I have a shameful secret to share … I only have five ‘bottoms’ in my current work wardrobe, four pairs of pants (two black, one white and one grey) and one rather under utilised skirt. When this is all you have to work with each item has to step up to the plate again really really quickly, especially when the skirt is always benched! God only knows what I was thinking when I bought the skirt. There’s nothing wrong with it per se, it’s a classic black knee length pencil skirt from Cue and I did get quite a few compliments the one and only time I wore it but I’m not really a skirt kinda girl. I always have been and I suspect I always will be, much more at home in a pair of pants. I just need to accept this and stop buying skirts and dresses because no matter how good they look in store they will invariably linger unloved on the hanger when I get them home. I don’t even want to think about the money I have wasted over the years! Anyway, I digress … back to the pants that I do actually wear … I work from home on Fridays (often in my PJ’s until at least lunchtime!) so at least I have a pair of pants for each day I spend in the office which eliminates the need for a mid-week wash.There is no science to how the rotation works, it’s generally whatever is closest and clean but for some totally random reason Wednesday is the day that the white pants always seem get a run thus I have dubbed them ‘The Wednesday Pants’ (TWP). Having limited items in my wardrobe and lacking inspiration at 6am in the morning I typically wear TWP in the same monochrome way each week but a few weeks ago something happened that got me thinking that it might be time to shake things up a bit …
I recently attended a beginners blogger course with one of my besties who we shall call ‘The Reality Checker’ (TRC) given she can be counted on to pull me back in line on the vary rare occasions that I need it. Over the course of the night our facilitator Kim Berry (allconsuming.com) told us many stories about bloggers and some of the amazing things they have been writing about. One story that really struck a chord with me was Business Chic blogger Cheryl Lin Rodsted’s Black Dress Project. In early 2012 Cheryl Lin set herself a challenge to wear a fabulous Little Black Dress (LBD) one day each week for 52 weeks, styled differently of course, to test the timelessness of this wardrobe staple. Pure Genius! It especially resonated with me because when you have so few items in your wardrobe you really need to get as much mileage as possible out of every single item in order to make it look like you are wearing something different even when it’s the same old thing every week. Of course I couldn’t do a LBD given I don’t where skirts or dresses but TWP would be the perfect staple to carry off such a challenge. So while Cheryl Lin may have been inspired to complete her project as a challenge to her creative skills my motivation is twofold. Born firstly of necessity to make my limited wardrobe as interesting as possible but secondly to make sure I don’t let any of the kilo’s I’ve lost creep back on. If I have to fit into these same pants for a whole year, which I have now publicly committed to doing, it will hold me accountable to keep the weight off. If I can do it for a year then I can do it forever!
TWP (shown above with Black and Nude Prada Pumps) are a pair of white Calvin Klein slim fit pants in a US Size 0. I think the sizing is a little generous as I’m usually a US2 but I would be lying if I said I don’t get a small thrill looking at the size on the label given I have never been this small in my entire life! I purchased them in June 2014 at a steep discount (around USD $50 from memory) at the Waikele Premium Outlets in Hawaii during a recent trip with The Co-Conspirator. She had a rare afternoon leave pass from looking after her cherubs (aged 11 & 8) who were doing ‘boy things’ with Mr SFH so we made the most of our time at the outlets. And boy did we shop like two women possessed. It was a feverish flurry of shopping bags and credit card flashing the likes of which she has never known. I think she may still be recovering from the shock. She did of course give TWP her seal of approval before the purchase was made. I trust her implicitly to tell me the truth and I know she would never let me buy something that didn’t look good. Every woman need a GF like this! I would never have worn a style like this 20 kilos ago, in fact I have never owned white work pants before this but I’m really impressed with them so far.
I know this is going to be a massive challenge for me and to say that I am somewhat nervous is an understatement. There is a genuine chance of dismal failure and I wonder if Cheryl Lin felt the same way at the begining of her challenge. I’m very set in my ways (in a rut?) and not really all that creative. I just don’t seem to have the knack of pulling outfits together in a way that stylists do to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary but I’m going to give it a crack. So starting next Wednesday I will post each week on how I have ‘styled’ TWP. I have maybe two weeks worth of inspiration in my head (if that!) so I am going to need lot’s of help and suggestions from you along the way … and I might need to beg and borrow some items so be prepared for favour requests! I really hope you will follow along and get involved. Wish me luck! I’m going to need it!
See more from the Sydney Fashion Hunter archives or check out my complete list of Fashion Blogger Link Ups for more style inspiration
Until Next Time …
Happy Hunting
SFH
xoxoxo
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