Nothing If Not Vain

Yesterday, another flickr member asked me questions about my wardrobe obsession - not just the outfits, but why I bother to document them just about every day, how old I was & what is my inspiration. She wanted to include my responses & also pics of the outfits in an article about street fashion for a Polish magazine. Poland, huh? Never been there. I know about the Warsaw Ghetto & the Dead Pope & maybe Polish Salami.
I'm Nothing if Not Vain, so I jumped at the chance to talk about Myself, particularly in Poland. Here's what I said:
Hello,
Thank you for asking me!
I'll try & answer some of your questions:
About 2 years ago, for some unknown reason I began having my photo taken at the school where I work. I am an artist as well as a teacher, & I probably thought at the time that it would be fun to document my daily outfits for a whole school term & maybe eventually turn this little project into some kind of art work. Any teacher who was around at the time & was willing, would take my photo inside our staffroom. The Daily Photo became a bit of a joke.
Since that time, it's taken on a life of it's own. The project has moved to the classroom & one particular student takes the photo every day at the end of class with me posing next to the whiteboard.
I've always been interested in 'street fashion' even as far back as the seventies & in more recent times I fell in love with the Japanese 'Fruits' books. But there weren't many other books like those around & magazines weren't that interested in street fashion. It was really frustrating.
So,you can imagine how I felt then, when I finally discovered wardrobe remix late last year! I just couldn't believe that there were all these people on the other side of the world that were doing the same thing as me. I became obsessed! I loved looking at everyone's outfits & even though I'm a lot older than most remixers, I found their individual style very inspiring. A common thread throughout wardrobe remix is the value placed on thrift shopping. Every remixer I admire is a skillful thrifter who manages to look fabulous whilst only spending tiny amounts on their clothes & accessories. I had always bought second hand clothes, but now it's become an addiction!

This addiction is also fuelled by having a wonderful local thrift shop close to my home & work that looks terrible but is actually an Alladin's Cave of wonderful finds. Yesterday, I found a great pair of vintage beige YSL flats for $20.
So I guess my addiction is partly about the thrill of the chase but also about other Global Garbage Concerns. I hate the idea of buying lots of new cheap clothes from China (which is what I was doing at one stage) that I only wear a couple of times before they get thrown out & become landfill. Buying thrifted clothes is Guilt-Free-Shopping!
I just read that the legendary Anna Wintour, the editor of US Vogue is 58 & so I don't mind admitting that I'm 55 & I'm the mother of a beautiful 20 year old red head girl.
I can't bear to think how much I spend on clothes. I don't buy anything new, except cheap shoes at 'Target' sometimes, so I'm not splurging on Big Ticket items. But daily thrift-shopping adds up, like everything else!
I'd love to come up with a really snappy way of describing my wardrobe - you know something like 'Airline Stewardess Meets Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz', but I really can't think of anything.
cheers
Middleagedteacher

Oh dear! I just re-read this & I'm afraid I'm suffering from One Too Many Exclamation Mark!!!!! I guess it's my little way of sounding Really Interesting & Gushy & Kittenish. But, maybe It's a Bit Late in the Day for Me to Sound Like This.