Meatless Monday: Shop Your Closet

In these tough economic times, shopping for new clothes, shoes and accessories is something a lot of us have come to know as a luxury. It's so fun to try on the newest trends and stock our closets full of shiny new things. Financially, it's not always an option. And for those of us trying to be more green with our fashion choices, it's not always a great environmental option, either. Take a long, hard, honest look at your closet, and you will likely discover that you don't need to purchase anything new. We often do not NEED the clothes we buy, we merely WANT them. I'm very guilty of shopping when I shouldn't. That is why I've found Kendi's 30 for 30 Challenge to be inspiring.

Every few months, she hosts this challenge, and I admit, I have yet to participate. But even though I'm not physically participating, I still feel involved because I enjoy rooting the participants on! It's also exciting to see how creative some of these women can be. In case this isn't clear, the concept is simple: choose 30 items from your closet and create outfits using only those 30 items for the next 30 days. It's sort of an extended wardrobe capsule concept. I find that week-long wardrobe capsules work for me because I don't like being limited in my clothing choices- 30 days sounds like torture to me!  Generally, with these challenges, accessories like jewelry, tights, scarves and belts don't count towards the 30 items. Shoes, however, do count. If you're someone who finds it difficult to avoid shopping, a 30 for 30 Challenge can help curb your shopping craving because it forces you to shop your closet and your closet only for an entire month. The best part is when you discover an outfit you didn't even know you had.

So hop on over to Kendi's blog post where she shows which 30 items she's selected from her closet to mix and re-mix for the next 30 days. You might find it inspiring! Maybe even inspiring enough to do it yourself!