My six-year-old daughter and I are fifty days into our 100 Day Wool Dress Challenge and, honestly, it's been great! We've really enjoyed doing this together and almost everything about the challenge has been positive so far. First, the positives:
Still Loving the Dresses
These dresses are so comfortable. They are not at all wooly and feel very light and comfortable on. I love how easy they are to throw on over leggings. They look dressed up or dressed down easily and the pockets are super useful.
Less Laundry
Our family does a weekly laundry challenge to keep our loads small. The person with the least laundry wins (underwear and socks don't count), and recently my daughter and I have been dominating. Our laundry contributions have been reduced to socks, underwear, and occasionally our pants and dresses. Less to wash, less to hang, less to fold, less to put away... what's not to love?
Less Time Getting Ready
I've never been a fashionista. I've gotten dressed happily for years with a limited capsule wardrobe and get most of my clothes from my sister and my mom. So, before the 100 Day Dress Challenge, I didn't spend a lot of time getting dressed. But I did spend some time. Now, getting dressed takes less than two minutes. I grab my dress from its hanger, throw on some pants (which I re-wear for a two to three days too), and I'm good to go.
I'm Accessorizing!
Those few extra minutes I gained when I stopped having to choose my clothes have actually gone into putting on some earrings and a necklace, which I haven't done since having kids. Since I wear the same color every day, I have been able to experiment with different jewelry, scarves, and headbands. It's actually... kind of fun. :)
And now, a couple of negatives...
Washing the Dresses
My daughter is a typical six-year-old. She likes to paint, play outside, and wipe her hands on her clothes instead of on a napkin. I've had to spot clean her dress at least every other night (with a wonderful package-free stain stick I got at We Fill Good) and hang it to dry over a vent at night so it'll be ready for her in the morning. Once, her teacher - bless her! - had to wash acrylic paint off the dress at school and it came home in a bag to be washed again.
I've been washing both our dresses in the washing machine about once a week, but it's been hard to line dry (they are line dry only) them because we need to wear them the next day. Luckily, I do have a hook over a vent in the bathroom, so if I time everything right, the dresses are dry in the morning. If not, I throw them in the dryer for ten minutes (something I don't like to do, for obvious reasons).
Both of these issues would be solved by rotating two or three dresses, something I've been considering when the challenge is over. Having two every day outfits, one nice outfit, and one garden outfit would be enough clothing, I've realized.
Taking the Pictures!
Honestly, this is the hardest part of the challenge, by far! I'm the photographer in the family and I rarely take selfies, certainly not every day selfies. Luckily, my daughter has been reminding me most days. We have had to put our dresses back on twice after changing into our pajamas because we forgot. I can imagine this part would be fun for teenagers or social media buffs, but for me, it's just a chore!
Here are a couple of my better photos. I have some good ones of my daughter, but they show her face, so I'm not putting them online. Most of my photos are just boring selfies of us together on a chair. You could do better! I hope we have inspired you to try the Wool Dress Challenge. You could certainly do it with any outfit, if you aren't into wool dresses (honestly, it wears like cotton) or don't want to buy something new, but these dresses are well-suited to the task. Let us know if you're doing it too!
- Hannah
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