Day 74: The clothes fast

So many people know I'm doing this clothing fast. It was obviously a facebook status that people noticed and now everywhere I go people are asking me how its going. No one I know other than Charlie believes its possible or that they'd be able to do it and its proved to be quite a talking point! However it IS going fine and being quite a way in I feel I should reflect to see how I'm doing and what I'm learning from it. To set the record strait - as I always struggle a bit when people ask me how long I've been doing it for and when it ends as its a bit confusing... To be fair to myself I am going to backdate my fast to the last time I actually bought something... rather than having ages of trying to save and not buying anything added onto the beginning... so since the dress I confessed to on day 48 actually genuinely falls under the 'gig clothes clause' I'm not counting that and going back to day 15 when I bought 2 dresses... which I already had actually by day 15 so I probably bought ...ah! - I bought them in my 2 week lapse in writing between day 4 and day 5! (I know that's true cos I didn't really want to write and admit that I'd been shopping) Which pretty much lines me up to finish if I carry on this 365 to 370 days instead - fair? deal? ...only 296 days left to go then, yeah?
What am I learning then? The picture above is NOT my wardrobe but that's what I'm aiming for in life. I do think I'm learning to organise my stuff better, take more care of it to make it last and try to enjoy it more. The other day I put a big silver hairclip in my hair and thought..oooh this needs silver earrings... went for my silver hoops and realised they didn't go as well as I'd thought as they were actually orange with that nasty jewellry muck. Not sure if silver cleaner works on tin or whatever these cheapy things are made from but normally I would opt for going out to buy another cheapy pair and chucking these but I CAN'T! So somehow I will have to clean them, or tile paint them or something silver... in the meantime I went for clashing my silver and dull copper and hoped no one would notice that faux pas.
I'm also trying to wear something different everyday in a bid to make sure I do make use of everything I have bought and to teach myself how much I actually do have. This has been tough - I have been a bit scared by the fact that having an ill week has meant I have used up nearly all my hoody and jeans combos already and its only autumn. But... looking at what is left...there's nothing I won't wear or that I dislike, or that doesn't fit so though I may have to layer a few summer dresses in the mid-winter I think I'm not far off having worn everything already. So it's actually taught me that my impulse buying is not so bad - I may buy things I see within seconds but thats because I generally know what I like and have fairly consistent taste.
Another thing is that I still REALLY love looking in shops and internet shopping... like I learned with my red duffel coat and amazing Peter Jensen boot - just a picture of these things can make me happy - yes I am very sad but its basically true! I think that so far - its not feeling too different - financially we're no better off and have really really struggled this month... so much so that we've run out of food and petrol and Joel has an expenses cheque come through that he needs to try to bank while he is away just so we can buy some food for when his parents arrive TOMORROW! aaagh! so there would have been no nice clothes for me anyway so far. :( The one thing that I think will be the hardest thing actually - as everyone keeps saying 'bet you go mad shopping when you've finished this year!' -is that I really don't think I'll be able to! Unless I do get paid this year - Please please God - then I'll get to the end of the year and it might just be no different - I'll not even be able to buy a celebratory item and :( - that will be a bit depressing! please please God - please please can I have a wage?! (does God read blogs?)