The Great American Apparel Diet

no buying for one year

Hey girls, for any of you who participated in TGAAD we want to hear from you.  I am considering writing a white paper about what we learned, how we coped and what we experienced while curbing our spending.  Please take a look at the questions below.  Answer as many of the that you would like.  Please be thorough, give us your heartfelt thoughts, opinions, ideas and struggles.  Write soon.

Sally

Dear Great American Apparel Diet Graduates, By  now you have had some time to reflect on your experience while on TGAAD.  I would love to check back in with you to find out how things have or haven’t changed for you since that experience.  Please see the questions below.  If you are up for it please respond and let us know your current mindset on the following issues that we touched upon while on the diet. Please let me know if you are not interested in participating and I will take you off my list.  In the meantime, please take your time to reflect on the questions and get back to me when you get the change. All the best! Sally Bjornsen Post TGAAD Questions

1) When you reflect on TGAAD can you remember the reasons that motivated you to give up shopping for a year?  What were they?

2) When you reflect on your year of participating in TGAAD do you think it changed the way you behave long term?  If so how?

3) Did you learn anything new about yourself in the process?  If so, can you explain in more detail?

4) Think about “value.”  Did the diet change the way you assess the “value” of an item?

5) Have you ever been on a “food” diet?  If so, how was TGAAD and the food diet similar? Different?

6) Are you currently in a different “economic” space than when you embarked on TGAAD?  If so how is it different?

7) When you reflect back to being on the diet,  can you remember the hardest part about it?  Describe it.

What revelations did you have while on TGAAD, if any?

9) Are there things you learned about your shopping motivations and attitudes that you think would be helpful to apparel companies?

10) Are there certain brands that you no longer buy because of TGAAD?

11) When you look back on TGAAD, what did you find most helpful about being a part of a group abstaining from shopping?

12) Would you do it again?  Is so, what would make you want to do it again?

13) Do you spend more or less money on apparel post-TGAAD?

14) Demographics: Age: Occupation: City of Residence:

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So…………

I’ve decided to start a “Wishlist”. Basically it’s anything clothing, shoes & accessories related and it’s anything that comes to mind. I know I’m missing tons of items that I want but cant seem to think of just yet. I’m sure more items will pop into my head in the days to come.

2,378.00 2,378.00 2,378.00 2,378.00 2,378.00

Hmm..well that’s a lot of money. But apparently that’s the going rate of fufilling my C, S & A needs right this minute. Some of my wishlist items include:[I'll try to pick my top five]

1. JCrew Icon Trench Coat $298
2. TOMS Classics $55
3. Cambridge Satchel [Neon Yellow] $125
4. Ray Ban “Caravan” Sunglasses $125
5. Tory Burch “Reva” ballet flats $198

I figure if I write down and tally up the total cost to buy everything on that list, it force me to understand the magnatude of my spending habits. Also, it will help me prioritize my wants at the end of the challenge. Like– right this minute, I may want to spend $70 on a pair of purple jeggings…but who knows, maybe next year I’ll hate purple jeggings. Bamn! just saved $70! ..well, maybe.

Does anyone else have a ‘wishlist’ they’d like to share??

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I’m always keeping my eyes open for articles on our changing spending habits. There’s been a recent poll on TGAAD on whether dieters out there really consider this recession over. Well turns out there have been changes amongst spending habits even for those who many assumed were to be above the financial woes of middle to lower class America. Highlighted is a link to the Wall Street Journal article posted today that gives a little light consumers spending on luxury goods!

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146 women workers died in the Triangle fire, some from asphyxiation and others after they jumped from the upper floors where they had been locked in.

Before the diet, I used to ignore the sources of my clothing. It was hard enough to find things that fit my plus-size, pear-shaped body and looked good on me, without checking the labels.

In the time that I’ve been on the diet, I’ve become more of an activist in my community (there’s a video on YouTube of me leading a rally supporting my state’s workers), and also done some thinking about what I want to buy when the diet is over.

I still go window-shopping online sometimes, and I’ve given myself permission to buy if something is exactly right, but it never is.

Today is the 100th anniversary of the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. An article from The Boston Globe describes how we haven’t stopped putting garment workers in danger — we’ve just sent our sweatshops offshore. Sociologist Robert Ross:

I’ve been studying Bangladeshi garment factory fires. There’s a horrific crescendo, years after year, of garment factory fires there, and they resemble the Triangle fire of 100 years ago in terrible ways. … That the Triangle fire is in the past is comforting because that was then, this is now. I wish that were true. More than 90 percent of our clothing is imported from a market that’s mostly unregulated. What happens in each country is that the employers and the governments are worried that if they increase their standards and conditions, another country will beat them to the market.

I would love to buy clothes that fit me, look good on me, and are made in this country by people who were getting paid properly to do so. I may have to compromise once the diet is over, but I’m going to start my shopping on sites like these:

• Sweatfree Communities
• EthixMerch (this leans more toward uniforms and work gear, but if you need ‘em, might as well buy them ethically)
• Union Label

Sweatshop-made clothes are a fact of life, unfortunately — try finding ethically made bras or underwear! — but whether they are in New York or Bangladesh, the people who make my clothing deserve my respect.

Footnote: OK, I have to be a little bit political here. On the day of the Triangle fire, a young woman named Frances Perkins was having tea nearby and arrived at the scene in time to see women jumping from 10th-story windows to their deaths, because their employers had locked them in to prevent unauthorized breaks. Moved by this, she went on to work for reform in working conditions and eventually became Secretary of Labor under Franklin D. Roosevelt, the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. Today, the governor of Maine, where her parents were born and where I now live, is trying to dishonor her work by taking her name off a conference room and removing a mural honoring her. If you agree with me that this is a lousy way to behave, call 207-287-3531 and make your feelings known.

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I have been seeing different sites and blogs that suggest “consumer diets” and have slowly built an interest.  At first I thought “Good for them!”, then I started thinking “Could be fun…” and now I’m thinking “I can do this!!”  I do shop very frugally, enjoying the hunt for sales and thrifting, but have now turned my focus towards home decor and cooking, so why not just cut out buying clothes altogether? I have a whole closet room-so no need to purchase more clothes, my hubby and I have begun our financial planning for investing and retirement-so I can contribute more toward that with the money I save and honestly I think it’ll do me good to face this challenge.  I would like to believe that I am not a materialistic person by nature and this will be proof to me that I have my priorities in order and am not consumed by consumerism

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SoOoOooOoo I’ve done it. I have fallen off the proverbial wagon and bought something.

Was it expensive? Probably…
Unnecessary? Probably..
Worth it? TOTALLY.

To be fair, this isn’t juuusst ‘something’ it’s more than that…I bought a limited edition type coat by Smythe for HBC. It’s ABSOLUTELY 100% GORGEOUS!! And I LOOOVVVEE it and it LOOVEESS MEEEEE back! I want to have its babies! 100,000,000 of them!!

………annnyywaaayyy.

Let’s slow things down with a little history lesson about this jacket: In 2009 HBC [Hudson Bay Company] asked 10 Canadian Designers to re-create one of a kind coats from a HBC Point Blanket. Originally, they weren’t for sale, however, Smythe’s jacket in particular was so popular that they made a special order of 100 coats and sold them during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Anyhow, this is just one little minor blip on the radar. I will continue on with this challenge. After purchasing my jacket, I started thinking; I wonder what the success rate of this challenge is. I know you can measure ‘successes’ in a number of different ways yadayadayada. But if you measure your success rate as 100% = no buying anything and 0% = buying a new pair of Louboutin’s every week, what would it beeeee?!?!

Perhaps we can start a poll: For those on the challenge, how many non-essential items have you purchased? Don’t’ be shy, be honest…but be warned, I WILL JUDGE YOU! [just kidding, I won't - cubs honor]

Zero
1 – 4
5 – 9
10 – 14
15 & Up

I suppose it was rather ambitious of me for thinking I could go an ENTIRE year without shopping. Mehhh…oh well, it was a good run; 7 weeks of zero shopping. That’s pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good…if I say so myself. All in all, No regrets. And whatever your number is; keep on keeping on.

For previous post, and more ridiculousness check out Naked Susie; A year without [new] clothes

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I signed myself up for this diet a few months ago, and yet never committed enough to write or actually keep track of my clothing spending habits. As of today I was offered my first professional, full-time faculty position at a university and it’s time to get serious. I need to use this opportunity to save money for things I will actually use (for example, a dwelling I can call my own!) instead of clothes that sit in a closet for 9 months, store tags still attached.

So. Congratulations to me, and a double good luck. . . .

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Opening the mail yesterday I got the usual: bills; banking stuff; pre-approved credit card applications etc… however, I did not expect to be faced with 100% temptation. COACH sent me this [ever-so-slightly-evil] promotional deal. “Our Gift to YOU!! Use this $100 card toward your purchase of $300 or more”

Whaaaaattt?!?! For realsies? Hmm… Well, I do really need a new purse. I mean, not now, but sometime in my life I will probably need another one so why not get a head of the game? OMG, this MUST be a sign! This is the heavenly purse gods telling me themselves that I need to buy a purse! A $600 purse!!!! And I’ll get $100 off! Yesssss! It’s the deal of the century! This is totally a one off; I’ll never see this kind of deal again. Ever. Everrrrr…! Aghhh!! I need purse. Must get purse:

Luckily for me, I have a completely normal and rational boyfriend. He flat out told me “NO don’t do it” and something like “What do you need a $600 purse for and $600 is a lot of money for a purse…blah, blah, blah” To which I quietly replied, “But… but I’d love it forever and it would last a lifetime; so the cost per wear would be incredibly low.” As I said those words, I realized that even I couldn’t convince myself that this was true. I know I don’t need it; I probably wouldn’t even use it that often. More so, I would most likely lose it, or have someone steal it from me.

So if you’re interested, have I got a deal for you! If you want this $100 off $300’s spent, message me and I’ll give it to you for $50 bucks. Don’t worry; you’re still getting a GREAT DEAL!!

What’s the moral of the story? Spending $300 to get $100 off is NOT a deal. You’re NOT saving money and you’re still spending $200 [or more] to get that so-called “deal”. Common sense can be so difficult sometimes…

xoxo $ixHundredDollar purse girl.

For previous post, please check out Naked Susie; a year without [new] clothes.

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Just a pair of socks? Or the first step down a slippery slope?

It’s been a bad week. First, my iPhone got stolen. The shock of it didn’t really sink in for a couple of days. After investigating the options for replacing the phone, I started to realize that it was a much bigger expense than I first realized. This, after spending several days cancelling all my credit cards and changing passwords to my email accounts and mobile apps. By Monday, I started to feel really bummed out, depressed even, discouraged with people in general. Yet I had to go to Target — we were out of laundry detergent and tooth paste!

 In I walked through those sliding glass doors, to find pink hearts and sparkly shamrocks all over the place at what my husband calls the “Dollar Trap”. Immediately, I gravitated toward these pink and red heart socks, and somehow, they slipped into my shopping cart.

Okay, after my instictive grab to throw them in the basket, I realized: I’m not supposed to be buying clothes.

Give me a break! They’re one dollar! Really, with the crappy week I’ve had, it’s a miracle I’m not indulging in something far worse…

And so I debated, as I pushed the cart through the laundry and toiletry aisles. By the time I reached the check stand, I was even more irritated. The clerk in front of me was aggressively selling the man in front of me to sign up for a Target credit card. It took a really long time (especially since the man didn’t seem to speak English all too well). I even had time to run back and pick up some glue sticks I forgot… and

he

     was

          still

                fillling

                       out

                             the form…

You get it. By the time I found another — quicker — cashier, I simply didn’t care anymore. I bought the socks.

Really? This is supposed to make me happy? They’re cute and kind of fun… but did I just sell myself out — for a dollar?

 At least I didn’t get the shamrock ones, too.

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