So this list item was a bit of a personal challenge… I wear black t-shirts a lot, and the idea of excluding them from my wardrobe was more daunting than I had ever imagined… so on to the list it went… it was something that needed to be done.  I knew I would find is extremely challenging… mostly just to remember to do it… but what I did not expect however, is that I would learn something about myself by doing it.  So here are 3 things I learned by not wearing my trusty black t-shirt all last week.

1.  I actually had a lot of things to choose from
This is a bit of a two edged sword… the amount of choice I had last week also means that in an ordinary week lots of my clothes are wasted… or were a waste of money.  The cost per wear for some of these tops is much higher than I would like… some of them don’t even have one wear against their name… I know I should try to change up my wardrobe a bit more often because a lot of these clothes are also really nice, but I think it is something that I am going to have to be intentional about, because otherwise it won’t happen.

2. Black is my uniform…
I’m a true Melbournian… I like to wear black and grey… but mostly black… I also like navy… but I don’t have heaps… but I would consider it… so for me black is normal, it’s common and it’s not outrageously out of place, so I am not totally bucking the fashion trend… It’s not like I don’t wear any colour, I often have coloured pants or a coloured jumper (although now that I think about it most of these would also be fairly muted colours), but my black t-shirt is my go to.  It is usually always there, with the coloured pants, under the coloured jumper.  In fact out side of this week I there are only a handful of times I can think of that I have chosen not to wear a black t-shirt and lots of these are special occasions.

I am also a big believer in comfort… I can’t suffer for fashion… it’s just not me… I want comfy shoes and clothes that fit and don’t take a manual to put on… and they cannot dig in… anywhere… Unfortunately this has only been reinforced by 2 recent pregnancies… hello elastic! Anyway… it turns out wearing black t-shirts is almost like my uniform… it’s easy and I know what’s going to happen each morning when I get ready… I like the ease of it… and I don’t really mind that it’s probably a bit boring.  It took a lot of effort not to wear it for the whole week… and I needed lots of positive reinforcement from Dave because I was way out of my comfort zone.  I also had a brief moment of embarrassment when I saw ALL of my black t-shirts out of the wash and in the draw… there are a lot!

3. People seem to like it and I don’t look worse… maybe to some I actually look better when I wear some colour…
I think I also wear black t-shirts because they lull me into a false sense of security… ‘black is sliming’ or so they say… so who am I to distrust?  It also seems to cover the multitude of things I spill and drop on my clothes… maybe not all of them but definitely more than the coloured tops I wore this week.  Surprisingly though, this week, I have had more compliments on everyday clothes than I have ever had… Maybe it’s just because I look different? Maybe it’s the left over fake tan from the wedding last week… or maybe people like colour better than black?

Would I do it again for a whole week? Probably not… but is black my only option? Also no… I have lots of coloured options that work if I want them to… it’s just not what I am used to seeing myself in.  However, I also realised I am equally comfortable about not wearing colour… because black works too… and it goes with everything (also what ‘they’ say)… I think I probably just need to make more effort to wear all of the clothes I have or donate those I don’t wear… because I am not likely to force myself into a situation like this again.  Oh and just in case you were wondering… yes… I am wearing my trusty black t-shirt again today… and I wore one yesterday and the day before… I told you… a change is going need some intentional planning.