What I’m wearing–in six items or less.

by knittinginatree

When the NY times Thursday styles did a feature on the six items or less project, I decided to join in for the month of August. What is it? Basically you vow to wear only six items out of your wardrobe for the whole month. This of course excludes uniforms, sleeping wear, active gear and outerwear. Why are people doing it? From what I gather the reasons vary. Quite Contrary is also doing it with me and her top reason for doing so was because, “it will force me to be thoughtful about how blessed I am to have more than 6 pieces of clothing.” I would have to say that my reason for doing so was also along those same lines.

This experiment has also made me focus on altering clothes to fit my body shape. Since I’m making the point to only wear six items I wanted to make sure they fit properly and were comfortable in both professional and relaxed environments. I think I may have missed the mark on a few of my alterations but I’ve been learning through this process that it’s all just part of the experiment.

So what did I chose and what did I alter? Well, here goes… (Please excuse the poorly lit photos.)

Blue cotton sleeveless button down—thrifted. First, this shirt was too big for me so I took in the shoulder seams and hemmed the bottom. Second, the armholes were lined with a ruffle edging which I cut off and sewed the ruffles onto the buttonhole edge.

Gray knit long sleeve wrap—Ross. No alterations. But, I will say that yep, I’m a Ross junkie when I’m in the lower 48. I’m not always sure what to think about it, though I do feel good about buying items that would likely be thrown out however maybe they shouldn’t have been produced in mass to begin with…

Purple dear t-shirt—thrifted. No alterations. This felt more like active wear at times.

Gray short sleeve sparkley sweater—garage sale. Took in at the shoulders and created a little gathering at the sleeves.

Black halter-top dress—Patagonia. Talk about a well-made dress–definitely worth the money! I did hem it several inches.

Levi capri jeans—Costco. Ha! I took the capri out of the jeans but they were still a little too high on my ankles. I look a little silly in them but no ones stopping me from wearing ‘em.

I’m now three weeks in and surprisingly I’m not sick of my clothes just yet. So, how does this relate to craft weak? Well, today I found myself picking out and altering six items for September. And, drum roll, I’ve decided to try the six items experiment for the rest of the year! I’ll plan to share my September six on September six.