Friday, April 13, 2007

Does It Fit?

Why is it so hard to get rid of your stuff? I am packing up my winter clothes into plastic boxes and unpacking linens and cottens for summer from another plastic box. Some of the winter wear, I never even wore. Example: a polar fleece sweat suit that I once wore daily (even slept in a few times) in previous winters (pre-menopause) that make me gagged just to look at it. I literally get hot-flashes just seeing it on the shelf. But this is the stupid shit I think when I look gaze upon and think about it belonging to my wardrobe: "what if the winters get so bad in the future, so cold, we will have not heat and I would kill to have that hot, grey, triple-ply polar fleece pant suit?" (I also buy every wool blanket I see at the thrift store with just that thought in mind). This is the sick stuff that goes through my head.

I relinquished all of my Jones New York trousers a few years after M's birth. Realistically, I knew I would never be a size 10 again. And the shoes, I gave away all of my size 7's in exchange for size 9 Dexter slip-ons and plastic gardening shoes. I have to admit, I kept my favorite pair of trousers. A brown, houndstooth patterned, trousers with pockets and just the perfect wide leg -- they remind me of something Katharine Hepburn would have worn in her hey-day. They are stashed away in a box under the stairs, sharing a living space with 10 spiders, along with some of D's favorite jackets. They were the perfect pair of trousers. I felt like a million dollars when I wore them. I had the perfect shirt to match. And I wanted noone else to own them sans me.

I have T-shirts from when 20 years ago. I tell myself they are treasures from the past, keepers, reminders of where I have been, where I worked, who I was. But I never wear them. I have ski boots and ski clothes and if I don't lose weight and get my knees back, I will never ski again. So why does that stuff take up most of my closet?

I also have problems with trashing stuff off my computer. Throwing away magazines. Giving away anything that might have a longer shelf-life. But my clothes dilemma is really starting me to think. I must get rid of my treasures. The standard question "Have you worn it in the last year?" I asked myself that every year while I am packing and repacking. Go figure.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm the same! 49 and snowed under. Got rid of everything in a past life, lived clutter free and felt like a mannequin in a showroom. Now I wallow in it and the kids can get rid of it when I'm gone. Serve them right for giving me a hard time. Stops the house blowing away in a storm, Anyway how can you "make stuff" and not keep it. I have my flower girls dress that I wore at my siters wedding when I was 4!Waiting untill it all qualifies as "vintage" ot "antique" !!

dee said...

Just a suggestion Kim but last week my son was cleaningot his room and about to throw away a few things-really useless junk-my husband convinced him to put the stuff on e-bay...one useless thing sold for $80 and another for $50. The stuff is gone the buyers pay shipping and everyone's thrilled. I was socked when the bid was $25-floored at $80. By the way-it was a toy steel drum from Barbados.

Erin said...

Love the eBay idea.

I have a tendancy to re-purpose things. I'll make things into something I will/do use... and I've seen post floating around forever about making your old t-shirts into underwear. The decal part goes right on your rear. Something beautifully poetic about that to me :)

My mom has collected hand-painted t-shirts for years at music festivals. I've tried to convince her to frame them when they start to wear out, they get framed... smoothed over foamcore and popped into a square frame (the size for LPs).

Terry Grant said...

We share the same sickness. I am 60 years old and I still have prom dresses from High School. "Maybe they are valuable antiques" --that's the next step after "Maybe I'll need them one of these days."
I am liking the eBay idea a lot.

Anonymous said...

Another hoarder. Last summer I went through all of mine and my husband's clothes and created over 11 garbage bags to take to Goodwill. Those bags are still in my basement. And I have had to stop myself several times from going down to hunt something out of them. Something that I know I won't end up wearing, but I just want to know it's still in the house somewhere. My goal this year is to get those bags out of the basement! We'll see if it happens. I'm jealous of people who get rid of their old things when they buy a replacement, but I will never be one of those people.

Jeannie said...

You are so not alone! I too have my prom dress. Gram helped me make it, she is gone now, prom was 36 years ago and I may be able to get it over my head, but no further! I feel like I am the Smithsonian. Don't through out that wool coat, I can make something out of it.... well, you get the idea.