Thursday, August 9, 2012

Less Clothes

I rarely get a sneak peek into the closets of regular women, but I get the feeling that most of our closets look the same.   We all have the small section of clothes that get worn and the rest are waiting for their big chance to see daylight again.  In Utah, that can be due to the major fluctuation of the weather, but for the most part only half of my summer clothes will get worn during summer. I don't even like half of my wardrobe.  I'll see a shirt that I must have loved once and stare at it wondering what the hell I was thinking the day I bought it.  "Did I really WANT to look like a chiffon pirate or was this on sale and I was in denial?"  Other purchases must have been fueled by store credit or a great coupon, because most of this stuff is awful.

I'll see tops or dresses that are SO not me and I'll recall buying them with the mindset that I'm going to start dressing older or more sophisticated.  I don't mean older like I'm going to start wearing polyester pants with elastic waistbands and jazzy sweater sets, I just mean age appropriate.  Unfortunately, my idea of age appropriate comes from T.V. and movies and doesn't seem to apply to my real life at all.  So I'll get some great classy ensemble that I feel totally stupid in.  If I worked in an office setting where I had to dress nice everyday, it would takes months for me to stop feeling like I was playing dress up in my mommy's clothes.  I know this about myself, but none the less I still find myself trying to buy grown up 33 year old clothes and refusing to wear them.

 I am a t-shirt and shorts kind of gal.  I suck at layering interesting tank tops.  I struggle to accessorize.  I bought five new pairs of earrings this last year and I'm getting much better at remembering to wear them.  It's been a process though.  I absolutely can not wear necklaces and bracelets.  My wedding ring is the  only ring I will wear, sometimes I don't even wear that.   The addition of a watch makes me feel very over done.   On the flip side, my mother is Liberace.  She loves jewelery and accessories of all kinds.  She feels naked without jewels on and I feel suffocated with them.  Go figure.  I like to take a quick peek at the jewelry case at Costco, but I really don't want any of it.  It's just not my style I guess.

I saw something on HGTV about dream closets.  Dina Manzo's closet (former cast mate of the Real Housewives of New Jersey)  was on full display.  Several bedrooms had been converted into her new closet.  It was huge!  She had a long hallway full of boots and heels.  I'm talking like 20 different pairs of tall black boots, hundreds of expensive heels and it was all lit and arranged beautifully.  She had rack after rack after rack of gorgeous, pricey clothes.  Drawers full of clothes!  It was endless.  She could have worn a new outfit every single day for 5 years and never had a repeat.  She was going on and on about how this was her dream closet and women just go nuts for it.   I was having a mini panic attack just watching it.  I felt overwhelmed just seeing it on the T.V. screen.  It was just way too much.  I would HATE to have all that because I would feel so wasteful.  Mind you, while she was showcasing her dream closet, she was probably wearing a track suit.  How the hell could you ever wear all that shit?  How would you even remember what you had?  How much money is hanging in that closet? 

That mega closet is the exact opposite of what I dream of.  I want a closet stocked only with the essentials.  I want a  few great pairs of shorts and 10 really great T-shirts.  I want two sundresses and denim skirt.  I want a few hooded jackets in bold, solid colors.  I want a few pairs of great, high quality shoes and two pairs of Old Navy flip flops.  I want 5 pairs of amazing butt jeans and a leopard print sweat shirt.  I want less.  I want simple.  Too many choices is not my cup of tea.  My basic wardrobe would serve me well and I wouldn't feel guilty for wearing the same outfit every couple of days.  I wonder how many people feel like this deep down?  We are all conditioned to want more, more, more.  But I bet lots of people would be really happy to wear their favorite outfit 3 days a week.  We don't want to be seen in the same outfit 3 times a week, but I'll bet we all want to wear something we love on repeat without shame.

I had to wear a uniform to high school.  At first I would stretch the boundaries of the uniform, trying desperately to make my outfits unique.  Most of the freshman girls did that.  By senior year I was wearing my navy blue pants and my white or light blue polo shirt 5 days a week.  I finally embraced the simplicity.  It took a little while, but I finally understood how much easier it was to simplify the process of getting dressed.  Skipping that morning closet decision time, gave me more time to sleep and apply loads of eye make-up!  It was a win win situation for me.  The point of this entire post is this.  Don't be the least bit surprised if you see me in the same outfit 3 times a week.  I feel no shame about it and it makes me happy.

No comments:

Post a Comment