4 months of thrilling austerity and creativity

I have taken the pledge. Not the no alcohol one (can you still do this?) although I might was well do, because these days half a glass of shandy and I’m anybody’s at all. I have no tolerance. No, I have taken the Wardrobe Refashion pledge for 4 months.


The Pledge

I, Susie, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 4 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed, Susie.

(You see how I personalised it? I put my name in!)

I’ve tried to do this before (I’ve not tried to do it officially through Wardrobe Refashion, but I’ve tried not to buy new clothes for a set amount of time), but I’ve always failed. I remembered this and thought, God that doesn’t bode well, but on considering further I think this was because when I was in my job and working long hours, I didn’t have a lot of time or energy for creative pursuits: buying clothes and putting looks together was pretty much all I could manage. So, although not buying clothes doesn’t sound like a big thing, in reality it cut me off from the only creative act I was up to at that point. Since my job went to hell in a handcart in an impressively dramatic fashion, however, I’ve had lots of time to be as creative as I’ve wanted to be, and I haven’t felt the urge to buy clothes as much: in fact, I haven’t felt the urge to buy clothes at all. That’s because capitalism sells us back our own repressed creative urges so we can be kept in a state of wanting something undefined. Not to be political. Anyway, I have lots of ideas for upcycling things, we’ll see how many I’m able to get off my bum and do!