Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SYDNEY — An Australia woman is taking her love of dressing up to a new level by dressing according to a different theme every day for a full year.
Mary Helen Saba started the project on her 26th birthday. She said the main reason was a simple one: she simply loves dressing up.
"My friends have always dubbed me the costume queen for the amount of effort that I put into every outfit I've created over the years," she said on her blog, Theme Me. "This love even affected my everyday style so much so that a workmate once commented: ‘Mary, for you, it's like every day is costume day.' "
Saba said even before she started her blog seven months ago, she would never throw out an item of clothing or prop if she thought it could be useful for a costume later on. That means she has spent only $166 on her project so far.
The idea for the costume project came to her around Christmas 2011, when she decided to dress in a different red-and-green outfit every day for the last week of the work year. When she overheard her colleagues discussing which outfit had been their favorite, she joked that she was going to start a blog where she would dress up differently every day for an entire year.
Saba, a digital product manager in Sydney, said she wears her costumes all day about 70 percent of the time, depending on whether they are work appropriate.
"The creativity that helps me to come up with the costumes and commit to it daily is the same that goes into my work and makes me good at my job," she said. "(My colleagues) understand this and are supportive of my insanity. I have yet to have someone at work find out and not think it's a great idea."
Saba has dressed as everything from Snooki to Cindy Lou Who, and welcomes reader suggestions. She said she isn't sure what she'll do when the year is up, but she's sure she won't be sick of costumes by then.
"I love them too much, like kids and candy," she said. "Sometimes they'll eat too much and feel a little sick, but give them a couple of hours and they'll be reaching for another piece."
