I am long overdue to write a post thanking torontogirl for the inspiration I found in her thread here: https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....-1-summary. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" turned out to be a bit prophetic for 2020 in general, but I was inspired by it from the beginning.

In early 2019 I attempted to refresh my basics by buying new socks and underwear only to have the purchases flop. The new styles of underwear I tried did not work for me and the sock brand I chose (Bleu Foret) was not all it claimed to be. Frustrated, in January 2020 I took a hard look at what I already had and noticed I had quite a back stock in socks I never wore for "reasons". For example, novelty socks in bright colours that didn't go with my wardrobe, but could easily be worn under boots in the winter since nobody would see them. I also realized I was perfectly happy with my default style of cheap grocery store brand underwear, and had lots of stock there as well (again I had "reasons" for reserving eg. white pairs for certain outfits - but I stopped wearing white pants years ago!).

Thus I began the year chanting the maxim "wear it out" in my head. As the pandemic progressed, it became a lifestyle. Rather than buying new lounge wear I focused on wearing out what I already had. "Use it up" and "make it do" became useful challenges as well, as I scoured the house for forgotten bars of soap, or used up the garlic powder I normally disdain when we rant out of fresh between trips to the grocery store. I also took pleasure in being able to supply some of the random items neighbours were seeking while they avoided stores (Clamato juice? Purple cotton thread from my mother-in-law's sewing box? I have those!)

To be clear I have no claims to be a martyr here. As the shutdown continued but it became more clear that food wasn't a likely source of transmission, we spent our disposable income getting takeout from local restaurants. When retailers were forced to shut down again in December, I leaned on a facebook group created to support local small business and had a lot of fun both discovering new shops doing online shopping and curbside pickup, and promoting my own favourites to the group. As it turns out, it's actually very possible to avoid Amazon and prices are often comparable. I've also acquired some pretty unique items such as vintage Christmas ornaments.

I'm certainly looking forward to a brighter 2021 but will happily keep these aspects of the mindset and habits formed in 2020! Thank you to torontogirl for the inspiration, everyone else here for your 2020 contributions, and of course Angie for providing the forum and its positive hopeful tone.