I simply want everything I do to be an act of worship to God. ********************EVERYTHING******************** like a spider's web, intricately woven, the threads of our lives are entwined, making us who we are, where we are, at this time in history.... here's a small record of one family's journey to love God

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

two husbands and a little brown dress

I came across this gal last year and fell in love with her absolute wacky devotion to an idea!!!! She wore ONE dress for a whole entire complete year...that's ONE dress, one little brown dress.....every single day. I'm not about to go and throw away all my clothes, but I am always thinking about

how little do we need?
how do we reflect ourselves through our clothes
rather than being what someone in Paris decided
three seasons ago
that we should be this year?
how can we be modest AND modern?
how can we support small businesses instead of sweatshops?
how can we be producers instead of just consumers?

It seems to me that Little Brown Dress Gal thinks similarly...and after her little brown dress project she moved on to another. She's only wearing things that she has made herself. Yes, right down to her undies and swimming togs, shoes and backpack.
I find this to be truly inspirational. But I don't intend becoming a cult member and following this guru! Although I'm not actually far away - I have made undies this year, I've made bags, I haven't needed to wear my store-bought swimming togs coz I haven't been swimming (not all summer, how sad is that!), and I've made myself some new clothes (in brown, what's more):


The pants are a blast from the past. I made my first pair with Suzie way back in the early nineties in Poland. Although I haven't worn them for a few years I haven't thrown them away and they remain the most comfortable pants I've ever worn. I guess making them now was (apart from being a nostalgia trip and a desire to be comfy) a bit of a statement about wearing what I want and not what is on the racks in the shops! I'm like that.

And see my sandals? I've looked at them very carefully! A piece of timber, some non-slip stuff on the bottom and some leather straps rivetted on the sides. *I could make that* And I just might when these eventually die - coz these have been the most comfortable shoes apart from the pair I had custom-made and wore almost every day for nearly 15 years before a strap broke. The custom-made shoes might have cost $100 (an awful lot of money twenty years ago when you could buy shoes for $10), but over 15 years that works out at less than $7 a year for a wonderfully-made perfect fit that was crafted locally from leather. When I need to replace my boots I'll be going here and hoping that they bring out a range of shoes like my old ones too.

Now one of the things I like about the internet is that you can always find someone who is just as crazy as you are - or even more so. I'm not alone in my thinking. I discovered someone else was already talking about this! If you want to see what they had to say, go here or in Search of Ethical Gladrags.
And My Friend Who Is Very Like Me yesterday chatted about why she doesn't really like the mall, which is all a continuation on the same theme. I could have written her last two paragraphs! But I didn't, so I won't get criticised for saying something so extreme (heehee) - after all, I'm only putting a link to it;-) And I have a Husband Who Is Very Like Hers too! Uncanny.

3 comments:

skatey katie said...

see the Thing I Love (well, one of them) about being in my thirties, is that i am loving the feeling of *being comfortable with myself*
knowing my style, not conforming to fashion trends so much.. (heck, did i ever??)
i'm thinking i'll stay *seventies* for a long while yet.. even tho the shops are all going eighties spots and brights. yeuch. (that's french for yuk,lol)
but i still live my jay jays camo pants. they FIT so well.
and i am secretly in love with that little brown dress idea too.

skatey katie said...

i still live my jay jays camo pants
er: that is either: love my pants or...
live in my pants.
i think it's *both*

Jen and family said...

thought i should let u know I have introduced you to others in my blog
as we were required to do as part of the Ultimate Blogging Party
I like your blog I find it very interesting
Jen at http://jenz.wordpress.com/