Thank you Wardrobe Refashion

December 21, 2007 at 10:55 am | In Clothes and Style, Crafts, Creativity, Sewing |

It’s been about five months since I first signed up for the Wardrobe Refashion challenge. As someone who loves clothes and takes great pleasure in finding the right clothes, I thought this would be really challenging for me. I honestly wasn’t sure if I could commit to four months, but hey, aggressive goals are a good thing.

It’s now five months later and I am not ready to call it quits. Changing my behavioral patterns has altered my perspective on clothing and the way I dress to a degree that I certainly had not anticipated, and I am even more deeply interested in fashion and dressing than before.

First, it’s given me the motivation to spend much more time sewing and creating. That itself is a great thing, and always welcome in my life.

It’s given me a new set of criteria with which to judge potential additions to my closet. When I see something pretty, instead of just asking myself, “Do I like this enough to spend X dollars on it?”, I have to think, “Do I love this enough to invest the time and energy to make it?”

With that has come a better understanding of my own tastes. There are a whole lot of beautiful clothes in the world. When you can’t actually buy any of them, you have to ask yourself, “What is it I love about this? What are the design elements I am drawn to? How can I incorporate those elements into the things that I make?”

I also feel a deeper connection to the clothing I wear. I recently listened to an interview with
Amy Karol in which she was talking about the way people just feel different and move differently in clothing they’ve made, and that couldn’t be more true for me. Each piece I’ve made feels so special, and I don’t get bored with it the way I do purchased clothing. Maybe that’s because I’ve thought harder about it and have more of an understanding of what attracted me to it enough to make it in the first place.

From all of this, I find myself being much happier with the way I dress and express myself through clothing. I no longer feel guilty or discouraged by the “filler” in my wardrobe, because there is no filler. Everything feels chosen with care. I actually feel satisfied going through my closet and getting dressed in the morning.

This experience has inspired me to such an extent that I am in the planning phase of a big project I’m hoping to launch this coming year, to build on this feeling, spend more of my time on creative work, and hopefully inspire other people.

Oh, and I’ve also signed up for another 4 month challenge!

Want to be updated when I post? Try subscribing to my feed, or get posts via email by entering your address and clicking "subscribe" in the sidebar!

7 Comments »

RSS feed for comments on this post.

  1. Thanks for this thoughtful post.

    I felt a similar transformation in thought and behavior during Wardrobe Refashion. I highly recommend the exercise. Much manufactured clothing has become too cheap which encourages us to mindlessly consume them. Like I wrote in the Stuff of Life, clothes that we make for ourselves are a part of our personal history, our life portfolio.

    Additionally, when you have actually gone through the process of making your own clothes (or growing your own food), you will never again question the cost of those items. Instead, you will question, “How did they make it so cheap? Was anyone exploited to bring it to me at this price?”

    Comment by Grace — December 21, 2007 #

  2. Okay so I’ve been lurking on your blog for like EVER and I thought I should finally comment. I just wanted to tell you I find your blog so very inspiring. Great job and keep posting!

    Comment by Staar — December 21, 2007 #

  3. Grace: I really like that term, “life portfolio.” A long long tim ago, a friend of mine used the phrase “making myself in my own image” to describe the way she dressed. That always stuck with me, because clothes (and other personal adornment) really are a way to reflect and construct who you are. And it’s so much more meaningful if your adornment is chosen with care, even if not created by hand.

    Staar: I really appreciate the comment! I’m so curious about who reads this blog and it’s so nice to hear that people are enjoying it!

    Comment by Sarai — December 22, 2007 #

  4. Your site is fascinating to watch, and so many quality photographs of your many projects. If you like, take a look at my costume blog.
    -Nicole

    Comment by Nicole — January 2, 2008 #

  5. This altered sweater is well done! However,having released 3 dress sizes, with a wardbobe of many beautiful sweaters(mostly machine knitted) which droop over my narrow shoulders, I feel iffy about cutting the sides and sleeves. I have read that machine knitted garments should not be cut, because each is sewn with a single strand. ..any comments?

    Comment by Gloria — April 8, 2008 #

  6. I want to sign up, but can’t at the moment. There’s a problem with money,…I DO NOT HAVE ANY TO SPEND ON MY HOBBY! My hobby is making over fashion. Do it all the time. I have a 16 yr old, and she comes to me at times to refashion some of her things.(Believe me, she has a lot of clothes, and shoes.) I will be doing this kind of stuff, when I can get a digital camera, my sewing machine fixed and a box full of trims, bowa and flowers. Will be fun to do.

    Comment by Christine — July 17, 2008 #

  7. I had been into this for a long time, and even after my daughter was born. I wish I had documented it, but didn’t. How do you sign up? I will take the challenge! I love to redesign and remake things. I also mend almost anything. I say anything? I won’t do real fur. I fashioned a purse out of a rabbit skin, and it was lined and had a gold chain strap. I got harressed bigtime!! I never used it again. I don’t even have a fake fur coat either.

    Comment by Christine — July 23, 2008 #

Leave a comment

XHTML: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>