The 100 Day dress

 Judy.  Fact is, I love clothes. I don’t know if it’s because as a child my folks couldn’t afford all the cool clothes, or if I’m just a hedonist, but I do love clothes. Once I discovered second-hand shopping, there was no stopping me.  It was ridiculous.

 

Obviously this posed a problem when we started traveling. I gave away bags of clothing and have continued to purge the bins in the storage unit every time we return, but I have these favorites. And last winter in Atlanta when I was rehearsing for a play, I couldn’t find my sweaters, so a trip to the thrift store loaded me up again.

 

A mistake, I think, was trading my original suitcase for a larger one. I try to be careful, but I invariably find myself biting my nails as the gate agents weigh my bag.

 

So I was intrigued when I read about a merino dress that one could wear day after day. It apparently worked in both hot and cool weather. In fact, the manufacturer offered a deal: If you wore the dress for 100 days and documented it, they’d send you a coupon toward a second dress.

 

What the heck. We’re under quarantine, after all, so who’s going to see it? And if it worked, maybe I could bring myself to dump more of my old stuff and pack MUCH less. So I ordered the dress.

Good for roughhousing with the boys

 

I admit the first few days were rough. Sometimes I’d wear it for a couple of hours, take my photo, then put on something else. Gradually, though, it became easy to just put the dress on and go about my day. How nice not to think about what I put on in the morning. Steve Jobs only wore black turtlenecks and jeans. And he did ok. I could, too.

 

Now, with only twenty or so days left in the challenge, I really love it. I brought more clothes to Montana with me, but I just don’t wear them, except for exercise clothing. A sweater, scarf, or jacket changes the look, and on cool days, leggings keep me warm.

Keeping cool with Big Dipper ice cream

 

It remains to be seen what will happen when my 100 days are up. I could wind up going back to my old ways, or then again, I might be as cool as Ted with a suitcase full of all I need—at under fifty pounds.

Add a pair of hiking boots, and I'm good to go!