Clothes Horse

Since leaving the work force, I have noticed that my wardrobe needs are simple: jeans and shirts or sweaters, work-out clothes, a couple "decent" outfits and one "good" outfit and one fancy dress and jacket tucked away for a New Year's Eve kind of event.

In spite of the fact that I haven't been a clothes horse since I stopped smoking and left the size sixes of this world to inhabit, shall we say, a roomier size, the closet still contains a fair amount of clothes, so many tops, for example, that I wear some only once or twice a season.

I am actually wondering how long I could survive without buying anything. Would it be six months? A year? Two years? This strikes me as an interesting and a money-saving experiment. Trying to decide if I am up for it. What would be the first garment? Undies? Pajamas? Socks?

Why do we have so many clothes? I have a friend who has so much stuff she'll buy something and not wear it for a few years. Naturally she is not terribly style conscious and wears so-called classic stuff, nothing too trendy. Some women have lots of cheap stuff, some have a few good items and others have whole closets full of clothes.

Did I mention that I still adhere to the seasons approach and in late-April and mid-October perform the seasonal wardrobe swap? A few things span the seasons, like jeans.

Good old jeans! What would we do without them? I am always horrified when I see jeans that aren't really jeans, say, they zip at the side or have the wrong cut. Too weird.

So let's see how long I can resist buying something. Daresay it won't be two years.

Sitting here in new Christmas robe and what passes for pajamas. Do you know what passes for pajamas these day? I refuse to spend $45 and up for "real" pajamas. Kmart has t-shirts for $6, and the Ocean State Job Lot has flannel "lounge pants", read p.m. bottoms for $7.00. Nice ones, too, from J. Crew. Cool pajamas for $13.00 instead of $45? Such a deal. I have also discovered "lounge socks" at Ocean State Job Lot. We ventured in for the cheap jam and saurkraut and came out with the damndest stuff.

Come the recession (is it here yet?), I'll blog money-saving tips, having been through various recessions before. So, stay tuned, as they say.

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