The Rule of 5… could you do it?

February 14, 2025February 13, 2025 / edebock / 5 Comments

Throughout 2024, two of the bloggers that I regularly follow reported on their attempts to follow the Rule of 5. What’s that, you ask?

The vast overproduction of clothing by the fashion industry is responsible for almost 10% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. In 2022, Berlin’s Hot or Cool Institute determined that in order to meet the internationally agreed upon goal of limiting global warming to 1.5ºC, we should purchase no more than 5 new garments a year. That led to the Rule of 5.

Here’s how it works:

Buy no more than 5 new items during the calendar year.
Socks, tights, underwear, and nightclothes don’t count.
Shoes, boots, and accessories DO count.
Second-hand shopping is allowed, but don’t go overboard.
Gifts count. (This is to prevent cheating by having someone else buy for you!)

I haven’t actually participated in the Rule of 5, but looking back I discovered that I inadvertently met the goal in 2023 before I’d even heard of it! I didn’t do as well last year, buying 8 items that would count. The bloggers that I follow didn’t meet the goal either, but they both agreed that trying had changed their shopping habits and made them much more intentional about what they bought. I’d consider that success.

Although the idea has merit, I haven’t committed to the Rule of 5 for this year either. I will continue to keep track of my purchases though and see how close I come. So far, 7 weeks into the year, I’ve only purchased one item, a colourful necklace that cost less than $10 at a tiny shop in the bus station in Xalapa, Mexico. The anchor and cross symbols are very meaningful to me, but if I’d been committed to the Rule of 5, I probably wouldn’t have bought it.

So, what do you think? Would you ever try the Rule of 5? Do you think you could do it?

Digging deeper!

November 13, 2020November 10, 2020 / edebock / 2 Comments

Now that winter has arrived, challenging myself to wear skirts and dresses to church every Sunday has resulted in me digging much deeper into my closet. Last Sunday morning, the temperature was -10ºC (14F), a strong wind was blowing, and it was snowing. Clearly, dressing warm was a priority.

I started with a camel coloured pencil skirt that I bought in early 2013, just before we left for a teaching term in China. Named for it’s long, slim shape, a pencil skirt is a timeless garment that never goes out of fashion. It’s a basic wardrobe piece that many different outfits can be built around. In addition to this one, I have navy and grey pencil skirts that both date back to my teaching days.

I wore the same tall brown boots and patterned top that were part of last week’s outfit. Though only barely visible in the photo, I wore a pair of dark brown leggings under the skirt, partly for warmth, but also because the skirt wasn’t quite long enough to cover the top of my boots and I didn’t want a sliver of bare skin breaking up the look. Next, I added my cozy Checkmate Jacket from cabi’s Fall 2019 collection which you’ve seen on the blog a couple of times before.

Costume jewelry can be a fun and inexpensive way to finish off an outfit. The name dates back to the early 20th century and simply reflects the use of the word “costume” to refer to what we now call an “outfit”. To complete Sunday’s “costume”, I chose a pair of dangly earrings and a simple bead necklace. The beads are made from coconut shell. We spent the summer of 2011 as short term missionaries on the Pacific island of Saipan and it was there that I purchased the necklace from a Chamorro woman who made them to sell to tourists. The Chamorro are the indigenous people of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Now that winter has arrived, I’m not sure that I’ll continue wearing skirts and dresses to church every week, but it’s been fun digging deeper into my closet and coming up with new ways to style some of my older pieces.

What’s the story?

November 6, 2020November 4, 2020 / edebock / 5 Comments

This is what I wore to church last Sunday. Before the service began, a friend who reads my blog regularly told me that she liked my skirt and asked if there was a story behind it. That got me thinking and I quickly realized that my closet is full of stories. Today I’m going to tell you how I put this outfit together and the story behind each piece.

Since our church reopened in early July, I’ve made a point of wearing dresses and skirts on Sundays so this outfit started with the skirt which has been in my closet for more than thirteen years. I don’t remember exactly when I bought it, but that’s how long I’ve been retired and I know that it dates back to my teaching days. It’s funny the things that stand out in your memory, but I distinctly remember wearing it to a district wide teachers’ event when it was new. I don’t recall where I was prior to the event or what I was doing, but I do remember arriving at the venue with my outfit for the evening in a bag and slipping into the ladies room to change!

When I decided to wear the skirt to church, I knew that I’d be wearing it with my tall, dark brown boots. They were a lucky find at our local thrift store early last winter when the pair that I’d been wearing started to leak. The closest shoe store is an hour away, so I was very fortunate to find a suitable replacement in my size in our small store.

Next, I had to decide what to wear on my upper half. I decided that the sleeveless patterned top would add a bit of visual interest. It was purchased last November while I was on my annual Christmas shopping weekend in the city with several close girlfriends. In the 18 (soon to be 19) years that we’ve been making this trip, I’ve missed only two of them. In 2008 I was living in Japan and in 2013 I was isolated in a lead lined room at the Cross Cancer Institute.

It’s chilly in Alberta at this time of year, so I clearly wasn’t going anywhere in a sleeveless top without something over it. Would you believe that I tried on five different toppers before I finally settled on this one? It was given to me by my very generous sister-in-law several years ago and is one of those well loved pieces that remains in my closet even though I don’t wear it very often anymore.

Accessories put the finishing touches on any outfit and the necklace that I chose to wear with Sunday’s outfit has a very special story.

I was a young teenager in the 1960s when my aunt visited a friend who was teaching in Japan and brought the necklace back for me. Over 50 years later, it’s now considered vintage. (Perhaps I am too!) The back of the pendant is stamped with the name, Amita, a Kyoto company that started selling damascene jewelry like this in 1932. Damascene is made by etching an intricate design into oxidized metal and then pressing gold and/or silver metal into the chiseled design. The images on Japanese damascene are usually either pagodas or floral designs like this one. I have worn mine over and over throughout the years and it still looks as good as it did the day I received it.

Are there any stories in your closet? Why not share one of them in the comment section below.