If, as the saying goes, a change is as good as a haircut, is a haircut as good as change?

I think so. Or in my case it’s as good as another item. Even though I lost a lot of locks, I gained a new look. A short bob that was so beautifully styled and cut (shout out to Lauren at Collective Hair in Queenstown) that I decided to take photos of all my outfit combinations the same day. Another shout out to the very talented photographer Holly Ingram, and the location, beautiful Queenstown.

Here are a few of the photos. The rest are being held back because toward the end of the challenge, stuff.co.nz, New Zealand’s biggest online daily current affairs publication, will be publishing the photos and the story of my Six Items Challenge in the life and style section. I’m excited to share my experience to a wider audience many of whom don’t know much about where their clothes are made, or why it is – or should be – important. Watch this space.

What new revelations this week, you may be asking?

Well, work colleagues said today that they didn’t even notice that I had been wearing the same six items. Maybe that’s because I accessorise?

Or perhaps it demonstrates that often we don’t notice what people are wearing, unless they don something extra-ordinary that stands out. When you think about it, because people have a certain style of clothes, colours etc, what they wear starts to blend in. Only when they break out something new, or bright, or awesome do we take note. Yes, there are those who will always be noticed, but how we look is mostly overshadowed by our actions, interactions and reactions. At the end of the day, a friend, family member, colleague or stranger that you interact with will remember a smile, a funny joke you told, a positive (or negative) comment, and not what you wore.

That’s what I think, anyway.