A quick review - we are HERE

Hi there good readers of this blog. Thank you for stopping by. This is post #46 - we're really chalking them up, aren't we? This week, I'm going to do a quick review of some of the favourite posts from the last six months -- that's how long I've been at this blogging thing and any day now, I'll know what I'm doing.

Shopping in review. The photo accompanying this post was taken in the Auckland Museum. It talks about, well, shopping and the rise of the consumer. The mid 19th century was when the shopping centre, as we know it, was first created. Macy's in New York, for example, was opened in 1860. Two years prior to that, a French writer, Emile Zola, was quoted as saying that department stores are "cathedrals of commerce for a congregation of customers". Ha! Cathedrals of commerce indeed! Even all those hundreds of years ago, the competition for customers attention was fierce and tactics such as using celebrity visits were used. The more things change, the more they stay the same huh? Only now we have Lady GaGa and Justin Beiber and then they had Louisa May Alcott and Tchaikovsky. Same same, right?

I thought that photo of a sign was a good accompaniment to this blog posting. Because we're marking a moment in time with this blog. We're looking at the signpost and it says "almost halfway through the challenge! - You Are Here".

What's good here? I've written nearly 50 blog posts since I started writing here in December 2009. That's when I started my 12 month challenge of "shopping my wardrobe" and not going clothing shopping for one year. The posts here vary in quality, research undertaken, readability and (non)sensibility. I try to make each one a little bit fun and a little bit fruity. Here's my top picks:

What do clothes mean? They don't mean everything and they don't mean nothing. It's gotta be somewhere in between, right?

Mix'n'Match. This is really what "shopping your wardrobe" is all about -- having a bunch of stuff in your wardrobe that you can reach for, that make you feel like you are, well, shopping in a store (even if it's not a very large store).

Colour (or color for my north American friends). We know that colour makes a big difference to how we feel. But how does it make a difference to how we look?

The official start. I posted on December 15 2009, which was the official start of the challenge. This was my third blog posting, like ever, and the reason it wasn't the first posting was because I was easing my way into things. This post wont be winning any prizes, but it is an important marker in time.

Resist and Avoid (the Twin Towers to Defeat Temptation). This post in March describes my "falling off the wagon" event and my thinking, at the time, of the best way to stay on it for the rest of the challenge. Thank goodness I didn't drop anchor there and May was a big month for me in that department- lots of learning and peeling back the layers of what the emotional elements of the challenge might be. In Going In, I explored how much I had in common with the seagulls in Finding Nemo. And in my post on Just Looking I wax lyrical about my captivation with clothes and what the crux of this challenge might actually be -- if it's not "resisting and avoiding", that is.

Three Kinds of Shoppers. A little bit of lunacy, but possibly with a hint of truth to it, right?

Must Haves. This was me musing about how the fashion industry gets us reaching into our handbags every season for fear of being, gasp, out of style and not "bang on trend" (ooh, the horror!). Related to this is the mystery of What's In and Why, which (even having it explained in The Devil Wears Prada) I'm still not sure I understand.

Not Quite New. This post explores the options for injecting something new into your wardrobe that's not quite new to the planet. I've got one more category to add to this group, so you'll just have to keep reading to see what it is!

NZTV. I was blessed by being the focus of a 7 minute segment on New Zealand's Breakfast show in early May, and I reflected on that experience here. I'm to be a guest on NZTV's Good Morning show this coming Thursday (June 10), so no doubt another posting will be forthcoming about that experience.

You like? Come follow! If you like what you've read here, please become a follower. It's the only way I'm going to get a book deal - by getting loads and loads of followers! There's an easy-to-follow set of instructions when you click on Follow, in the left hand column.....just scroll down a little bit. (and thanks - I'll mention you in my Acknowledgements, when I sign that book deal)

So.... that it? Yep - that's the round up of the "best ever" blog posts, rodeo goers. Feel free to read all 45 other posts, of course, not just my top picks! Blogs are the online equivalent of Farsi and run in reverse chronological order... the first written are at the bottom and the most recent at the top. Like the girlfriends of Russell Brand, right?

But Wait! There's One More Thing! There really is. I'd love for you to jump on over to the site that goes with this blog --- http://www.shopyourwardrobe.com/ -- and check it out. AND, I'd love for you to click on the button that signals your interest in doing your own Year Without Clothes Shopping, with my support! I'm developing a 12-month membership club for women (and men) who want to stop the cycle of consuming, take control of what may be an out of control habit and "shop your wardrobe". Every week, you'll get a shot of inspiration and support into your Inbox that'll help keep you on the straight and narrow. You'll be able to start anytime you like, and we'll make it as fun and fulfilling as its possible for it to be.

Calling early birds! Once our early bird slots for the membership program are filled, we're going to double the price. Our early birds who signal their interest will be able to join for $1/week. You find that in change under the car mats, by rummaging through your husband's golf shorts, or lurking in the bottom of your handbag, surely? We know it's a crazy price for what we'll be offering, but we're in this together and I want to make it affordable. We plan on being open for business in August ...so please check it out and click that link, chick!

And here's the thing. You really have no idea what 12 months of "shopping your wardrobe" and not going clothes shopping will be like and will do for you ... until you do it. You can't read a book (or a fabulous blog like mine) and discover what it's like. You can't simply imagine your way through a challenge like this - you have to live it. You'll never know what possibilities exist, unless you sign up and do it. Right?