Imagine this… You are told that you can only keep 8 articles of clothing in your closet. You can’t take anything else, but you can mix and match your outfits with endless shoes and accessories. Can you do it? Are you up for the challenge? Well, that’s what my blogger girls and I decided to do. At the Get Radical conference, Jacqueline, T. Espinoza, Tonya, and I we were inspired by Jean Chatzky’s “sixperiement,” a challenge where she wore only six items for 30 days. We decided to create a challenge of our own. However, choosing only six items was pretty daunting so we allowed ourselves to choose eight.
[more…]
At the time eight items seemed like way more than six, however once the time came to make final decisions, we found ourselves discussing the definition of a clothing item. Does a blazer count? Does a cardigan count as clothing?
We also found ourselves asking if we could increase the number of items because eight seemed too low. We asked ourselves if we could increase the number of items to 10 because we hadn’t yet publically rolled out the challenge.
Our excitement turned to minor groans as we questioned our sanity for doing this. We were literally going through the 7 stages of grief in a group email chat! However, we were determined to Get Radical, stick to the eight items, and also test our own creativity.
After Day 4, I started to wonder how I was going to make it the rest of the 26 days without feeling like a repetitive bore. The other problem I faced was washing the clothes! Seriously I couldn’t go to the dry cleaner every other day! But thank goodness for in-home dry cleaning kits! I was able to regularly clean my clothes without breaking the bank.
Despite all of this, I was excited to try something new, because I had never done anything like this before. As I moved through the challenge, I looked forward to how creative that I could get mixing and matching items. I had to be super creative because for some reason I picked a couple of items that had distinct prints! The funny thing is, I wore a printed dress as a dress and also tucked into pants and people didn’t know it was the same dress!
One of the other things that I loved about the challenge was educating people who I saw on a daily basis. I told them what the ladies and I were doing, and the people would tell me that they could never do it! I was so excited to be able to show them that it was possible, and further fueled my desire to try to create combos that looked unique. By the way, it was also really fun to check the challenge Facebook group to see the other participants and how creative they could be!
Through this challenge, I was able to show so many women that the clothes that they wear do not define them. It’s possible to thrive on a limited wardrobe. So the next time you stare into your closet and say that you have nothing to wear, just remember the 8 for 30 Style Challenge. You have way more than you thought you did!
If you like this then, join the FNPhenomenal Community to learn how to “Live More. Spend Less” and be financially phenomenal. Click here to join, get a special gift, and begin 2015 strong!
Aisha Taylor is a #1 Amazon Best Selling Author of the book “5+5 FNPhenomenal Ways to Save $100 This Week Without Killing Your Lifestyle”, and the Founder of FNPhenomenal (Frugal –n- Phenomenal). FNPhenomenal helps women to break the vicious cycle of making money, but not keeping it. FNPhenomenal provides education about money management, empowers women to take control of their lives, develop a healthier relationship with money, and pursue being phenomenal.
Visit Aisha online at www.FNPhenomenal.com
Follow Aisha on Instagram/Twitter: @FNPhenomenal
Facebook: facebook.com/FNPhenomenal