds very ominous and it obviously represents a huge breach of contract.

This is how it happened. You be the judge. So I actually live in Oakland, which on any given day is anywhere from 10 - 20 degrees warmer than that arctic ice cap of a city called SF. A girlfriend and I were going out for dinner and silly me, I left the house that day without my sweater. The fog rolls in, the wind sets in, and I begin to see my life flash before my eyes. Of course, when a coat is proffered, I am down on my knees with gratitude. Then my friend is like, I never wear this! You take it! You have to wear it home - you'll freeze if you don't! What was a girl supposed to do? It's a fur coat in July!  I didn't buy it. She didn't buy it (recently). It was a gift. It's a fur coat in July. Surely the sheer absurdity of that statement offers some kind of reparations....That's pretty much all I have to say.  What do you think?

CWAC x SLC Part 2: This Heat

It's been just shy of a month. Probably time that I do another post. Apologies for the lag since the last one. Free time has been scarce to non-existent these last few weeks. But, despite my blog-slacking, I have still been keeping up with the challenge (scouts honor).

What I'm wearing right now: Gitman Vintage Gray Chambray Shirt, thrift store belt, Knowledge Twisted Twill Shorts, Paraboot Boat Shoes.

It's been hot this month. Real hot. Subsequently, I've had exactly two goals when getting dressed in the morning: 1) don't wear the same shirt as the day before, and 2) wear as little as possible, but still look office-appropriate. Fortunately, I work in a casual enough environment that I can get away with wearing shorts. And so I have been. Nearly every day.


Work-wear 1: Gitman Vintage Blue Oxford Shirt, thrift store belt, Knowledge Twisted Twill Shorts, custom Stanley & Sons tote, Quoddy Boat Shoes.


Work-wear 2: Gitman Vintage Blue Chambray Shirt, blue bandanna (purchased from Kmart nearly 10 years ago), thrift store belt, Loomstate Fabian Chinos, Filson Tote, vintage L.L.Bean loafers.

Weekends tend to inspire me to put in a bit more effort. But, as the nights have been just as hot as the days, that effort usually amounts to little more than the addition of a single accessory. Not having air conditioning in our apartment has had a big influence on my dressing habits. Rule of thumb: if I'm uncomfortable in the house, I'll be twice as uncomfortable out on the street.


My favorite weekend outfit thus far: Gitman Vintage White Oxford Shirt, Pierrepont Hicks Prairie Bow Tie, thrift store belt, Knowledge Twisted Twill Shorts, Ethletic White Low-top Sneakers.

All-in-all, it's been going pretty smoothly. Occasionally, I'll have a morning when I feel tempted to put on an item that isn't part of my 10 - usually Fridays, as I've only got four shirts, which means I have to wear one of them twice during the work week. But, more often than not, once I put the repeat shirt on, I like it enough not mind too much.

On the downside, having less clothes has resulted in a more frequent need for laundry. Because I'm wearing the pieces over and over again, they get soiled much faster. I do my best to extend the periods between washes, either by hanging things inside-out on the porch overnight, or sticking things in the freezer for a day or two to kill off the bacteria. But, with the weather as it's been, the work-arounds don't really suffice for a proper machine wash.

Regardless, it's been nice having a (semi-) legitimate excuse not to buy anything new - I've been really liking ending each pay period with money still left in the bank. I will admit that with AW10 stock starting to land in stores, I've been feeling an extra few pangs of want during this last week. But, in almost all instances, that dissipated within 24 hours, and I returned to feeling content with the things I have. We'll see if / how that keeps up.

Guest Post: MJ from Ethical Style!

The SLC is very  honored to have the beautiful, stylish MJ from EthicalStyle post today on her experience with the challenge. Thanks a billion, MJ! :) Read on for a zen-like perspective that may very well get you to reconsider joining if you shied away earlier! It's never too late! Either way, MJ shares why she jumped into the challenge feet first! Read on:

When I first read about the Summer Light Challenge, I immediately thought to myself: “Bring it on.” The timing was perfect, as I’m not terribly inclined to overdress in the heat. But it also dovetailed with my latest preoccupation: changing priorities and how they have affected the way I approach shopping.

Full disclosure time. I’m 28 years old and I've been an avid shopper since high school (my mom can verify this fact – back-to-school shopping was a very big deal for me, even though I wore a uniform). Few things give me more pleasure than the smell of new clothes and the commitment of cutting the tags off a purchase. I love fashion and how it’s a manner of self-expression. Truly, under the right circumstances – a bad breakup, a new job – it can be downright transformative.

But between writing for EthicalStyle for going on two years and getting married last fall, I find lately that I'm more content with what I have instead of chasing an ever-evolving version of myself. I don’t know that I want to say that I've matured, but I've definitely become more comfortable in my own skin.

It’s certainly helped that I’m not in much of a shopping mood these days. Part of it, certainly, is that marriage makes me feel more responsible and less inclined to spend some double-digit percentage of my paycheck on clothes. But as collateral damage of the Great Recession, some of my favorite places to shop are no longer in business (most notably Martin and Osa, a brand that introduced me to soybean sweaters and the lion’s share of my polished casual basics).

I guess you could say that fashion used to be the way I demonstrated my personal evolution, and after a few years of tinkering with it, I’m now in a place where I don’t feel I need to reinvent myself every three months. Is it possible I’ve evolved to a point where I am actually happy with how I look?

I remember being in college and feeling like this day would never come. I would grab my lower belly and lament how poochy I was, despite being an athletic size six. I would change my hair color with my mood, from Punky Bleach’s banana yellow to Clairol’s simmering dark espresso. I bought way too many clothes at H&M during this era, trying out a variety of fashion styles from preppy to punky as if they were boyfriends I never took seriously.

MJ models her 4th item - the color-blocked dress from Crossroads

Yet as I’ve entered my late 20s, I’ve felt myself settle down like a house into its foundations. Having seen what my body is capable of and how much my husband loves it now matter what shape it’s in, I refuse to ever again tell myself that I’m fat; in fact, I’m currently training for my first triathlon. I’ve stuck with the same shade of blonde since 2008, breaking my own personal record. And I’m comfortable with the idea of limiting my closet to ten pieces for a whole summer. Because now I know it’s not the dress that wears the woman.

 My 10 pieces:

Dark-wash trouser jeans from Martin and Osa

Ash grey skinny jeans from a thrift shop on Lake Tahoe (only $6!)

Khaki “Aviator” skirt with cargo details from Martin and Osa

Colorblocked tank dress from Crossroads, my favorite consignment shop in Los Angeles (pictured)

Dressy black tunic-length tank by Vince (doubles as a dress if worn with leggings)

White v-neck tee from J. Crew

Black three-quarter sleeved organic cotton Henley from C&C California

Dark grey ruffle-front tank top from J. Crew

Orange and white striped nautical tank top from Martin and Osa

Oatmeal-colored vintage jersey hoodie by Splendid

-- M.J. Prest

Editor-in-chief

EthicalStyle.com

Week 2

Today since it's the 4th - Happy Independence Day! - I'm just going to throw up my outfits - tomorrow you'll hear from a participant and all about an interesting little psychological epiphany they inspired. Hmm.

I realized my grey dress hadn't gotten any play, plus I had a birthday party to go (read: must look nice) so I put it on, and then it was so easy, just kept wearing it the rest of the week! It even makes an appearance as an - admittedly sort of bulky - cowl halter top. It helped that the weather was super nice all week!

 Monday and Thursday. You will begin to note my strong predilection for southwestern accessories if you look closely.

Tuesday and Friday. I love my Friday outfit! I have definitely been "customizing" the basic pieces like crazy. The extreme example is the dress as cowl, but you'll note my "layering top" above is scrunched and pinned at the neck to make it shorter, and below, the white shirt is knotted - again to adjust the silhouette.

Wednesday's child is full of  woe  wishes that your challenges are proceeding well! xx

Week 1//M-F//Some Thoughts on Cheating

Well, I'm sure it'll get harder.

This week I hardly even noticed anything "extraordinary" was going on. Here are the few things I did exclusively because of the SLC:
I did purchase some Eco Breeze, a natural fabric refresher. I spilled coffee on my white blouse - of course - and had to furiously scrub it with a toothbrush and stain remover - normally I'd throw it in the laundry pile and forget about it.

I had an interesting episode where I was at home in my pjs at 10 pm-ish and wanted a sweater  (I'm sure some of you are like - what the heck is up with all the sweaters and scarves?!?! It's 100 degrees out! To you I say - You lucky people.  You are clearly not experiencing summer in San Francisco. Some advice - if you are planning on visiting SF summer-side bring a nice warm sweater - not some paper thin cardigan - you will need it...) to wear for no more than 5 minutes as I took the garbage out so I reached for one - not one of my ten pieces - and literally couldn't put it on.

On the one hand, my mind was like: It's not really breaking the challenge - just call it pajamas and be done with it! You're taking the trash out, not going to work! But I felt that - at least in my case - it would break the spirit of the challenge. Even if I had put that sweater on for 10 seconds, it still would have provided a sense of relief from the restrictions of 10 pieces. Usually, I'm not so literal when it comes to rules, especially when they're as arbitrary as with this challenge. So my reaction was really surprising to me. I guess it's all or nothing - or in this case, all or ten. Onward!