30 for 30 {Day 15- Halfway there!}

Shirt-Target, Jacket-Anthropologie, Trousers-Banana Republic, Boots-Aldo, Necklace-Forever21,Short Necklace-Macy's, Earrings-Macy's 

I've made it to the half way point and I have some thoughts on my experience so far. As I said at the beginning of this adventure, I have more clothes than I need (look up clothes horse in the dictionary- you'll see me). In an effort to remedy that, I did a first pass through my closet and cleaned out items I wasn't "in love with" enough to keep and donated them. *NOTE: I tend to go through my closet every 6-8 months and weed out items I don't wear on a regular basis anyways, so this wasn't so new to me* My new approach was to assess how much I like to wear each item. No more holding on to a certain top or dress because I "might" have a place to wear it again. I'm over buying clothes for specific events. I must be able to remix them. I actually think I'll get more wear out of my items. 

Which brings me to my next thought: How long I can go without wearing the same outfit twice. There. I said it. I put it out there. I can't take it back. At the end of this 30 for 30 challenge, I'm personally challenging myself to see how long I can go with out wearing the same outfit twice. The scary thing is, I think I can go well into fall. Is that good or bad? Am I just good at remixing my clothes or do I simply have more clothes than one should have. Well, you'll have to be the judge. I'm going to give it a whirl.

One of the best lessons I've learned is what I really like to wear. Looking at my clothes that aren't currently in rotation, I see a few I miss. A LOT. But I see a lot more I could take or leave. Which leads me to my third thought - I should only buy things I really, really, really want to wear. In other words- can't live without (now I don't mean I'll die if I don't have the item, although I may feel that way if I can't get it). Do you ever go shopping, see something you want, but for some reason don't purchase that day? Then, the next week or so you find yourself thinking about the item? Pairing it with items in your closet? No? Really? Hmmm, maybe I do have a problem. Anywho, the items I thought about or waited a while to buy, are the items I'm missing most right now (BTW- is it odd that I'm missing clothes? I'm starting to think I have an unhealthy relationship with my clothes!). For example, I have a fantastic 3.1 Phillip Lim dress I ADORE! I thought about it forever and then finally broke down and bought it (on sale no less, so even better). It gets more wear than most items in my closet and I remix the crap out of it. To me, that's an item that was worth it and has a fantastic cost per wear. Cost per wear is my justification system when buying expensive items. You divide the cost of the item by how often you think you'll wear it and you get cost per wear - which to me is the true cost. So, if you buy $500 shoes, but wear them 3 days a week for 4 months, the true cost was $10! How's that for justification. But, it works the same way when you buy something inexpensive (but I never applied the logic until just now!). Say you bought a $20 top from Forever 21 that you HAD to have, but you only wear it twice. Your cost per wear is $10. Now, which would you rather have? The shoes you loved and wore a ton or the shirt you only wore twice and weren't that thrilled with after that. Get my point?

Maybe this challenge was just what I needed. A detox from clothes, if you will. It seems to working. At least let's hope it's working. This could just be the delirium from not being able to wear everything hanging in my closet right now. It could be the honeymoon phase of the challenge. Stay tuned...

How about you? Are you inspired to rethink your wardrobe? Have you learned anything in these last 15 days? Do you use cost per wear when making purchases?