Would You Go On A Shopping Diet?

Dahlings, I recently came back from a short getaway with the family and one of the most talked about subjects when the women gathered was dieting and eating right. Everyone had their theories on how to achieve the perfect state of slimness. Ironically the three ladies that were the most slim ( including myself), said very little on the subject and really just listened to the others and their never ending stories about dieting. I realized that those of us who refrained from the conversation were not battling a complicated relationship with food; instead we were battling a complicated relationship with clothes.  And I began to wonder if I should go on a diet myself: A shopping diet.

At least three times a month I stand in front of my closet and say to myself that I have nothing to wear. I know it’s not true. It’s the consumer monster inside me asking to be fed. And it appears there are other fashion feigns out there like me who are looking for a permanent fix to this problem. Recently a group of people from California to Dubai participated in a self-imposed exercise in frugality challenge called Six Items or Less. The challenge asked folks to spend an entire month wearing only “six items already found in your closet (not counting shoes, underwear or accessories).” Many signed up because they want to cut back on spending and some saw the challenge as a rejection of fashion and others were concerned that the mass production and global transportation of increasingly cheap clothing was damaging the environment. The challenged which began  on June 21st, recently wrapped but you can see how the participants put their looks together here.  More mind boggling than wearing six items for a month is the Uniform Project launched in 2009 by New York native Sheena Matheiken. For 365 days, Sheena sported a simple, tunic-style dress to raise money for the The Akanksha Foundation, a nonprofit helping children in India's slums attend schools. She raised enough money to send 233 children to school for a year. How inspiring is that! Fashion can make a difference! Check out her yearlong journey below.

http://www.blogger.com/Uniform from http://www.blogger.com/The on Vimeo.

Another similar challenge, the Great American Apparel Diet, asks that participants completely eliminate “new apparel” for one year. The project began last September and will end on Sept. 2, 2010. The site also features fashionable brands that are eco-friendly and made in the US or fairly traded. Needless to say, I’m really intrigued by the less is more concept and scaling back my consumerism practices. I'm looking forward to the self-help guide, “The Shopping Diet,” by the red-carpet stylist Phillip Bloch (ignore the funny looking faces he makes).  I'll keep you posted on what I think of the book and if there are worthy tips to adopt for your ongoing personal and style evolution.