Monday, September 10, 2007

Scruffy

That's how I was feeling this weekend. I was hanging out with a friend of mine, and for some reason, the last couple of times I've seen her, I've happened to be wearing clothes that had small holes in them and were perhaps a bit frayed at the edges. I didn't think anything of it-- it's not like these clothes were rags, and anyway, for a weekend trip to the beach, it's not like I'd put on my finest formalwear. But my friend noticed and was sort of teasing me about not being able to afford new clothes now that I'd bought an apartment.
I laughed it off but actually bristled a bit at the idea that someone might think I looked like some ragamuffin who couldn't afford a new pair of shorts. I found myself feeling a bit defensive, explaining that I was not at all unable to afford clothes and owned many items that were new and in perfect condition.
It's not as if I don't like buying new clothes, or don't care about how I look. I am as vain as the next person... in fact, I might be as vain as the next two or three people combined... but I guess I have this thing of wearing certain items of clothing until they practically evaporate they are so threadbare. Usually these are clothes I just wear around the house, so no one sees them anyway, but sometimes they are things I wear in public on weekends, if not to work.
Part of the reason for this is definitely an attempt to be frugal. But I do often buy clothes that I don't really need, and I have closets and drawers full of items I hardly ever wear. So it's as if these few items that I wear constantly until they fall apart are somehow making up for that. I can say "boy, I really got my money's worth out of that t-shirt that I wore until I had to cut it up into dust rags!" Meanwhile, I have 40 other t-shirts that sit there unworn. Maybe one of them will become the favorite t-shirt to replace the one that was cut into dust rags, but chances are I might buy another one first!
The change of seasons always makes me feel like I need new clothes. I've recently bought a few items, and writing this is making me think it's a good time to spend a few hours going through my closets and drawers. I can bid a tearful goodbye to the raggedy old favorites that are making me feel scruffy, and rediscover all the things I already own that I should be wearing more often. It's kind of like going shopping, except that I've already paid for everything!

4 comments:

Dawn said...

"...rediscover all the things I already own that I should be wearing more often. It's kind of like going shopping, except that I've already paid for everything!"

Good quote there, Madame!

Inside the Philosophy Factory said...

I figured out the most efficient way to clean my closet. I let the laundry build up until I THINK I have nothing to wear, then I go in and prune from what's left. Sometimes I'll discover new stuff, other times I'm making the clothes I want to find easier to find.

I also have a third category for clothes... if it isn't good enough to wear around the house / on weekends, it becomes pajamas :). Eventually the pajamas are too raggedy to wear, then I can throw them away.

Anonymous said...

I know exactly what you mean about wearing the same things over and over. I think I will go home tonight and try rotating my clothes in closet and in the dresser. Maybe seeing new things more often will let some of those others rest! I also tend to let my ironing stack up and do it all at once, that's like getting new clothes sometimes too! :)

Anonymous said...

I always look at going clothes shopping as a kind of gamble. Some items become the ones that I wear over and over again. Some don't. But it is hard to tell which will be which in the store! Or even immediately afterwards. Some just end up working out, they are comfortable and practical, they wash well, I don't stain them on the first wear...