Picks for spring

My friend Nancy just posted a great challenge on her blog. You should go check it out for yourself, but the gist is that participants will give up shopping for clothes, accessories, household decor, and “stuff” in the months of April, May, and June.

My initial instinct was to enthusiastically join in, because unsurprisingly I love a good budget challenge. But then, I thought about a few things:

Point one: So far, I have spent $0 of my clothing budget for 2013. No accessories, either. I’ve effectively been holding my own one-person challenge for the first quarter of the year.
Point two: In the whole of 2012, I spent $182.15 on clothing and accessories, not counting the dress I bought for our rehearsal dinner and a dress I bought for a work event. The exact items: 1 yellow striped shirt, 1 bathing suit, 1 belt, 1 scarf, 1 pink tunic, 1 pink blouse, 1 pair of earrings, and $20 of my cowboy boots (the rest was in gift cards!).
Point three: I realized last weekend that I wore shirts with holes in them for three days in a row.

Now, I’m certainly not saying that I’m destitute, and I’m obviously not asking for pity — I have what many consider to be a full closet, and it’s not that we don’t necessarily have the money to spend, it’s just that we choose to spend it on (or save it for) other things.

But, it’s gotten to the point where I’m so used to NOT spending money on clothing that’s it’s become very difficult to pull the trigger. Which is a good thing, of course, but I now seem to be incapable of spending even gift cards: for example, I currently have a $40 Nordstrom gift card and almost $200 in J.Crew gift cards that have been sitting in my wallet for months. Ridiculous! So, with spring (hopefully?) around the corner, and our honeymoon coming up, I’ve decided it’s time to spend… just a little :) Here are a few of the pieces I’m eyeing:

1. Cross-back sundress in sunshine ($56) | 2. One-shoulder dress in soft fuchsia ($35) | 3. Short-sleeve dress in emerald ($34) | 4. Striped maxi dress ($98) | 5. Striped top in green ($15) | 6. Striped dress in coral ($28) | 7, 8, 10. Chino shorts in neon azalea, bright spearmint, and cerise ($28) | 9. Girls’ patent tortoise belt ($10) | 11. Skinny jeans in spearmint ($50) | 12. Gingham shirt ($44) | 13. Neon pink studs ($15) | 14. Sophia studs in clover ($32) | 15. Leather sandals ($50)

Any favorites?