leanstead

I did a thing. A 30 day dress challenge and here’s what I learned.

A month in the same dress

If you’ve seen me over the past month, you saw me wearing a comfy little green dress. That’s right, for the past 30 days, I have worn the same dress. Yet, it’s also quite possible that you wouldn’t have even noticed the dress or the color or that I had been wearing for days.

My ‘why’ for the challenge

Over the past few years, I’ve been trying to migrate my wardrobe back to a simplified ‘everything works together’ collection. There was a time, almost 20 years ago, that I basically had the need to rebuild a wardrobe from ground zero. We had just moved back to the states after spending three years overseas living in a hot dusty climate which had taken its toll on my wardrobe. Everything white had turned grey, colors were all faded and basically everything needed to be replaced because I was starting a new job.

I began with a simple ankle length black t-shirt dress. It paired great with sandals, loafers or even boots. I could layer it with a sweater, jacket or wrap. To that, I added a pair of black pants and a few tops and sweaters. Then I purchased a couple of jumpers in neutral colors and a great pair of jeans. Getting dressed for work that year was just plain easy and stress-free. I didn’t struggle to find things that worked together and I also didn’t have to dig through a pile of far too many hanging items crammed into a closet. At the time, we had a walk-in closet that looked more like a boutique because everything had space to breathe and be seen. I loved it. There’s just something soothing about a space like that.

Over time and after many more moves, I am ready to get back to that place. For a while now, I’ve been paring down my wardrobe. I’ve been looking for well made items that can be the base of that same Garanimals type wardrobe I had.

Side note: Heehee. I just had to stop and look up Garanimals (to see if anyone would understand). Well, what do you know? Garanimals are still around. Who knew?

What’s a 30 Day Challenge?

Enter Wool& and the 100 Day Dress Challenge. I had read a few people’s stories about their experience and the quality of Wool& clothing. If you are not familiar with the company, they produce a quality line of merino wool blend clothing. You can check them out here. The company is only a few years old. When they were getting started and working on their branding, they offered up a challenge to a group of women. Their missions was to wear one of their dresses for 100 days. It could be styled with other items, but had to be worn and a photo taken to record it. After the 100 day challenge was completed, the participants were given $100 toward the purchase of another Wool& item.

It was a huge success. Thousands of others have joined in the challenge over the past couple of years. Recently some smaller challenges have been offered, including a 30 day challenge. This is what I chose to tackle. I picked a spruce green Camellia (a knee length, sleeveless dress with pockets). How much more comfy could one get?

How I prepared for my challenge

While waiting for it to arrive, I spent some time reading about other women’s experiences with the challenge and also found the Wool& 100 Day Dress Challenge Facebook group. I found lots of ideas for styling, learned a lot about how the dresses fit and also found a ton of great people. Seriously, if you are looking for a great group of encouraging and friendly people, you need to check out this group who refer to themselves as ‘woolies’.

The dress color I chose was a new one, so I was expecting it to be shipped mid-July. To my surprise, it arrived on July 12th. I was excited but a little anxious to try on the dress. I’ve never had great luck ordering clothes online and this was a bit of an investment. So I wanted it to fit and feel great. I was afraid I would be disappointed.

It sat.

I stared at the package for about 24 hours and finally had a moment alone. The packaging felt so small. How was this dress that fit in that tiny bag possibly going to fit me?

But it did!

The Dress

The fabric felt great. I was not sure what to expect, but the texture was strong and soft. It was not itchy. I had ordered a long because I didn’t want it to be too short. However, I felt like it was a little too long. It fit great around the arms. The pockets hung at great place and it was so comfy. I did eventually wash and dry the dress in the dryer to help shrink up some of that extra length. It’s still a little long, but better long than too short in my book.

I discovered that I had several accessories, some cardigans and wraps that would work with the little green dress. So, I snapped a couple of pics that morning and started the challenge right away.

Discoveries

1 – The spotlight effect is real

One of the lessons learned and shared by others was that of the spotlight effect. This is the idea that we believe we are being noticed by others far more than is actually true. It turns out, people just don’t really care or pay attention to what we are wearing. So, thinking that others will notice we are wearing the same outfit day after day is just not true.

I decided to test this idea. So, I chose not to post my daily selfies on any social media until after completing the challenge. I only told my husband and later my son. Neither of them thought or said anything negative and NO ONE else noticed or said a word. HA!

2 – Wool clothing doesn’t need to be washed everyday

Many ‘woolies’ talk about not needing to wash their wool dresses very often. I, however, did not feel the need to test this. Because I live in hot, humid Alabama and this challenge was from mid-July to mid-August, I made a habit of washing the dress about every three to five days.

3 – Routines are nice

Living on a small farm, I normally dirty a lot of clothes, especially in the summer months. We raise animals and my mornings are filled with sweat, mud and animal poop. I definitely didn’t want to wear my dress for those occasions. So most weekdays I wore work clothes for my outside work and would come in around noon to shower and get dressed in my little green dress for the afternoon. It was nice knowing what I was going to put on each day after my shower and to be excited about it. I knew that little green dress felt great and it looked good. Prior to this challenge, I didn’t really have a set routine and I definitely didn’t have a ‘work wardrobe’. This experience has helped me settle on both routine and ‘uniform’.

4 – Styling doesn’t have to be complicated

As I mentioned, the weather has been hot and humid, so the cool flowy style of my sleeveless Camellia has been incredible. I was always comfortable and the length of the dress still felt very modest. Most days I was team basic, meaning I wore the dress simply as is and no accessories or extra layers. But there were still days that I would wear a cardigan (especially while shopping at a grocery store– WHY are grocery stores always so cold?!?) or a sweatshirt tied around my waist for just in case. I wore the dress with sandals, slip on sneakers, Crocs and even my farm boots. Everything works with it.

5 – I can do this!

So, here I am now with 30 days under my belt and feeling confident that I can do 100 days in the next challenge. My biggest struggle now is choosing the dress and the color. My tendency is to go black, but I am considering stretching myself and trying vintage blue.

Hmmmm…decisions, decisions!

Ways to Become More Environmentally Conscious

We are told that we need to be more environmentally conscious, but some habits are hard to break. Or are they? Here I share seven environmentally friendly ways we have reduced waste in our home over and some surprising results.

It’s Been a Journey

No good or real change happens quickly. This is definitely true for our household. I’ve always thought of myself as considerate but never a tree hugger or environmentalist. However, as we have moved further and further into this life of homesteading, it has kind of creeped up on me. I’ve been referred to as ‘crunchy’ and I am not offended.

Most of the changes we have made were initially for personal physical benefit. Seeing the cumulative effect now, though, I realize the benefits are actually more financial and environment than I realized.

The quick list:

1. cloth napkins to replace paper
2. wash cloths and tea towels to replace paper towels
3. washable mop head to replace throw away head
4. cloth or reusable shopping bags to replace plastic
5. wool balls to replace dryer sheets
6. cotton face pads to replace disposable ones
7. washable doggy diapers for when dog is in heat

Use Cloth Napkins Instead of Paper

Early in our married life, we made the switch from paper napkins to cloth napkins. I think the main reason at the time was simply that it felt more luxurious. We were college students with very few ‘fine’ things in our life, but cloth napkins was something that I decided was worth the splurge.

We didn’t start off with more than probably four or six. But by adding a couple at a time adds up over time. Before you know it, you can go several days without having to wash them. Messy foods like tacos or boiled shrimp are much better handled with a a cloth napkin. I do recommend not purchasing white or light colors if you plan to seriously use them. Here are some of our favorite ones.

I’ve also found that I prefer natural fibers over synthetic blends. They tend to be more absorbent and over time, they become quite soft.

Replace Paper Towels with Wash Cloths/ Tea Towels

Making a small investment into tea towels and wash cloths for my kitchen allowed me to stop purchasing paper towels. This was probably the biggest and most difficult transition we made. I grew up in a large family with paper towels readily available and we used them for everything from cleaning up spills to cleaning windows to covering food items that we were warming in the microwave.

So there was an adjustment period for us. We did eventually become a more natural feeling. What probably helped the most is seeing the difference in our grocery bill. It is amazing to think of how many items we purchase weekly that just go directly into the trash can. These tea towels or dish towels are extremely handy and durable.

Replace that Throw Away Mop Head with a Washable One

We actually have two different types of mops with heads that can be washed between uses. One is great for hardwood and laminate floors. The system is called Bona and it comes with a duster head and mop head. Both attach with a velcro and can be thrown in the washer. The mop head is not submerged, but rather used with a spray on solution. There are several different solutions available for hardwoods, laminate or tile floors. To be completely honest, we purchased the system initially for a rental house. We were attempting to help direct the tenant in how to care for the floors and had heard good things about Bona products. Since that time, though, I have tried to transition to more natural cleaning products, but I still like the mop and washable mop head.

The second system that we use often is the O’Cedar mop and bucket. The head of the mop pops off and can be washed as well. Additional mop heads can be purchased for a back up, but they are quite durable. The bucket that comes with this system is a great and sturdy hands free spinning device. I have also been able to find generic replacement heads that worked well.

Replace Throw Away Plastic Shopping Bags with Reusable Ones

The concept of bringing shopping bags to the grocery store was a difficult one for me to remember initially. It’s just hard to make the shift when stores still offer the traditional bags for free. Spending time living in a culture where there was no option to have free throw away bags finally made that transition to a permanent practice. Just as with cloth napkins, slowly purchasing and acquiring bags over time, made the investment a little easier to absorb. It doesn’t take long to end up with far more bags than you’ll ever need. One trick to work on is establishing a routine of emptying the bags once you return home and immediately putting them back in your car or near your door so that you have them with you the next time you are shopping.

Use Wool Dryer Balls Instead of Throw Away Dryer Sheets

This was another difficult adjustment for me, or at least mentally. I used to LOVE the fresh smell of dryer sheets, especially the Snuggle brand sheets. I also didn’t believe it was possible for a couple of fuzzy balls in my dryer to eliminate static cling. I was wrong though and happy to admit it. I believe the wool balls do just as good a job as the Snuggle sheets. I initially ordered mine from a pricey network marketing company and paid a pretty penny for them. I have since found nice sets of wool balls on Amazon for about 1/5 of the price I paid for that initial set of three.

I use mine without anything to them, but if you want to have some scent, you can add a few drops of your favorite essential oils to them. I’ve tried adding lavender and enjoyed it. However, I am also very happy to use them plain.

Try Washable Cotton Face Pads

Transitioning to cotton face pads has been a recent move for us. Michael and I had both used the disposable ones on a daily basis, so I was not sure how he would like them. However, the price was reasonable, so I thought I would just give it a try. We both like them and they wash up well. They are actually softer on your face than the disposable ones. We store them in a class container. Once we have used them, we put them into a mesh bag for washing. We easily recouped our cost after a couple of months of not having to purchase the disposable pads.

Use Washable Doggy Diapers Instead of Disposable

We have a two year old female Labrador retriever that keeps us on our toes. We decided that since she is an inside dog, we would try doggy diapers with her. We knew others who had tried the disposable type, but decided to look for a one time purchase and invest in washable ones. We found these on Amazon that we have loved. Provided I remember to take them off before releasing her out the back door, they work perfectly. She doesn’t mind wearing them and they are machine washable.

Benefits Continue to Surprise

While all of these actions are environmentally friendly, in that we are reducing our household waste, we have also seen some other sweet benefits.

• financial savings – For most of the items listed here, the cost for swapping out washable/reusable items, was basically recover in the matter of a few months. Now, we save approximately $20-30 per month on average by not spending money on throw away items
• reduced waste removal cost – We not only are saving money by not having to purchase them, we are also not having to pay for waste removal of those items.
• fewer toxins – Most of the items we formerly used were paper. I didn’t realize it at the time but there were a good many toxins in those items. We are benefiting now from less exposure on a daily basis.
• efficiency – Not only are paper products more costly over time, they are also less efficient. When cleaning up a spill, you can handle the entire job with one cloth verses multiple paper towels. Plus, I am no longer spending time shopping for them.

I am always looking for new ways to cut down on waste and save money, so hit me with your tried and true actions. There’s always room for more changes!