I am now in my eighth month of not buying any NEW clothes. The decision was more than the #nonewclothes commitment by Remake.world

It’s true that I can make my own clothes so it is not really fair to brag about this feat. So this is the first time I am putting it out there for everyone to know. 

But like the rest of you I suffer from shopping addiction, there are deals out there. 

Because I was reading Vogue Online, a story came up about Oprah’s favorite jumpsuit.

Hers was a designer version, then Vogue advertised every price point of a similar one. 

I clicked on the jumpsuit from Target for 29. Dollars. There was a huge size 18 left and so I bought it. Bam! It was at my doorstep the next day. I tried it on and I loved it. That was in December of ‘21. 

I don’t regret that purchase, but now I own four jumpsuits that I wear all the time. 

Hence the JUMPSUIT blip: 

The first jumpsuit was originally bought at the Gap.

The dressy one, I copied into a pattern which I have cut out of a vegetable print fabric and a vintage stripe. Eventually, I will grade it (pattern making term for making one in every size) up and down in size and add it to the SaladBowlDress line. The design has potential for eight different fabrics at once. 

It has wide legs, big side pockets, one inch wide elastic waist with a loose tank top style on top and a center front zipper, in a black lightweight brushed twill. 

I wear it to funerals, holidays, art museums (with crazy mesh shirts underneath), white blouses underneath, a flowered blouse on top tied at the waist, t-shirts of every kind (loose and tight). 

My two addictions used to be the Gap and Target. I have bought some amazing clothes from Target, and shoes. I just don’t need any more clothes, something I never thought possible. Literally, the world is drowning in clothing. 

The Gap just gets me though. I can always find my size, an XL. They always had the trends I was looking for, wide legged pants, high rise jeans, mens shorts which are my favorite to go to, and then the novelty blouse or shirt. Usually the five things I buy for free shipping will have two or three keepers. 

The clothes are so easy to return by simply putting the stuff in one or two of the bags they arrived in and brought to the local ups store. No anything! They just ship them back for free and I get a refund. 

These stores make it so easy to buy and return.

Because I blog and write about my favorite stores I initially had to see if the Gap had an affiliate program, where you get paid if someone clicks on the link. Well low and behold they do or did. That link is not available here.

After I spent hours applying to the affiliate company they then informed me the Gap is no longer an affiliate. My affiliate making money attempts have been pretty half hearted and I am not sure it is worth it. 

But hey I am not knocking affiliate marketing, if someone had clicked on my Gap link I could have made fifteen dollars if they bought something, if the store wasn’t down sizing. It is usually a win, win, for shoppers and stores alike without any cost to the shopper.

That’s how it works. Bloggers put disclaimers in their blogs all the time. The links are there for your convenience and it is only to benefit me by way of benefitting the store via a new customer without any cost to you. 

Jumpsuits really are the perfect garment, though. 

My sister and I shared one in the eighties when I first moved to NYC. Funny thing is that we would wear it many consecutive days if we weren’t going to the same job, let’s say. I have one almost identical to that one now, bought it from the Gap too.

Now what are we to do? This overconsumption is a mess. Companies either have to stop making so much, or stop making so much?! 

BTW, the best sustainable practice for companies who want to be sustainable isn’t so much in fabrications but in spending more on labor. 

Pay workers a living wage. 

Raise prices, cut down on making so much. Stop destroying excess or overstock. 

WE SIMPLY CANNOT SUSTAIN THIS!

 I think I will only wear jeans, white shirts, my lifetime favorite look. 

Four jumpsuits and a lot of vests! I love wearing a vest because I hate carrying a bag. Must be from twenty years of living in NYC? 

The vests are so versatile like the jumpsuits. They both have an edge. They both connotate, take no prisoners to the uncomfortable zone. 

How to stop my addiction? 

1. Stop getting the emails from your favorite catalogs and stores. Unsubscribe.

2. Really wear all the stuff in your closet. Shop your closet.

3. Shop at Thrift stores. 

4. Bring your old clothes there or to a local Upcycle Designer. 

5. Shop small from a local designer, order some custom clothes. 

6. Remake or alter your clothes to make them last. 

7. Sew from scratch some Slow Fashion to get exactly what you want and an idea of the true time, energy and cost of a garment. 

Then make your Slow Fashion fit really well by altering the pattern. Pinch a little here and let it out there. 

I stopped opening the Gap’s emails, but still can not unsubscribe just in case I get curious and see what is out there for the masses.

I have enough clothes to last me another year or more. I may purchase another white pair of sturdy KSwiss type tennis shoes like the ones I have worn all year. 

Side note, When to buy a new pair of tennies? Honestly when they start feeling the slightest bit old I will buy a new fresh pair but I am considering waiting for more wear with the KSwiss. I use them for walking almost daily and everywhere else I go. So a little concerned the wear will ruin my feet. 

But now that I do not buy anything new, all I see around me is junk for sale. Piles of stuff everywhere.  

As an Upcycle Designer brand. 

My whole spiel was that we have enough clothes to last a lifetime in our closets so I only made my upcycle products with leftover clothes from private donations. “You give me your old clothes and I will sell them back to you”. 

That was the model I came up with rather than trying to make something specific out of individual rejects which was too hard. 

So I started using everyones rejects for everyone’s clothing that I wanted to make, and hoped people would buy. 

It worked just fine. But now I am on a trajectory to really scale up from the large lots of waste companies are destroying to throw away so as not to compromise their integrity of goods. 

Though I have been to the Gap going out of business sales where everything was one dollar. Yes I spent at least 75. For my work, always a good excuse.

I have finally begun to buy from Goodwill to upcycle for work, to have more consistency and to scale up, making more in higher quantities.

 I have only bought about ten pairs of mens shorts to convert into mens vests, so far, which were very popular. 

Can I make it to the end of the year, easy.