Autorentext

Emma Edwards is a writer, content creator, podcaster and financial behaviour educator teaching the softer skills of money. When she isn't yapping about money, you'll find her eating blue cheese, snuggling with her cat, or reading Australian noir. Find her on social media @the.brokegeneration.

Klappentext

One year. A whole new perspective on style, spending and self-image Could you go one whole year without buying clothes? Emma Edwards decided to do just that. Millions of women are stuck in the frustrating cycle of shopping for the perfect outfit, only to find themselves overwhelmed and confused. It feels like buying more will eventually lead to the answer, but what if that's actually exactly what's keeping us stuck? In The Wardrobe Project, Emma shares her raw, honest journey of stepping away from the 'hamster wheel' of spending. She confronts our culture of consumption, why we buy and the impossible standards women are forced to chase-and reveals the empowering change that came from stepping back. Throughout her experiment, Emma found body acceptance, style creativity and more money in her bank account. And with the witty, vulnerable lessons she shares in this book, you can too. If you're looking for the kind of confidence you just can't buy on a rack, and freedom from the cycle of impulse spending, The Wardrobe Project is for you.

Inhalt

'Your parcel will be delivered today' xi

The chokehold of clothes xvii

Creating the Project xxvii

Preparation 1

Wishlist items 2

The rules 3

January: The beginning 11

To embrace or withdraw? 13

The urge to purge 15

Cataloguing my clothes 16

The stories hanging in our wardrobes 18

Chapter summary 23

February: The mirror to myself 25

Meeting my 'fantasy self' 27

The outfit in my head vs on my body 29

Signs your fantasy self is tapping your card 30

The 'almost' trap 31

Chapter summary 42

March: The steer into the skid 43

The allure of looking 'polished' 47

You're not going to look like the picture 49

Whipped cream: An alternative to chasing polish 53

Chapter summary 58

April: The resistance 59

The perils of a change of season 59

The curious case of trends 61

It's okay to just look ... okay 63

The clutter factor 69

Chapter summary 71

May: The classroom of my mistakes 73

Buying mistakes I'd been stuck in 75

The outcome? A wardrobe that doesn't work 80

Excuses we make to buy things 83

Lessons from items I've loved 86

The capsule wardrobe fallacy 87

Chapter summary 94

June: The shift 95

The unfamiliar territory of not wanting anything 97

Urgency as an indicator of mindless buying 99

The human behaviour element of fast and slow fashion 102

Slowness fosters creativity 103

Chapter summary 108

July: The breakthrough 109

From beige iced latte to punchy espresso 110

Having enough and being enough 113

Finding confidence outside of buying 116

The therapy of spending 119

Chapter summary 131

August: The holiday and the three-year-old bikini 133

Spending runways 134

There's so much more to life and money than clothes 136

Liking doesn't have to mean buying 137

Values-based spending 140

Adding more variety to your spending 142

The 'yes, and?' method 143

Understanding your buying decisions 144

Slowing down your purchase decisions 148

Chapter summary 153

September: The rebellion 155

The default option: Buy something new 157

Body acceptance, is that you?! 158

The 'flattering' lie 160

Ten ways to dress for resistance 163

The weight of weight 164

Weight-fluctuation-proofing your wardrobe 167

Chapter summary 172

October: The outfit repeater 173

You don't need a new outfit for every single event 174

Outfit repeating is cool 178

Embracing style formulas 180

Chapter summary 181

November: The clear out 183

My top five most worn items and what they taught me 188

Chapter summary 191

December: The end 193

My mindful buying toolkit 196

The Rule of Three 199

My beliefs about clothes pre- and post-Project 201

Chapter summary 210

The emergence 211

The key shifts I never expected 212

Not buying clothes freed me up to do so much more 214

Buying again 216

And then I hired a stylist 219

How to be your own personal shopper 221

Dressing differently 225

Style formulas 225

Wardrobe optimisation 228

Moving forward 229

I am forever changed 233

Epilogue: The integration 241

Advice for your own Wardrobe Project 244

Four mindset anchors to take into your Project 247

Let's keep in touch 249

Acknowledgements 251