Out with the Old and in with the New

With clothing love is often instant. You see a cute top in a store and try it on with much anticipation. If the fit is right (and it’s affordable) you buy it, excited to wear it as soon as possible. For a while you savor wearing your new favorite clothing item…until a new favorite overtakes its place. Because falling in love with new clothing is easy and happens fairly often (as my closet can attest to).

Clothing is one of those things that I easily accumulate and must therefore do a closet purge from time to time. There’s always something new and cute on the horizon to find and buy and wear. The new and cute pieces quickly replace the old and worn (even though some of it isn’t terribly old nor worn), and over time you forget that these older pieces even exist. Then one day you’re looking through your closet and you pull something out that you haven’t worn in ages and either your desire to wear it once more reappears and you reincorporate it back into your wardrobe, or that desire has long since been dead (and will remain that way).

If I haven’t worn something in over a year (okay, sometimes it’s longer) then I know I ought to get rid of it. It’s often easy to know which pieces have outlived their usefulness; they often feel too youthful or are made of cheap materials that I can no longer abide or I just don’t like the style any more. Most of the time I let go of that top or dress or pair of pants with little regret and once it’s gone I never think of it again. I don’t expect to wear the same clothing forever as my preferences change over time, so my closet is a constant revolving door of new clothing replacing the old.