January 14, 2009
shopping my closet
Yesterday I wore a very nice J. Crew sweater that I have owned for, oh, a few years (two? three? five? I’m not sure). This morning, after letting it air out over the back of a chair overnight, I went to fold it up …
And realized that it has not one but TWO noticeable holes in the shoulder. Nice.
I am currently two weeks in to this crazy project where I don’t buy anything new until I wear everything I have (although I bought a denim pencil skirt over the weekend but I NEEDED THAT SKIRT YOU ALL). This week has been all about finding things in my closet that NO ONE should be wearing and adding them to the giveaway pile. This week has also been about not wearing jeans, which is harder than I expected (three days, no jeans! woo!).
Coincidentally, Salon.com’s Rebecca Traister has written a piece called “Shop in Your Own Closet!” (”As the economy lurches, glossy magazines scramble to downsize a luxury-living message for an anxious readership.”) Traister links to a post I wrote at BlogHer nearly a year ago, about shopping your closet (of course). But Traister is not convinced that this is the way to go:
This is very practical advice. It is very sturdy. It is very sage. It is very depressing. As someone who kind of loathes shopping, I nonetheless am horrified by the idea. No one should shop in their own closet unless they are rich and their closet is huge, in which case, they can probably still afford to shop outside their closet anyway. For the rest of us, this is just a fancy way of saying, “Wear the same clothes you’ve been wearing for the past 10 years.” I admire the sentiment, but it’s precisely this kind of workmanlike thrift that could suck all the joy out of magazine reading.
Not exactly a glowing endorsement of my shopping philosophy, but look! Something I wrote was linked at Salon.com! Go me!
Fundamentally, I agree with Traister — shopping your closet isn’t nearly as much fun as shopping J. Crew. But I also think it won’t kill most of us to stop buying more stuff, particularly in a recession, when we have plenty of stuff that is perfectly lovely hanging in our closets. And particularly since most of us wear the same things all the time anyway, no matter what is in our closets.
And now I am going to curl up with the new InStyle, before reading magazines stops being fun. The end.
Posted by Susan @ 11:22 pm • other places
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January 14th, 2009 at 11:45 pm, Kaleigha Says:
It is hard to shop in your own closet, but SO worth it when someone compliments something you’ve had forever like it’s new!
January 15th, 2009 at 1:05 am, Jerri Ann Says:
Are you telling me they make pants other than blue jeans? gah
January 15th, 2009 at 6:45 am, Susan Raihala Says:
Clothes are no longer my self-indulgent purchase. They have been replaced in the last 8 years by rubber stamps and paper crafting supplies. I vowed to stop buying new stamps until I use every image I own on a project…this may very well take longer than a year. But it feels wonderful and allows me to weed out stamps that really aren’t my style and don’t work for me.
I couldn’t give up wearing my jeans for more than one day, though. You are way stronger than I am.
January 15th, 2009 at 8:41 am, Sue @ My Party of 6 Says:
I’m not rich and my closet isn’t huge, and yet, by shopping my closet, I am finding all kinds of things in there that I forgot I had. So take THAT Salon! (One thing I’m not finding? Jeans. Never wear them… need to find a pair I like.)
January 15th, 2009 at 9:08 am, Gina Says:
I just have to say…your closet is beautiful…
January 15th, 2009 at 9:34 am, heather Says:
1. If my closet looked like yours I’d be curled up taking a nap next to the shoes.
2. I started trying to shop my closet when I first went back to work after maternity leave and WHOA was it an eye opener. (i.e. Did I really wear this skirt just a few short months ago? To work? What kind of slut am I?)
January 15th, 2009 at 9:47 am, ame I. Says:
I need to do the same. I have clothes I KNOW I won’t/shouldn’t/can’t wear ever again. I can’t bring myself to part with a particular sweater. Picture it: odd shade of blue, a couple of pumkins, 3 black cats shown from their backs sitting on a white picket fence AND…3 cat tails (they look like big fuzzy pipe cleaners) sticking out 3 or 4 inches from the sweater. I need therapy.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:26 am, crockpot lady Says:
you would so laugh if you saw my clothes. I have very, very little. I buy about a dozen things a year (including shoes, socks, etc), and that’s because I “need” them because of a meeting or something, and mostly they are with giftcard money. I don’t seem to have that shopping gene, but instead have mini panic attacks at the idea of spending $$. I just can’t do it. I like to try clothes on, but then leave them in the dressing room.
You and I need to merge.
xxo
steph
January 15th, 2009 at 11:31 am, STL Mom Says:
Even with tights and boots, I’m not going to wear a skirt when the high temp of the day is below zero. So it’s jeans or yoga pants (and yoga pants are not warm enough). Hmm, maybe I need to stop shopping in my closet, and get to the store and buy some corduroy or wool pants. Now, before they clear all that out and fill the stores with shorts three months before we want to wear them.
January 15th, 2009 at 12:12 pm, Kelley Says:
Love your organzied closet and love the way you dress
However, my question is about what appears to be a SEX (!!) book in your closet?
Is there something about closets my husband and I should know about? Tell all missy!
Susan says: That’s a copy of the Sex and the City movie book; it’s too big to go on any of our regular bookshelves.
January 15th, 2009 at 12:49 pm, northportmom Says:
Such a pretty closet. Beautiful colors. Puts a smile on my face just looking at it.
January 15th, 2009 at 3:51 pm, The Coffee Lady Says:
If only I had a big enough wardrobe to fit things in that I never wore.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:33 pm, Kim Yamaguchi Says:
Nothing you could ever say would ever take the fun out of anything. You are one of the reasons I can’t wait to get to the computer in the morning.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:54 pm, ginny Says:
I love your closet. And yay for the Salon linkage!
January 15th, 2009 at 11:57 pm, Tricia Says:
Sex and the city.. Uh, huh…
Recognized the book, but was surprised it took so many comments for one to mention it’s presence- funny.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:09 am, Shannon Says:
Oh, hilarious…I, like Kelley, got so distracted by the “Sex” book I could hardly read the remainder of your post.
Also, your closet is a dream.
January 16th, 2009 at 1:31 pm, M Says:
what an awsome idea!
January 17th, 2009 at 4:28 pm, jess Says:
I hadn’t worn jeans since sometime mid-college (for a total of about eight years, probably) when I finally broke down and bought some a few months ago. Friends, family, and coworkers were all amazed to see me wearing jeans when I hadn’t in almost a decade. *laughs* I’m definitely a khakis type of person (or dress pants and cords, I suppose), although I’m learning to wear jeans every couple weeks or so. *winks* I still prefer my khakis, though.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:06 pm, ali Says:
Been there, done that… for 15 years.
I shop according to my own economy (not the nation’s) and have shopped my closet full of hand-me-downs and bargain pieces for 15 years because I had a meager income, job insecurity, was supporting not just myself, and had other plans for the extra money I did have.
Now I have job security, a recent 4 figure raise, the other person in this relationship no longer needs my support, and makes 4 times my salary.
I am now buying a whole new wardrobe piece by piece. I worked hard for it, I planned for it, my income currently supports it, and I am not going to feel a darn bit guilty about it just because there is a recession going on.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:32 pm, Friday Playdate » grace in small things: ten (not just a list! a whole post!) Says:
[…] been cleaning out my closet, as part of not shopping until I have worn everything, and early early this morning, before the ice storm really got going, I put three bags of stuff out […]
July 11th, 2010 at 11:06 pm, Trish Says:
I am only shopping my closet because I can’t afford not to at the moment. That said, you’re right, I have many many lovely pieces that are hanging in my closet waiting for me to fit into them. =)
That’s my project in the next 3 months. Then I’ll take a photo of me daily once I’m at my goal weight — just like you. Go you! You’re my hero…