Monday, July 7, 2008

Confessions

I have a confession.
Maybe two.
I realized something on coming home from vacation and unpacking.

I have way too many clothes for one person.

At our vacation spot we had a washer and dryer so we could wash as we needed to. I packed up our respective suitcases knowing that I could wash on demand. I had with me a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts and a pair of capris with about 6 shirts to intermingle mix and match, and one button-down sweater for the chilly times. And one set of PJ's.

I was more creative with the 6 shirts/camisoles/t's than I have ever been with the 30 shirts all together in my closet. And, okay, I live in Michigan so I have to have "all-weather" clothing. But seriously. Why do I have so many clothes? Why do I have so much stuff? I'm stressed out when I open the closet and stressed out when I do the laundry and for what? Will clothing suddenly stop being made and I will be naked?

I love fabric. No, I'm not kidding. I really love fabric. And vintage clothing. Texture sends me into dreams of sewing and softness. Looking at fabric grouped together in piles of glorious color gives me a peace and happiness that is downright hard to explain to a non-believer.

I will clean out my closet. I will recycle and donate my unused and unneeded space hogging stress causing clothing.

Does anyone else have this problem? What is your solution? Where do you buy American made clothing? Sustainable clothing? (because when the ones I wear are threadbare, I will not choose to run naked.)

(confession number two: I love children's books. I collect them. I read them all the time. I use them as teaching aids in Art class.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool. I love children's books, too! Olivia is sweet. That's also my granddaughter's name. I need to buy her all of the Olivia books for when she is old enough to read!

notmassproduced said...

welcome back. i love children's books too. i love sarah fanelli and a book called princess aasta (wonderful illustrations) :o)

Anonymous said...

I figured I'd chime in here too. I use to have a ton of clothing. Stuff that fit, lots that were smaller than I, but saved them for when I "lost the weight". The clothes have long since been out of style, but I was a pack rat. Long story short, I donated tons of stuff. I have such a minimal ammt of clothes, and it was the best thing I ever did. No more pressures of is it clean, or what goes with what. I am learning, in my wise years, that living simple is the way to go. If I won a million dollars tomorrow, I might replace a few items of clothing, but simplicity RULES!!!!

Connie said...

Oh gosh, I don't know about the clothes thing...I'm the opposite. I'm pretty simple when it comes to clothes. Funny, I love tons of color in everything...except my clothes tend to all be black and muted dark colors and simple lines. I don't have much either....so don't have much to say on that subject---but I too adore children's books and use them constantly as resources in art class too!!! That's great!

Peace & Love.

Anonymous said...

Hi - I live in upstate NY so understand having to have all-weather clothing. Have to say I probably have too many but never stress over it. I did just read an article in some magazine that said to go through your closet in the following steps - (1)only keep in your closet items worn in the last six months. (2)other items go on your bed in three piles - things you wouldn't tell a friend to buy(go to goodwill), things totally no good to anyone(go in trash), things that are in a toss up(give them six months and get rid of if you don't wear). Not sure I can do it but am going to try. - Nicki