Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Six Items or Less
Posted by Mary Cashiola on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 3:45 PM
[Sorry for the hiatus! Style sometimes gets shunted to the side when I've got more serious things going on.]
I've been thinking about a shopping diet ever since I saw this slideshow (and accompanying article) about Six Items or Less on the NYT's site.
The idea is simple: Choose six items of clothing, wear only them for a month, and see what happens. One participant, for example, chose two pairs of jeans, an American Apparel 3/4 sleeve shirt, two tees, and a black-and-white striped polo. One of the founders chose a black dress, a tank top, a blazer, jean shorts, a gray skirt, and a pair of black jeggings.
Work-out clothes, outerwear, underwear, and shoes don't count.
From the website:
You can get multiples of the same item for laundry purposes, but different colors count as separate items. Or you can tell us to stuff it and make your own rules.People have asked what the philosophy is behind the experiment and most assume it’s a statement about consumerism. In reality, we haven’t dictated a driving thought. Rather it’s about putting a challenge out there and seeing what people bring to it, do with it and talk about.
Organizers says people seem to be doing this for a variety of reasons: boosting creativity, anti-consumption, and just plain old masochism.
The take-away — at least from the responses I've seen — is that no one really notices what you wear. Or rather, no one notices that you're wearing it all the time. Also that modern clothes really aren't constructed to be worn that much.
I'm playing with the idea of trying this. Anyone else?
And if so, what would be your six items?
Comments (8)
Showing 1-8 of 8
A few months ago I watched an interview with Sally Singer (former Vogue-er, current editor-in-chief of T Magazine) in which she mentioned that the most stylish women at Vogue (Anna, Grace, etc.) wear a variation on the same outfit pretty much every day. I am thinking of doing my own version of six-or-less with my work wardrobe. Will see how it goes.
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I was wondering about that black and white dress. Do you have more than one. Was it just a wash cycle scheduling snafu?
Have you heard of the Uniform Project? It involves the same dress every day. The woman who started it really goes all out with accessories though.
I love the idea of creating my own work "uniform."
One of the things I miss most from my food service days is the ease of a uniform.
The problem is that it is actually pretty difficult to find simple, classic pieces these days. I'm always on the look out for basic black skirts and pants without any extraneous zippers, pleats, buttons, etc.
Does it defeat the purpose of a "shopping diet" if you buy multiples of an item when you would normally only buy one?
@Stacey, I LOVE The Uniform Project. You know that the woman is doing it to raise money for school uniforms for little girls in India, right?
@CDel: If you are shopping on a budget, Zara has great office stuff that is affordable but pretty decent in quality. They have stores in NYC, Philly and SanFran but are ALL over in Europe. Also, H&M have started a new, more grown-up, better quality line. It's called COS and is available in Europe. Not sure if it's in the States yet.
The original idea for Six Items or Less was not anti-consumerism, it was the idea of a uniform freeing up time and creative energy. The "founders" noticed that really creative people have a uniform. Others who joined in were interested in not consuming so much. There is a group that is going on a shopping diet but the NYT article mixes them up a bit I think. The founders of six items or less were interested in buying less disposable fashion from places like H&M and F21 but just because they felt forced to be creative with all the things they bought and felt maybe that was a waste of time, creativity and money.
I learned about the Six Items or Less challenge after a friend saw the segment on GMA and told me about it. I don’t work in the fashion industry or in retail, but I’m definitely a fashion FAN! I'm a bargain-hunter to the extreme, scouting garage sales (just this morning 7/31, I found an adorable polka-dot patterned BCBG dress for $2), craigslist, second-hand and consignment stores, and eBay for designer deals, as well as department and chain stores clearance racks. I study magazines then attempt to recreate the latest trends for pennies on the dollar.
I felt so strongly opposed to this new movement, that my friend and I started SixItemsorMore.com as a celebration of fashion and style and variety.
I donate clothes often. I also shop at Salvation Army and Goodwill stores. I don’t believe that an empty closet and an "anti-consumerist" mentality are requirements to do some good in this world. I would rather look and feel great, AND support locally-owned boutiques, AND also support worthy charities by shopping and donating, than submit myself to a six-items-or-less, monochromatic exercise in style deprivation.
While I believe “Six Items or Less” has done a good thing to raise awareness, I think it is extreme and unnecessary. There is nothing wrong or evil about celebrating the art and joy and variety of fashion. It is an expression of inner beauty and an outward celebration of individuality.
Why not skip the masochistic fashion-famine, and advance instead to the giving, donating and sharing stage?
Celebrate and share. Sounds good to me.
andrea
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