I have a new confession to make: I officially, unofficially, gave up on my Lockdown Wardrobe challenge. I was into it for a while, I really was. I took photos of my outfits, posted them on Instagram, put together about 2-3 weeks of new outfits, and blogged about my progress through it all. And it was fun — for a while. Well, kind of fun, at least. And then one day I realised something: it was my challenge, I made the rules, so I could also go ahead and be the one to break them. I could do whatever the hell I wanted with that challenge of mine. And yes, even if that meant giving up on it.

It’s only been a week since I last posted my Lockdown Wardrobe update. And yet, this week has felt weighty in its significance. Of course, this has nothing to do with my wardrobe challenge. I seriously considered skipping this entire segment because it feels frivolous and insensitive to talk about clothes when Melbourne has officially been labelled as a state of disaster.

A week ago, I set myself a challenge: to buy nothing new, and to wear things I’d neglected to wear in my wardrobe in new ways. The challenge came about after I realised I buy way too many clothes, and I use shopping as a crutch to get me through a variety of strong emotions. I gave myself a 6 week period, because that’s how long lockdown 2.0 is officially for here in Melbourne.