Inspiration

I just wanted to start off with saying that this is my 400th post!! I started....4 years ago last month!

I recently came across this fab. blog: newdressaday.wordpress.com
The basic premise is that this young lady got laid off from her boring job and decided to not clothes shop for a year. She gave herself a budget of $365 and the mission of wearing re-fashioned thrifted items for the year.
I really like what she creates from the thrifted items. I have been glued to the computer trying to read the old posts as it's almost near the end of her year (she's on day 284). However, I don't think I'll be following in her footsteps anytime soon, for a few reasons:

1) She lives in California. Most of what she creates is suited to a warm climate, not Ontario. Sure, I love dresses too, but come October, they're not too practical. It's much harder to alter pants into something current and the right size.
2) She's young (30). She can wear clothes from the 80s and not look like she pulled them straight out of her closet. It's really hard to take something so popular in the 80s and wear it at my age, even with significant alteration.
3) She's slender. She can find clothes in more size ranges and take them in. When you're already at the larger end of regular sizes, that doesn't leave much room for alterations.
4) Lifestyle--I don't need beaded, sparkly, party shirts or dresses most of the year. I need casual clothes that don't look out of place in the school yard at 3:10. As well, I don't have the time needed to make an item every day.
4) Lack of resources. Back in Orangeville, there were two thrift shops two doors apart in the downtown (which had free parking). Here, there is Value Village which although large, is priced more like a consignment shop than a thrift store. There's one other thrift shop I know about but haven't been too. The Goodwill closed last year. There are some shops in Oshawa, but I don't get over there much. Last year I bought some items with the idea of making a type of cloth diaper. I needed large pieces of polyester. I bought a couple "muumuus" and was surprised at the price....definitely not $1 here! I had been thinking of altering them for myself since I'm not going to make the diapers now. Seeing her blog has given me the push to do it. Even if I pay $10 for a muumuu, that's still cheaper than the cost to buy the fabric new.