Friday, March 28, 2008

Don't Clothes Me In!

The wonderful 70+ degree weather we've been experiencing has put me in the mood for some serious spring cleaning of my portion of the closet.

I know there are clothes in there I haven't worn for a year or 2 (or 5 or 8). But I've been holding onto them, Just In Case. And a certain amount of that is acceptable, given the size of our closet. [When we built our house we sacrificed a "homework" station in the hall and some of the hall bath to expand our closet. I have no complaints, and it's not crammed full as it is.]

But it is again time to take a good look at what I'm holding onto Just In Case and decide if it's something:
(a) That fits and that I will wear again on an irregular basis because it's a classic that will never go out of style,
(b) That fits but I'm not going to wear because it is so dated (that it's almost fashionable again),
(d) That is left over from my post-college weight days and is too large (and probably out of style even if it fit - which by the way would be really depressing),
(e) That is left over from my really skinny days and is too small (beyond the limits of what I could lose if I wanted to),
(f) That falls into the categories (b) - (e) but has sentimental value which overrides my urge to clean out the closet.

Anything in categories (b) - (e) really needs to be redistributed - probably to the local Amvets, or other thrift store which fund raises for a good cause. The rack of clothes in the basement from a prior clean-out(in my defense at one time I thought we could sell them, hah!), and the bag in DH's study of clothes we've discarded over this winter also need to be moved along. And the pile of shirts DH has discarded that I need to wash before donating them. DH has a habit of wearing a shirt once and then putting it back. This really skeezes me out but I haven't been able to break him of the habit, and it also means that I'm never sure if something he puts on the donate pile is clean.

There are also some clothes in the closet that need to be replaced due to wear (or because my ass has grown astronomically over this winter and there is no way I'll fit in them). This category includes the basics I wear at least once a week to work in the spring/summer/early fall, and casual clothes I wear on weekends/at the beach/etc.

I'm tired of walking into my closet and feeling like I have nothing to wear despite the amount of clothing in the closet. (Stacy and Clinton need to take on some cases where people have nice and appropriate clothing, but need an extra nudge to perk things up a bit.)

Here's the thing though. At the same time that I really want to get some new clothes, I don't really want to put a lot of money into some new clothes if I'm not going to be able to wear them for one reason or another (and then have to buy more). Bloat as part of fertility treatments or pregnancy come to mind; though it would be equally nice to change some of my fat weight for muscle weight. But that requires actually getting on the elliptical instead of sleeping next to it. When is someone going to discover the way to lose weight by osmosis?!

But I digress. I won't be doing any purchasing of new or replacement clothing until I get around to going through my closet (this weekend is already spoken for with mucho amounts of post-winter yard cleanup, and perhaps a birthday party for DH's ailing grandmother), so until then, what I really want to know is:

(1) What clothing do you wear week in and week out in the spring/summer/early fall? IE: What do you buy every year or two because you can't live without it?
(2) What has caught your eye this spring as something you want to get (or have already bought) to wear this spring/summer/early fall? This could be a trendy accessory or piece of clothing that will be dated by the end of the summer...

Hope you have a great weekend!

3 comments:

  1. I stopped reading when you said it was 70 degrees there.

    I'm freezing my ass off here in Seattle.

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  2. Something bright yellow! I look bad in yellow, but I can make yellow accessories totally work for me. I just need to find a cute bag or bracelet or something! Yellow--so hott right now. And I agree about Stacey and Clinton-my clothes are decent, but I want to spice it up!

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  3. I always buy the same Dockers pants each year for work, in the new patterns (plus black and gray). In the spring I mostly wear cute tops with a cardigan to work.

    This year I have had some black open-toe wedge sandals (work appropriate) that I am dying to wear. I have had them since February, and not one sandal-worthy day of weather yet.

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