If You Had To Wear The Same Thing For Six Weeks, What Would It Be?

So in a bid to get better at IRL self-promotion, I determined to wear a 32 CANDLES T-shirt until the book comes out on June 22, 2010. At first, I thought it was a great way to get into the IRL self-promotion groove, which let’s face it, I’m not nearly as comfortable with as the online self-promotion groove. Also, Davie Jones, 32 CANDLES’s main character, wears the same thing almost every single, therefore it felt appropriate to do the same in her honor. So what’s it like wearing the same shirt every day. Well, in a word … challenging.

I’ll go over the bad stuff first: I usually dress according to mood, and there have definitely been days that I wasn’t in the mood to wear a bright pink T-shirt, advertising my book. And then there were days when it was just embarrassing to stick to this commitment. For example, I met with fellow Smithie alum and writer, Jessica Brody, last Friday, and while I usually would have worn a cute top with my cute jeans, I was forced to wear my 32 CANDLES T-shirt, which would be cool if I were like a swaggeriffic entertainer as opposed to a somewhat humble author. But as it was, I fell all over myself explaining that this was part of a six-week challenge. Then I re-explained later that same day when I had lunch with an old co-worker … then just this past Monday I felt compelled to explain the situation yet again to the old grad-school mate that I met for lunch while vacationing in San Diego.

So as opposed to self-promoting, I’ve been making a lot of excuses for wearing my own swag everywhere I go. Also, since I’m rotating between five t-shirts, I’ve learned the hard way to be very careful about not placing my dirty clothes anywhere near my clean clothes while getting dressed in the morning lest a smelly mistake be made.

But then there’s also been good stuff: Packing for our 4-day vacation to San Diego was a breeze. And I really haven’t missed trying on different outfits in the morning until I find the right one. Also, it is free advertising, and as embarrassed as I was to actually take several meetings in the shirt, a few of those people asked about the shirt and committed to pre-ordering the book. Plus, you know, easy-breezy advertising.

I can’t say that I’d take on the same challenge for my second book, but it’s been all sorts of interesting for my first one, and I’ve decided to stick it out.

This little experiment actually got me to wondering, if you had to wear the same thing for six weeks straight, what would it be? The winning comment will get a tote bag, and a big shout-out in next Wednesday’s Comment Challenge.

Speaking of which, Di Koob is the winner of last week’s Comment Challenge for answering the question, “What Have Your Bullies Taught You?” Go here to see her answer, and leave a comment today if you want to join the tote bag winners’ circle.

100% Swagalicious,

etc