Purge

The hubs and I live in a condo so closet space is at a serious premium. I have dreams of my next house having a huge walk-in closet with a big overstuffed chair so I can sit and make wise decisions about what I'll leave the house in each day. (Here's a hint: It will be black.)

Until then, though, I'm stuck with only having the current season in my purview. The rest, is banished to storage until the seasons again change.

The benefit of having NO closet space though, is it makes you edit. With the arrival of a new season, I remove the previous season from my closet and divide the clothes into piles of keep, mend and donate. Thanks to the wise counsel of my sage mentor, Tim Gunn (he doesn't know he's my mentor), if it hasn't been worn in more than a year, it goes to the donate pile.

I'm not joking when I say this ritual takes me hours. It took me three hours last night to sort thru spring/summer. (Let's just say some tall woman shopping at Goodwill in KC with a size 14 shoe is gonna be REALLY happy.)

And, today, I spent two hours unloading my fall/winter clothes making sure they still fit and the slacks were long enough.

While the process seems to take forever (a good Julia Roberts/TBS movie in the background does make it go faster), I go through this ritual each season before I let myself shop for new things. This helps me avoid buying too much black (okay, bad example), determine which shoes I need to replace and what colors/tops I need.

Divested

Can you hear that? It's the sound of me kicking and screaming.

Vests. They're back for fall. And, I wish this trend would die. Like knickers.

(I don't know who made knickers mainstream in the 80s but they need a good thump in the head. Can you hear that brainstorm? "I have an idea. Let's provide women with corduroy bottoms that make their hips look bigger. Brilliant!")

But I digress.

I wore vests in the 80s. I even made one in my 7th grade sewing class. My mom saved it but I won't be busting it out for fall.

I don't like wearing menswear. Ever. My aversion stems from being forced to wear it when I was younger because there were no other options for tall chicks. And, I know vests have been updated to fit women but they were still designed for men.

This is me crossing my arms. No vests for me.