'Make It, Wear It' Summer Holiday Challenge - V.1 Completed

You may recall, I posted a challenge for myself, pledging that me-made items would account for 70% of my vacation clothing.  Now that I'm back from Texas, the question is "Did she do it?"  The answer?

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Here's what I wore:

• Day 1:  I started the trip in 100% me-made fashion, cheating a bit by wearing my navy knit dress.  I like wearing comfortable dresses on long driving trips and, as you well know by now, this dress is very comfortable.  I forgot to take a picture but, I simply paired it with my unfashionable Nike comfort thongs (flip-flops).  And, luggage, of course.
• Day 2:  I sported my new yellow and white pleated skirt (to be blogged soon).  With it, I opted for a navy polo, navy/white stripe flats, and pearl accessories.  I tried to look a little more polished for this outfit so we could take pictures for my Sew Weekly post.

• Day 3:  Another car trip (from Dallas to Galveston) so, I chose my me-made seersucker shirt and a khaki skirt.  As a me-made bonus, I also wore my sailor-knot bracelet.  Once again, I wore the Nikes (what can I say, I don't like to bring a lot of shoes on vacation and I've decided comfort is more important than fashion :-P  ). And, once again, no picture.
• Day 4:  We decided to do some outlet shopping in Houston* so, I wanted comfort (are we seeing a trend here? heehee) and something that would make trying on new clothes easy.  I wore my recently shared Summer Breeze top, paired with the same white shorts, the Nikes and my rope bracelet (on which the salesman at JCrew complimented me :-) )  Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take a picture until I was eating my dessert around 10pm. Oops!

Worst lighting ever - they were red!  But hey, it shows I wore it :-)

• Day 5:  For dinner, we decided to go to a charming place with a disgusting name: Mosquito Cafe.  I like to dress up a bit for dinner but, we were planning to sit outside so we could bring CoCo (there are no doggie daycares on the island!) so, I wore my seashell dress, my sailor-knot bracelet, and white wedge sandals.  The evening did not go as planned and once again, we neglected the camera.
• Day 6:  Time to go home!  I had only "icing" dresses left with me so, I didn't wear any me-made garments for the car trip back :-(  Shame, shame!  Instead, I wore a cozy JCrew knit shirt/cotton shorts combo. I did wear my bracelet though.

So, if you count accessories as 5%, here's how I did:

100% + 50% + 55% + 55% + 100% + 5% = 365/6 = 61%

Not quite the 70% I was hoping for.  However, I had made a serious error when I determined that 70% would be achievable.  Normally, when Brandon and I go on beach vacations, we wear casual clothes (separates or cotton sundresses in my case) during the day, between beach wear, and then dress up for dinner in the evening.  So, I was counting on wear a few of my nicer dresses to dinner at least twice, which would have pulled those days up to 80%.  However, I didn't realize at the time that there would be no fun place where we could leave CoCo for an hour or two while we ate so, we had to omit all nice dinners from our plans.  It was worth it though to know she was safe. (We haven't had the best luck with local boarding.)

Technically, my goal for the challenge was not so much to stress over wearing several me-made items but, rather to push myself to finish some of the separates I had been planning.  I finished the floral top and the yellow skirt specifically for this trip and only failed to complete one additional planned garment. So, I'd still call this challenge a success!

Also, you may have noticed I sneaked V.1 into the post title.  The reason being, as it stands, we're planning on taking an end-of-summer trip as well.  So, I'll get a second chance to meet my 70% goal.  I'll definitely need more tops and skirts by then!

For those of you who decided to join me on this challenge, don't forget to share how you've done.  Of course, summer has just begun and there are many more garments to be sewn and trips to be taken.  Have fun!

Happy summer! x

* Side-note/Confession:  I realized in early May that, while I had not specifically pledged not to buy RTW, I had not done so once all year!  So, I feel slighty guilty about our shopping day in Houston.  I bought two knit tops, a cable-knit sweater, shorts, a belt, and the white shoes I mentioned above.  Not much but, technically, I could have made the tops and the shorts.  Though, I justified the purchases by the outlet prices, decent quality/construction, natural fabrics, and the unavailability of comparable fabric near me.  This will also likely be the extent of my rtw purchases for at least the season, since the brands aren't available locally.


Do you still shop ready-to-wear or are you boycotting the shops?