So I used to spend a lot of money on clothes. We lived in Clarenville, Newfoundland, where the only place to buy clothes was basically the Walmart. But like not even a good Walmart. So whenever we would go to the mainland, I would drop $400 (or more) on an outfit at Foriegn Affair in Halifax. At the time, I felt like I was investing in good quality pieces that I would have forever. Except that sometimes I didn’t even like that $150 shirt when I got it home. Or Jon would shrink it in the wash so it was only useful for a ten-year-old. Or the $350 pants would get a rip in the bum and I would chuck them out.
I realized I don’t actually know what I like to wear. I know what I like. I love bright blouses and flat front khakis and polo shirts and crop tops and the perfect collared white shirt and chambray. But I don’t like wearing those things. So I needed to figure out what I actually liked wearing before I started spending money on clothes again. So that’s where I am now. In May of 2018, I turned 34 and decided to only buy used clothing for a full year. I have about three months left, and I’ve figured out so much.
When I look at these picture (I have like no picture of me because I’m the mom) from the past year I can see a lot of repetition. Stuff I’ve figured out about my wardrobe:
1. I love huge thick cardigans. I have two that were gifts from my mom for the last two christmases, and I reach for them multiple times a week. Also I don’t need more of those. They last so long and I don’t wash them that much.
2. I like jeans with holes in them. I know, it’s lame because I’m 35 (almost). But I just prefer my light wash super worn jeans. The problem with jeans like that is they do get worn out fast. I tear a hole in the bum of a pair of jeans a few times a year. So I need to buy these whenever I find a pair that fits. I need dark wash jeans for times when I need to look more dressed up, but if I get to choose, I will always go for the light jeans.
3. Even though I have to wear dress clothes sometimes for work, I don’t like to wear them. Maybe someday I’ll find a dress pant style that I like on me, but generally, the dress clothes are the things in my closet that bring me no joy and I want to throw into the giveaway pile, but I need them once or twice a month for work stuff (I wear scrubs for work on regular days).
4. I don’t actually like wearing t-shirts with logos and pictures on them. This really surprised me. Ever since middle school, I have always worn vintage t-shirts from random charity events or weird touristy spots. But lately, I’m more interested in boring t-shirts with nothing on them.
5. Related to number 4, I basically only want to wear navy blue, black, and white. All other colours I love, but I’m just not interested in wearing them. Oh, and grey. I like wearing grey too. So that will make shopping way easier.
6. The only way I could do this no-new-clothes year is because I have an amazing used clothing store in my town. Pretty much every month, I find an entire cool outfit there for under $20. But I find that still, sometimes I bring home something I love, only to find that I don’t like wearing it. I will try it on a lot, but always change my mind and wear something else.
7. I seem to have a couple uniforms that are honestly so boring but maybe I don’t care? Maybe I love to dress boring. Uniform 1: faded jeans, navy plain t-shirt, huge beige or grey cardigan. Uniform 2: black jeans, black or grey t-shirt or sweatshirt. And I exclusively wear one of 4 different pairs of turquoise earrings with said uniforms.
8. I obviously made exceptions for underwear and socks. I finished nursing in August, so I had to buy a few new bras at that time. Also, I ditched a ton of my regular clothes that I had been wearing for the past year at that point because I realized I was only wearing them for ease of breastfeeding and I didn’t actually think they looked good on me. Also I changed sizes of all clothing dramatically at that time. This past year, I have kinda accepted that my body is different now and I’m never going back to my pre-second-baby body. I’m actually really happy with the way I look right now, but some of the clothes I used to wear are almost laughable now. I’m looking at you, collection of tiny minidresses in size 4.
I will update when my year is up. I’m thinking about the smart clothing purchases I want to make at that time. Or maybe I will try to go another few months.
No comments:
Post a Comment