My Fashion Fast- the Six Items Challenge

Starting on the morning of Wenesday 1st March, I will be taking part in  Labour Behind the Label's 6 Items Challenge. The charity supports the rights of garment workers all over the world, who are often exploited or placed in danger while working long hours to make the clothes we take for granted. 

Until Easter, my wardrobe will only consist of six 'key' items (I'll be allowed to change my underwear, socks and shoes, I'm sure you'll all be relieved to hear!), and I've deliberately picked items that I didn't buy brand new. 

My wardrobe for the next six weeks! 

I buy most of my clothes from vintage or charity shops now, but because it's harder to buy an intentionally matching or complementary capsule wardrobe when you don't know what clothes are going to be available, it's easy to see these shops merely as sources of 'novelty' options to add a bit of colour or quirkiness to our 'everyday' wardrobes. I'm lucky that I don't have a dress code to follow at work, and that I have a large existing wardrobe of clothes to draw on, but hopefully the pictures from my 40 day challenge will show that second hand clothes can be versatile, hard wearing and appropriate for every occasion! 

I'm sure some of you probably don't see much difference between this 'challenge' and your existing wardrobe. Others may be wondering if it's not just a reason to post a bunch of selfies and feel smug afterwards, even though I haven't actually 'done' anything physical or arduous. I took this challenge three years ago and I found it drastically altered by clothes-buying habits; all the clothes I have bought since have been purchased with this challenge in mind. Do I love something enough to wear it over and over again? Is it comfortable enough or well enough suited to my lifestyle that I could keep wearing it even if I'm a bit bored of the style or colour? 

But really that's a side benefit of the challenge for me, I'm really doing it for all the women who have the same skill set as me, but whose work is so undervalued as to be seen as disposable by so many of us. During the six weeks I'm participating in the challenge I'll be posting some tips I've picked up from my years working in costume making and wardrobe that we can all use to keep our clothes looking their best for longer. 

Over the next five days you'll be able to 'meet' my new capsule wardrobe (five dresses and one cardi; I'm currently packing away everything except my scarves and tights!) and donate to a very worthy cause over on my Everyday Hero page .