Nuts & Bolts

Day 14

I've had a few questions.

So, do you just wash it every night?
I wash the dress about twice a week, but could probably wash it less than that.  Probably once a week would be enough, but I'm washing my pants too, so it makes sense to throw the dress in at the same time.  Plus, the fibers of the dress relax after being worn for a day or so.  Washing and drying the dress tightens all the fibers up again and gives it a nice fit.

I'd spill stuff on myself!  How do you keep it clean?
Well, I learned pretty quickly not to spill stuff on myself.  With only one dress, I take the time to make sure my coffee is fully in my mouth.  It's also a great reminder to  s  l  o  w    d  o  w  n.

How's the dress holding up?
It seems to be holding up pretty well.  The spot that was on it disappeared after the second washing, with no further encouragement than laundry soap.  I was originally worried that it might get smelly, but so far odors don't seem to cling to the fabric.  I do need to 'reset' it periodically to get its cozy flattering shape back.


I think I have everything settled for the wardrobe now.  I have a pair of leggings and a pair of capris that I am comfortable in and that I think will hold up well.  I have a new black merino wool sweater that is cozy.  It says dry clean only, but I think if I hand wash and dry it will be ok. ( I'm most concerned about body odor with this, since I can't machine wash it.)  And I have the one long sleeve t-shirt.  I have my everyday dress, and then I have a back-up dress.  I'm going to try to not wear the back-up dress and see how it works to just wear the one.  But the second is there if I need it.

So, how's it going?

Day 13

It's been almost 2 weeks in the same dress, with very few variations.  And I'm happy.  I'm more relaxed.  I haven't had a single day of wishing I had something else to wear. 

Laundry doesn't pile up and then sit in my corner unfolded.  Or folded and waiting to be put away.  Because I only have a small little pile of clothes that fits entirely in one drawer.  I could probably even smash them all small and they'd fit in half of a drawer. 

And I feel absolutely NO stress about packing for my upcoming trip.  (2 weeks, international travel)

The first few days I felt some misgivings, but I don't hear any of that negative mental chatter anymore.

I'm not so shy about being in one dress, and wish a few more people asked me about it.

It's nice.  And feels good.

Inspired!

There are few things in this world that make my introverted little heart twitter like anonymous love notes! 

Today I stumbled across this site: The World Needs More Love Letters.

I'm inspired! 

For my trip coming up, (Eugene---->New York ---->Istanbul---->New York---->Eugene) I will be bringing letter writing supplies as well as journaling supplies.  I will leave one love letter a day wherever I am. 

What?  You want pictures? 

Well, yes.  Yes.  I think I can do that.  I can take a snapshot of each letter nestled in its find-me-hidey-place and share it with you.

Let me know if you decide to leave anonymous love letters to be found. 

Dilemma

Day 10

So, here's the dilemma.  Sweet Skins does not have a second dress in my size in the same color.  They can throw another dress in when they do the next batch of slate blue dyeing, but that won't happen for several weeks.

And I leave on a 2 weeks international trip in 7 days. 

So, do I try and go with one dress on this trip?  And if I can make it on really just one dress for this trip, I definitely won't need to purchase a second dress at all.

Or should I just suck it up and get one in a different color?

I don't want one in a different color.  I want the same dress, same color, same size.  That was what made it easy for me.  No decision. 

But from slate blue to a dark grey isn't that big of a reach.  They're in the same color genre.  And I feel like it would be a burden to try and wash the dress frequently enough.  And a burden on the people I am staying with. 

On the other hand, I am also certain that the people I am staying with are happy to accommodate my needs and me needing to work around an occasional wash isn't the big of a deal.

One dress total, or pick up a second in a different color? 

thoughts?

One Dress & Dressing for Success

Day 9

So, I have a job.  I run my own business.  Which means I work on my own schedule.  And it's primarily online and on the phone (no, not internet porn, thank you very much) so it doesn't much matter what I wear.  I could be in pajammies and most people wouldn't know.

But today I got an email that gave me pause.

It was for a part-time job that I was interested in.  And so I responded saying I'd love to interview.

And then I realized.  I've committed to wearing the same dress for a year.  People don't wear the same clothes every day in a professional atmosphere.

So what do I do about this?

I can be really upfront and say, hey, I'd love this job AND I'm wearing the same dress for a year.  Here's my blog address.

Or I could just not mention it, and accept the job if offered, and wait until she says something.  But I'm a really upfront person, so this feels icky.

Plus, the dress isn't very professional.  It's cute, and versatile, and dress-upable enough for most of the occasions I attend, but definitely not professional.  Which means that I'd have to express that I know that my dress isn't the most professional attire.  Which means I'm back to explaining why I'm wearing a dress for a year.

My dear friend said I could hurry up and create a cause, that would make it admirable, respectable, blah blah.  But again, that's not really why I'm doing it and feels dishonest to use a cause when I didn't have one to begin with.  And she dismissed it pretty quickly anyway.

And I considered if I'd give up the one dress one year thing.  (no).  And I considered just wearing work clothes for work.  (which is a ridiculous idea).

So, I decided I'd be upfront and just tell her the story.  Either she'd be interested and be ok with it, or she'd think I was too kooky.

And then she emailed me and said she really needs someone yesterday, and my being gone for 2 weeks vacation makes it really hard when she needed someone yesterday.

So, professional crisis averted.  But it makes me wonder what the other onedress/oneyear people do about their work situations.

What would you have done?  Would you have been upfront or let it slide until the employer brought it up?  Or something else entirely?

(I wished her good luck finding someone right away.  And for her sake, I hope she does.  But I'll call when I'm back from vacation anyway, just in case.)

Out, Out!, Damn Spot

Day 9

Do you see that SPOT?

For some reason, I'm ridiculously fond of it.

Will I get BORED

Day 8

It's a pretty common question.

'Do you think you'll get bored of wearing the same thing every day?'

I might.  I really don't know.  I do have some variety; socks, scarves, wraps.  And my hair has kinda a life of it's own.  But I still might get bored.

Which kind of excites me.

We live in such a throw away culture that we really don't get a chance to get bored with things anymore.

Bored with your job?  Get a new one.

Don't like the color of your car?  That's ok, you can get a loan for a new one.

Kitchen hard to clean?  Go ahead, remodel.

Husband boring?  Trade him in for a more exciting model.

and on and on.. .. ..

So, while I'm less consumer based than a lot of America, I still don't really know what it means to be bored.  So I think I might welcome a chance to see how I respond to bored.

And I do wonder if it will even happen.  I don't find many opportunities to be bored.