Q&A: The Year of No Clothing Purchase - My Version

I just read about The Great American Apparel Diet through a blog. I am doing some thing similar as one of the experiments that I started last year, though mine is modified form of same. I liked the format of this post and hence would also like to answer all the questions answered by another participant.


What made you want to be a part of the Great American Apparel Diet?
Well, I am not exactly a part of this so I'll answer what made me to be on "No New Clothes" philosophy. I had way too many clothes at one time. One day after wasting around 20 minutes in order to find something in my wardrobe I realized I had too much clutter. I decided that I needed to cut back and hence will not buy anything new and will try to use my existing wardrobe from now on.

Before starting the "diet," how often did you go shopping for clothes, and roughly how much did you spend in the course of, say, a month or a year?
I used to shop like almost twice in month. My monthly spending used to be some Rs 10K-15K per month.

In the past, have you ever tried to give up other things -- smoking, alcohol, French fries, or whatever? If so, how do those experiences compare with your current one? What's harder, and why?
I tried giving up Tea for one week as part of art-of-living workshop. That was way more tough then this. I need tea to survive just anywhere but shopping's urge can be curbed by simply not going to malls and markets.

Have there been moments when it is really difficult to stick to the commitment? When, and what happened?
I occasionally have to go to markets to buy the gifts for friends and family. It gets difficult to resist personal shopping some times.

Any good tips you'd care to share for putting together outfits without spending a penny?
I did not-to-repeat any dress experiment and it helped me in understanding and recalling what all I own.

What have you learned about yourself, your wardrobe, your shopping habits, and even about your family and friends while taking part in this?
I hardly need to shop so frequently. No matter how many dresses I own, I have a favorite set of 5-7 dresses that I wear repetitively.