PFLUGERVILLE, Texas -- Women and men worldwide are participating in a challenging attempt to change their shopping habits with the Great American Apparel Diet, which dares them to go an entire year without buying even one new piece of clothing, KSAT-TV in San Antonio reported.

The brainchild of writer Sally Bjornson of Seattle, the diet has now caught the eye of shoppers from Pflugerville, Texas, to Croatia.

"I laughed and said, 'Well, have fun with that,'" said Izzy Rose, a fellow writer in Austin who remembers the moment last September when Bjornson approached her with the challenge. "She got me on board because she started this website where all the members would be writing their experiences."

Those members, initially, were mostly women trying to be more economical on their trips to the mall. Now, website postings show it’s grown into something much deeper than doing without new fashion.

The rules are simple: No new items of clothing can be bought. However, participants can buy new jewelry, shoes and other accessories to update their wardrobes for the seasons.

"We've done some clothing swaps, and I've actually gotten some really cool stuff that way and paid no real money for it," said Rose. In nine months, the self-proclaimed fashionista calculates, she must have already saved thousands of dollars.

But what the Great American Apparel Diet is doing on the inside of Rose's closet and wallet is only part of the story. The rest of the diet has changed the shape of her thinking.

"It has been a relief to not have buyer's remorse," she said. "I don't feel like I've been spending excessively, buying things I don't necessarily need, and I'm appreciating the clothing I do have."

Those types of observations are echoed throughout the Apparel Diet's website. Each woman and man posts their clothing bio, then explains their mental processes getting through the long year without buying new clothes.

Some of the postings offer tips and discoveries on how to turn old, tired fashions from last year into something fresh.

Rose admitted that a couple of purchases have made this diet a little easier on her. She has been able to buy a number of costume jewelry pieces, which she said were mostly used, something she has always loved. She said she hardly ever gets dressed these days without her new pair of black cowboy boots, a must for any Texas fashionista worthy of the name.