THOUGHTS ABOUT WARDROBES…

Can you believe how fast this year has flown? My head is still spinning because last year at this time I had no idea of what 2022 had in store or what would happen to NPR. Have you experienced the same kind of blur- time moving too fast to absorb all that is happening?

I am continuing to love my retirement and am really enjoying the extra time I now have to work on all sorts of projects. One that continues to niggle at me, though, is my ongoing battle with my wardrobe: figuring out what needs to be edited and donated and what needs to be added to make dressing easier and more reflective of my life style. Frankly I’m puzzled by how different my clothing needs are from when I worked- I mean it’s not like I worked in a bank.

I keep circling back to a client from many years ago who lost the contents of her closet and bedroom in a fire. She was devastated, but fortunate that she had a generous insurance policy to replace the contents of her wardrobe. For me, it was a dream job. I could help her build her wardrobe from scratch: everything would go together, everything would fit and everything would reflect her current life style- pretty awesome-right?

We worked together for months building a very snappy wardrobe. I couldn’t help noticing that she wasn’t as excited as I was, and I asked her something like, “Isn’t this just grand?” She told me that although she loved the new clothing, she missed much of her old stuff because it held so many memories. For her, losing her wardrobe was like losing a piece of her identity. Her comment made me a sad, but also reminded me that clothing is not just a covering; it is a statement about how we feel about ourselves and how we want the world to see us. I reminded her that our wardrobes have to be constantly updated to reflect the person we are now.

I’ve often thought about this client and her closet and wondered if it’s hard to part with items because of the associated memories. Is that why we get stuck and aren’t able to let items go even when they aren’t being worn? It’s something to ponder. I’m a believer (at least in theory) that clothing needs to enjoyed and then moved on when it has served its purpose. It does you no good to have a closet stuffed with unwearable clothing. With that in mind, maybe what our wardrobes need is just a little clothing hygiene and some tough love.