11 outfits down — 354 to go
Reporter: Marina Berry
Date published: 11 January 2011
Vicky vows to wear a different look every day of the year
FASHION-CONSCIOUS Vicky Sowerby has set herself a tough challenge — to wear a different outfit every day for a year.
Not that difficult, you might say, but 365 different combinations without buying or borrowing a single item will certainly test the imagination of the 33-year-old as the weeks progress.
For Vicky, the challenge is more than just fun, for each month she has promised to hand over £50 of the money she usually spends on clothes to charity.
“I have so many clothes, and people always laugh at me and ask do I ever wear the same outfit twice,” she said.
During her Make Do Not Spend challenge, Vicky is not allowed to buy new or second-hand clothes, shoes, bags or accessories of any sort, nor to borrow or accept any as gifts, but the rules say she can mix and match out of her wardrobe to give a different look.
She is also a keen sewer, and is allowing herself to use her sewing talents to create new garments.
She explained: “Like so many people I know, I have had to watch loved ones live with cancer.
“For a few years now it has been important to me to fundraise so that I can help the charities that have helped my family and friends and I have done this through running and walking half marathons and marathons.
“When I came across Oldham Cancer Support Centre I was so pleased to find something that is helping people in my home town and have been determined to help them raise money for their valuable work.
“I’ve had enough of running for the moment so I thought what better way to raise money than by combining two of my passions — clothes and shopping.
“Every year I make a resolution not to spend as much on clothes and every year I break that resolution.
“So began my yearlong challenge — no new clothes, shoes or accessories of any sort, and a different outfit every day.”
Vicky’s husband, Lyndon, has only a small section of their double wardrobe at their Waterhead home to keep his clothes in, and the clothes fanatic also has a wardrobe full of clothes in her three-year-old daughter Isla’s bedroom.
“I get a different reaction from men and women,” said Vicky, who works as a team manager at Positive Steps, Oldham.
“Women just gasp and say how on earth will I do it. Lyndon is over the moon because I won’t be spending as much, and men say could I have a word with their wives and girlfriends.”
Vicky is posting a daily photograph in her outfit of the day on her website www.sewabee.co.uk
Her mother, Susan Ford, of Clarksfield, is joining her for a month, and Vicky wants other Oldhamers to join her in the challenge for a month, and make a donation to Oldham Cancer Support Centre to help local people with cancer.
