What's the oldest thing in your wardrobe?
Thoughts on assumptions and perspective
The oldest garment in my wardrobe is a dark blue Gap T-shirt with a rose pattern that used to be my mom’s. I remember she would wear it a lot, at a time when she was very skinny, still it was way too large for me. My first recollection of wearing it was when we went together to a store called Arthur Caliman to buy a dress for a bar mitzvah, in 2008 I believe. Don't ask me how, but I even remember how I styled it: denim shorts, a thick braided brown belt, and ballerina slippers.
I would drive past this shop every day to school and remember feeling so excited when the lights changed and I got to stare at the gowns in the window for a while longer. I would dream about one day owning a party dress from there. Fast forward a couple of years, my mom and I returned to the same store to buy a dress for my 15th birthday party, a thought I hadn't revisited for a while. We had a great time.
I don’t remember exactly how this T-shirt ended up in my closet, but it's so small on me right now, which makes me realize how far I’ve come and grown, literally and metaphorically. Living far away from home, I especially appreciate having a little piece of my mom close by.
How cute, how loving, sure. What was going on in my head, though, was the shocking fact that most of my clothes were new, less than three years old, and rarely over five. I can precisely tell when a photo was taken by what I am wearing. Thinking about the oldest item in my wardrobe made me face the hard truth: I buy things because they are cute and not because I am excited to wear them for the rest of my life. Ironically, most of my garments will likely outlive me, even if taken care of terribly, due to their infinite lasting composition (polyester).
This new perspective radically changed the way I choose to buy, keep and donate clothes, focusing on apparel that will put a smile on my face even many years from now, instead of what I think is adorable right this second. For me, items with stories, familiar smells, and heritage are speaking loudly. Obvious, but not.
I guess I am going through a weird moment in my life when I realized that the way I see the world is wrong. Not incomplete, but actually wrong. The most basic assumptions from my day-to-day life have been debunked in one strange weekend.
When Susie, my mother-in-law, purchased tickets for me to fly to Austin and there was no mention of a seat number, my brain went on overdrive. I blamed every person on Southwest's tech team for hiding that button from me. These low-cost airlines! The thought of spending 3 hours in between two strangers, potentially with dogs or vomiting children, haunted me.
Long story short, Mrs. Expert Traveller over here did not consider the possibility of not having assigned seats in an airplane, a considerable mindfuck. Of the hundreds of flights I took in the past 28 years of my existence, I do not remember a single one in which I could sit wherever I wanted. Nonetheless, they exist, and this was it.
Still in the airplane, here’s how the flight attendants wished us a happy stay in Austin: “If you have a connecting Southwest flight it will be leaving from Terminal 3, and if you don't, well, we don't care”. It is so refreshing to see a large corporation successfully build their brand around their employee’s sense of humor. Who knew "corp” could actually mean hilarious!? *mindblown*
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Then, the unthinkable happened: I noticed that my rolls of toilet paper were missing the hole. Instead of the useless cardboard tube, there was MORE toilet paper, smartly rolled into a emergency supply all the way to the center (we’ve all been there). Funny how revealing another way of doing something we are so used to can change our perspective on life. Everything can be changed for the better.
So, tell me, what's the oldest article of clothing you own? I am curious to know if you have ever thought about this before.
Yes. I have many older than 5 year old garments in my closet..what we called CLASSIC in thenold days....and interestingly enough..wait long enough and they become funky....then classic again....then funky when you combine them with something trendy...and with enough confidence and self esteem....you can put anything together....even it the styles are disjointed...and come across as avante gard.. unique, sharp dresser, a creative. ..its all in the way YOU perceive yourself... imagine it and others will follow.
Lollll