Tonight my friend Rob introduced me to the most interesting blog about a woman who decided to wear the same "little brown dress" for a year--every day, all the time. Here is the link to her blog in case you are as enthralled by this concept as I am. I think it's brave and interesting. And, it's such a commentary on consumerism and feminism and poverty and a plethora of other "meanings" you can attach to this kind of performance art. I wish I would have thought of it. Or more accurately, I wish I was brave enough to embark on such a journey and stick with it for a year.
She designed and sewed the dress herself and then wore it while working and playing and dancing and gardening and everything except swimming and sleeping. She started on her birthday in June and ended one year later with a "un-dressing" party. She documented her journey with daily pictures and frequent blog entries.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since Rob showed it to me. I greedily read her blogs and looked at her pictures and felt stirred by the meaning behind her simple experiment.
Here is a quote from her blog: "So, here's the deal - I made this dress and I wore it every day for a year. I made one small, personal attempt to confront consumerism by refusing to change my dress for 365 days. In this performance, I challenged myself to reject the economic system that pushes over-consumption, and the bill of goods that has been sold, especially to women, about what makes a person good, attractive and interesting. Clothes are a big part of this image, and the expectation in time, effort, and financial investment is immense."
I think I want my own experiment. No, I won't be wearing a little brown dress every day for a year, but I want to do some kind of challenge. I'm not sure what it will be yet, but I'm hoping to think of it by my birthday in August. I have some ideas, but they are still running around in my brain for now. I do know I want to spend a year with an intentional framework. I want to have something to contrast changes against and something progressive to document. Something that will force me to think on a higher level and sacrifice a bit of comfort in favor of expression and higher purpose and meaning.
I'm open to ideas.
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8 comments:
I say go commando for a year. Think of how many loads of laundry can be saved by wearing fewer pieces of clothing every day! It works for certain neighborhood residents...
do it! u.n.g. would be proud.
We can't really tease U.N.G. any more. He saved DeLaina and me from the hugest, hairiest, most terrifying spider last night and now I'm forever in his debt.
DeLaina was walking out of my house around 10 last night and she stopped short on the steps and could only point with a frozen look of horror on her face. This spider was easily as big as my palm and that's no exaggeration. It had long hairy legs and an enormous black body. U.N.G. just happened to be outside looking for his lost cat (by the way, if you see it, it's a little, all-black cat) wearing just his running shorts. He scooped the spider into a plastic bowl and took it across the street to that big empty lot and let it go!
I could barely sleep because of the creepy crawlies all over me all night. I seriously have never seen such a huge spider, not even in Africa! And, I've never been so glad to have U.N.G. next door.
Hey awesome! I know you well enough that I even figured out U.N.G.
Now this is a little thing, but I did it for a year and loved it. Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach (where my gratitude blog came from). It's just a reading each day with some ideas to implement.
AMEN to that!!!
You may think this is the craziest idea ever, but I'm going to post it anyway. It's something I have been thinking about but there really is no way to implement it for me with my schedule. I was thinking of all the garbage we as Americans generate every year. What if there were no trash pickup and no landfills? The only way you could get rid of waste was to recycle, compost, donate (not waste but other things), or reuse. I have really been wanting to investigate where to take more plastics (since our county only takes 1 and 2), glass, and batteries. Also, I would like to start composting.
Another idea would be to try rationing something. I was watching a television show that the host spent 30 days on the Navajo Reservation. He said the average person on the reservation uses 10 - 15 gallons of water per day. The average American uses 10 times that. Pretty incredible, huh. I have also wondered what would happen to our lifestyles if our energy where rationed. What if Americans were given only x amount of gasoline per person per year? Or if the power company said that they can't produce any more energy and each person is alloted only x amount of kilowatt hours per year. I know many things would change.
Thank you for all your ideas! I'd love more and more. I'm still thinking about it, but I have one idea that keeps trying to make it to the top. I'll keep you posted.
I'm dying to know which idea "keeps trying to make it to the top." These are all good suggestions. I think the best thing we could do for our environment and for ourselves is to get rid of our cars, but that will never happen, especially in the West. I've also been thinking a lot about Michael Pollan's book, "In Defense of Food." You can download the introduction from this website. http://www.michaelpollan.com/indefense.php
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