Last fall when I was switching out my summer wardrobe, I reconfirmed that I have way too many clothes for one person. I was desperately seeking space to move one season’s set of shirts and skirts to make room for another. Whoa, I was met with clothing overload challenges. Yes, from time to time I’d practice the art of releasing the old clothes to make room for the new. But somewhere along the way I lost balance. Most likely it resulted from living between two homes.
It started when I was working in New York City and bought an apartment the size of a closet to live in during the week. My primary home was in Pennsylvania and I’d go there on the weekend. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence to find myself without something that I wanted to wear in New York midweek that was in my closet in Pennsylvania. Besides, both residences required totally different attire, style and comfort. So my solution was to go out and buy another, and another, and if necessary, another. Now this may sound a bit crazy but I also owned a condo near the beach in New Jersey. That meant another closet, another style and set of clothes. I didn’t set out to have this many residences with closets full of clothes but everything in life has its purpose. So after about a year of this three way madness I got a clue and decided it’s a lot easier and more cost effective to live in one place. I picked the place with the most closet space and ended up back in Pennsylvania.
In the process of reeling in my life I cleaned out two condos with two complete wardrobes, moved them both to the closets in Bucks County then rented both New York and New Jersey. It was at that point that I could visibly see that I had tripled my wardrobe. I had six black turtleneck sweaters, six white ones, and two or three of just about every shirt that I like. This is after I donated over an entire closet full of clothes to a women’s clothing charity. All that clearing and I still had more clothes than the five closets could contain. Not to mention that within the walls of these wardrobes there were quite a few items that still had the tags on them!
Now mind you, I’ve always had a rock star appetite for clothes and I think with an outfit perspective when I’m planning what I’ll wear. It’s never just a pair of pants and a shirt. There’s the jacket, the socks, the shoes, the belt, the jewelry, the purse, the hair accessories, and the even the underwear to make the outfit complete! It’s an adventure to get dressed, even if I’m just going to the dentist. I’m not as into fashion as I’m in to costuming my multi-color personas. We, meaning all of me, like to sport a lot of different looks.
As you can see the idea of a fashion fast makes a lot of sense. I have more than plenty and it’s time to practice a little dress up discipline. And here I am decked out in duds that I’ve had for a while and happy to be more efficiently using what I already have. Whereas it was tempting to binge at the end of last year because I knew I was headed to the mall strictly for window shopping this year, I didn’t take that route. I shopped my normal ooh and buy habits. I didn’t over or under do an effort to prepare for this year by adding fourth quarter profits to Marshall’s or Nordstrom’s Rack. I bought a few things but nothing unusual.
Then after the stroke of midnight when the champagne toast was clinked and the confetti was still in my hair, I strolled passed a boutique that was closed until January 2nd and saw the cutest dress in the window. It was at that moment that I realized I am here on this journey and I can’t even think about buying it. And I was fine with that. But let’s see how long that lasts! As for now, it really feels good to know that I’m abundantly clothed, I’m saving a ton of money, and I’m practicing a discipline I’ve never tried in my adult life. And you know what? It feels pretty good.
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