The 31 Dresses Experiment

Posted on May 9, 2009
Filed Under Dress Experiment, Life | Leave a Comment

This is being concocted out of boredom and necessity. The necessity to have something somewhat constructive occupying my time. Yes, I had a new idea and I am in the process of pitching it in order to make it happen and Yes, I still need to crack the nut on WhyGoSolo and Tickets with a Twist. But with that being said – I’m still finding myself at lost. I want a project/hobby that will encourage me to explore new things, allow for percolated thinking to occur (percolated thinking is thinking that occurs subconsciously while pre-occupied with something else) and give me a reason to communicate with the “world” again.

What did I come up with?? I came up with what I’m calling The 31 Dresses Experiment.

Here is the mindset going into this experiment.

I have never cared much for fashion and it’s been years since I have updated/upgraded my summer wardrobe – It wouldn’t hurt to put some effort into it.

I hate, hate, hate shopping – wonder if I can change that.

I don’t like having my picture taken and I’m bad at taking pictures – wonder if I can change that too.

When I got out of the Marine Corps in 2005 I weight about 135 – three years later I was tipping the scale at above 155. I’m 142 now and by the end of this experiment; I want to be back to 135. The pictures taken of me in the dresses will be a good way to track my progress.

I want to get back to being open online and to sharing – I need something fun and interesting to talk about. I want a reason to take pictures, blog, tweet, do videos etc. It’s easy to not care about the technology when you have no reason to leverage it.

I want to write. The ability to write is a perishable skill if not practiced.

I want to preoccupy my mind and see what comes of it. I’m looking for a lot of answers and direct thinking on problems doesn’t yield solutions for me.

Besides wanting to preoccupy my mind – I want to capture the way my mind thinks. The Bus of Opportunity concept is about sharing the entrepreneurial mindset and developing the entrepreneurial mindset. I want to show how an experiment like this will likely generate 4-6 business ideas for me.

I have a lot more energy and desire to be out and about since moving to New Orleans and I’d like to have…I don’t know…somewhat of a purpose, mission, twist, or “something” to it.

The Components of The 31 Dresses Experiment

In the next couple of months the goal is to buy, borrow, and/or acquire in some way 31 dresses which will be worn to 31 different locations. I will take pictures and blog about each dress and location.

I’ll talk about things like the buying experience; the cost, reason for buying, the way the dress makes me feel and so on. Next, I’ll get into the location where I wear the dress to…the people I meet, background on the location and interaction. Each dress will have a story with pictures. If I can get Qik to work on my BB – I’ll add videos too.

I don’t know if I’ll make it to 31 dresses…hopefully this is something that I will see from start to finish. I”ll probably  add a dress fund donation application on the sidebar at some point. As you can imagine, if I end up buying 31 dresses it will get a little expensive. If you start following this experiment and find it interesting than perhaps you’ll be inclined to help me get the next dress.

I’ll be wearing my first dress out tonight when I go to the House of Blues for the first time with my neighbor Wendy. It’s a dress that’s been in my closet for a couple of years.

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