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January Accountability Post

As I have completed the first month of my journey, it’s now time for my first accountability post (see my last post for “Reflections on the First Month”).  Today’s post will be a bit disjointed, as I did quite a bit of returning/exchanging of items I had purchased in December 2012.  As indicated in my shopping rules, exchanges are permissible, as long as they are done on a one for one basis and within my designated shopping budget.  Since I will only be purchasing one item of clothing and one accessory per month during this year, exchanges should be relatively minimal after this month.

New Purchases

Early on in the month, I decided to purchase a coat as my January clothing item.  I wear the coats I have frequently and really like how a nice coat can up-level even the most casual outfit.  Unfortunately, I found the coat inventory in stores had already been depleted by mid-January.  It can be frustrating how the retail season is months ahead of what we are experiencing weather-wise.  I was forced to turn to online shopping to find my coat.

After two online coat orders didn’t work out, I finally found a winner in a black brocade coat in a classic double-breasted style.  I love this coat and believe I will wear and love it for many years to come.  My accessory purchase was a black leather embellished multi-strand bracelet from Brighton.

January Purchases

My January Purchases – Black Brocade Coat & Black Embellished Bracelet

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Reflections on the First Month

January reflectionsIt’s been just over a month since I started my 2013 “recovering shopaholic” project, with the goal of decreasing my shopping, buying more consciously and smartly, and minimizing my wardrobe.  I created rules for myself to guide my way, including the rule of buying only one item of clothing and one accessory per month.

This rule serves two purposes:  it allows me to shop a little bit instead of going “cold turkey” and it forces me to be smarter with my purchases rather than buying haphazardly.  If I only set a monthly budget for myself without the purchase limits, I would probably keep making misguided purchases at consignment stores and during retail sales.

I gave myself a few loopholes in my rules.  I am allowed to make returns and exchange unworn items on a one for one basis.  In addition, workout/lounge wear is not included within the limits, nor are sleepwear and undergarments.  I don’t have a tendency to overbuy these items and they generally receive quite a bit of wear, so they are typically good purchases.

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The Wardrobe “Benchwarmer” Project

We all have favorite items in our wardrobes, things that we regularly reach for when getting dressed each day.  In contrast, there are other pieces that languish in our closets and rarely see the light of day.  Most people only wear 20% of their clothing on a regular basis, while the rest of what they own is merely taking up valuable closet space and leading to a false sense of having a large wardrobe.

It is one thing to think we aren’t wearing most of what we have, but it’s quite another situation to know this empirically.  The wardrobe tracking that I’ve done over the past two years has shown me the cold, hard truth of what I do and don’t wear.

Wardrobe “All-Stars” and “Benchwarmers”

I’d like to introduce two terms which I will use regularly in future posts:  “wardrobe all-stars” and “wardrobe benchwarmers.”   For my purposes (and you can, of course, create your own parameters), I have defined a “wardrobe all-star” as an item that gets worn eight or more times per year.  I know this is a fairly conservative distinction, and I would eventually like to be wearing my closet favorites far more often than that.  But for someone with a wardrobe of over 300 pieces, I think it’s a good place to start.

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The Cold, Hard Facts: What I Have

I did something yesterday that I probably should have done a long time ago… I took an inventory of my closet.  I decided that if I am really going to confront my compulsive shopping issues head on, I need to have all of the facts at my disposal.  I already looked at the cold, hard facts of my finances (how much I’ve spent on shopping over the past 10 years) and what I did and didn’t wear over the past two years.  Next, it was time to turn to my closet and really look at what’s in there.

january-2013-closet

Doing my closet inventory – Sprite wants to help!

Goal – A Manageable and Minimalist Wardrobe

One of my goals for 2013 (and beyond) is to create a more manageable and minimalist wardrobe filled only with items I love and wear.  My decision to buy less (only one item of clothing and one accessory per month) will help with that goal because it will keep me focused on quality over quantity.   As I wrote about in my post on shopping with limits, the constraints on my shopping will push me to be more selective about what I buy.  For something to be worthy of one of my two purchases per month, it needs to be at least an 8 on a scale of 1-10, and preferably a 10 if at all possible.

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History of a Shopaholic

So how did I get to where I am today?  A bit of history is in order now… I’ll do my best to give the “Cliff’s Notes” version starting with my childhood (after all, I am 46 – a full history would be a book, not a page!). 

A Shy and Insecure Childhood

path to where I am todayI was a very shy and insecure child who grew up in the affluent community of San Carlos, California, a suburb of San Francisco.   I never felt as if I could measure up to my peers in terms of how I looked and how I dressed.  My parents were not as wealthy as many in the community and couldn’t afford to purchase a full wardrobe of designer clothes for me every school year.

After my parents divorced when I was 14, the money was even tighter.  I also kept gaining weight in my early teen years and had to keep buying new clothes to accommodate my burgeoning proportions.  My chubby frame coupled with my tall height (I’m 5’10”) only served to increase my tremendous self-consciousness.

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