Sunday, September 17, 2006
good reasons to ignore good advice #1
So there is the current wardrobe philosophy that says you should get rid of everything that doesn't fit you and that you haven't worn for x months. Because apparently if you are not wearing something now, you will never wear it again, and if you don't fit something now you will never fit into it again. It is accepted wisdom. It is also quite wrong.
All the women's magazines tell you about this. And I guess it also fits in with the general "get rid of clutter" thing (feng shui, gtd, general life organisation or whatever). I wonder if one of the reasons they tell you this is to encourage you to buy more new things? But that is a different topic.
I have never followed this sage advice. And I always feel a little guilty when I realise I have clothes stored from 10+ years ago - including clothes that I can't actually get into.
Well. I now feel much better about doing my own thing and ignoring the accepted wisdom about such matters.
I am working on item number 48 of my 101 Things - ie getting rid of clothes that don't fit and that I will never wear again.
And I am discovering that 90% of the clothes that I couldn't bear to part with and couldn't actually fit into for many years now fit!! And look good! And, because I have my own style that is not related to fashion trends, I can wear these clothes now!!! I am quite impressed with myself: I still like/love clothes that I bought 10+ years ago.
This old clothes discovery is a very very very good thing because:
a) I seem to have lost a lot of weight for no reason and my current clothes are mostly far too big now and I have been struggling to find clothes to wear and wondering what to do about the problem.
b) I don't have any money to buy new clothes - and even if I did, I really can't be bothered going shopping and spending money on clothes.
c) I really loved all those clothes that I stored and I am thrilled that I can wear them again!
d) I really do know what I am doing and I should continue to ignore sage advice.
So. In light of this discovery I am updating item number 48 to: get rid of clothes that don't fit unless I love them and may fit into them later, in which case I will store them.
All the women's magazines tell you about this. And I guess it also fits in with the general "get rid of clutter" thing (feng shui, gtd, general life organisation or whatever). I wonder if one of the reasons they tell you this is to encourage you to buy more new things? But that is a different topic.
I have never followed this sage advice. And I always feel a little guilty when I realise I have clothes stored from 10+ years ago - including clothes that I can't actually get into.
Well. I now feel much better about doing my own thing and ignoring the accepted wisdom about such matters.
I am working on item number 48 of my 101 Things - ie getting rid of clothes that don't fit and that I will never wear again.
And I am discovering that 90% of the clothes that I couldn't bear to part with and couldn't actually fit into for many years now fit!! And look good! And, because I have my own style that is not related to fashion trends, I can wear these clothes now!!! I am quite impressed with myself: I still like/love clothes that I bought 10+ years ago.
This old clothes discovery is a very very very good thing because:
a) I seem to have lost a lot of weight for no reason and my current clothes are mostly far too big now and I have been struggling to find clothes to wear and wondering what to do about the problem.
b) I don't have any money to buy new clothes - and even if I did, I really can't be bothered going shopping and spending money on clothes.
c) I really loved all those clothes that I stored and I am thrilled that I can wear them again!
d) I really do know what I am doing and I should continue to ignore sage advice.
So. In light of this discovery I am updating item number 48 to: get rid of clothes that don't fit unless I love them and may fit into them later, in which case I will store them.
// posted by suze @ 2:57 PM 
