That's crazy, right?

       
I have loved clothes for as long as I can remember. I love the feel of crushed velvet in my fingers, the swish of a new dress's hem against my knee, and the rush of adrenaline that only a new clothing purchase can bring. I love clothes so much that I thought about going into fashion as a career. I was ready to devote my whole soul and being to...CLOTHES!
         Like all good things, eventually they must come to an end. My relationship with clothes became a lot bumpier when I started paying for my own clothes. I would fall in love with the perfect t-shirt, only to lose interest with it a month later. My heart was as fickle with clothes as it was with other areas of my life. Eventually, I began to think, "I wonder how much money I've spent on clothes in the last month, year, decade?" I have yet to answer that chilling question however it did get the wheels in my head turning.
        I began to start thinking, "I wonder what my life would be like if I didn't buy any clothes for a whole year." I quickly (and feverishly) dismissed the thought. A year with no clothes? That's crazy, right? The first time I had this thought, I was a senior in college living in Arizona. I was planning to move to Colorado to begin my career as a teacher. I started thinking of all the cold weather clothes that I didn't have and would surely need. I would need a coat, gloves, other things that we didn't need in the desert...
        Fast forward 8 months or so, I'm living in my mountain oasis known as Colorado. I have a coat, gloves, and (drumroll) scarves! I have more clothes than one person could possibly need/want/wear. My flimsy excuse of needing winter clothes for my first, REAL winter was officially no longer valid. I had no reason to not commit to a year with no new clothes. Before I embarked on this mad, mad adventure I thought it would be important to lay out some ground rules. (Can you tell I'm a teacher?)

Rules for A Year With No Clothes

1.  No new clothes may be purchased (firsthand or secondhand) between March 11th, 2018 and March 11th, 2019.
2.  Accessories such as tights, etc. may be purchased (you can only buy so many tights, right?!).
3. Shoes are included in clothes, no new shoes either (insert crying emoji).
4. Clothes may be accepted as gifts.
5. Clothes may be exchanged for other clothes (but only if no money exchanges hands).

I know this is going to be crazy and sometimes very, very challenging but I truly believe this will open up new areas of life where I can invest the time, money, etc. that was formally used on shopping. Let the year of no clothes begin!