the year of not buying new clothes

A year is a trendy thing.

A year is a span of time that seems more substantial than "a passing phase" but less commitment than "forever" or "long term". I wanted to (and did) spend a year in Spain. A year working with first graders and living at home. We make New Year's resolutions, exalting the future as that pedestal on which we shall finally achieve health, wealth, and happiness. People dedicate their lives to something for a year: happiness, living Biblically, cooking certain recipes.

As I was sitting on the couch eating my after school snack, I glanced down at The Happiness Project. After weeks of me dragging it around our house like a three year old's blankie, my roommate was intrigued. She's reading it now (or as she prefers calling it, "sort of skimming the interesting parts." Personally, I think nearly all of the book is interesting, though I almost skipped the money chapter). My mind lazily wondered what my life might be like after dedicating myself to something for twelve months. Would I actually do it? A one year job is a little different than a one year pastime.

"Wait!" a different part of my brain chirped up, like a six year old tugging on her heavy-eyed mother's hand. "You totally have done this. In fact, you're in the midst of it right now!" (as an aside, I am aware I have used two references to children in this post. I don't know what that means except I like kids?)

And it's true. In January, I stopped buying new clothes. Clarification: I stopped buying new clothes. I have frequented thrift stores, clothing swaps, and friends' don't-want piles. I think it's been formative, particularly juxtaposed with my time in Europe.

Before I get to the formation part of the "new clothes fast", I should take a few paragraphs to explain why I stopped buying clothes and how this came about.

Influence #1
Once upon a time, I read the book Blue Like Jazz. In one small part that is not even the point of the book (although I'm not sure there is one point to that book), the author, Don Miller, mentions how his friend Penny gave up buying clothes for a year. I think her fast was obtaining new-to-her clothes, not just store-bought, as her personal attempt to be less consumeristic. In the book, Miller tells about giving her a pair of new gloves sometime in the winter, and that you would have thought the
gloves were the nicest thing she'd ever seen. That story has stuck with me for a long time.

Influence #2
My senior year of college, I attended a Faith and International Development Conference. It sort of blew my mind and was more formative than I could have imagined. I saw white girls with dreadlocks. I wanted dreadlocks. I drank fairly traded tea and stayed with a really dear friend. I laughed. I cried. I encountered stories of poverty, despair, and hope. I wrote lots of things in my fair-trade journal made from an Indian sari. I wondered why Americans take so many freaking resources from the world. The last day, I was so overwhelmed that I could only sit alone outside and watch the melting snow. "What do I do with this?" I whispered to a robin snacking on previously snow-blanketed crab apples. The only other sound was steady drip of icicles melting.
If only getting dreadlocks would bring about world peace.

Influence #3
Dear Spain,
Thanks for a lot of things. A whole lot of self-awareness, a steady glimpse of self-actualization, helping me learn that I love teaching English, my fluency in another language, a boatload of fun memories, and a bigger picture of the world.
No thank you for making me think it's normal to buy things like cellulite cream, laser hair removal, and hyper-stylish clothes every month. This is not normal! Dressing as a means of self-expression = cool. Dressing as a means of self expression that is dictated by what looks "in" = not as cool, but probably somewhat inescapable.

Soooo, these three combined in the context of January, 2011, and I stopped buying new clothes. You know what? It's been good. It's been fine. I am constantly amazed at how much I don't mind. Thrift stores are full of surprises. The amount of clothes I've acquired for free is astounding. Letting go of something gives a lot of space to be provided for.

Heck yes I miss shopping sometimes. Sometimes, I will see someone wearing something really trendy and I will feel a little sad, like my clothes are inferior or something. I've been doing a lot of yoga lately and I occasionally wish I had some fancy yoga clothes. But my clothes are fine. I think it has counterbalanced my eurotrendy. I usually just feel comfortable. I remember that I am more than my outward appearance. I remember that other people are more than the clothes they wear or the shape of their bodies. I value the garments I have because they are not easily replaced. I feel a bit of peace towards my never ending wonderings about sweat shops.

As it is now November, I am in the home stretch. I wonder what next year will bring. This year has felt really long at times. My socks weren't new when I started, and they're a little thin and pretty scratchy. When I feel a little miffed about it, I remind myself that they still work. They don't have holes, they are still warm. I'm not going to shoot for the stores come January 1. That's not my style. Maybe I will buy something to celebrate, but maybe I'll find it at Goodwill.

I idly wonder what the life implications would be of me taking up yoga, service to others, or meditation for a year. I guess I'll see what happens when 2012 rolls around...