Friday's Fashion Fallout: The best things in life aren't free

Because when they are free, you tend to acquire them even if you don't really like them. 

We had these things called "free boxes" in college. They were on every hall and were a place you could drop off stuff you didn't want and grab anything you did. Me being me, I was always grabbing things from the free box. Come on, free stuff!  

Except that when it takes time and energy to hang on to the free stuff and keep it organized, and dig through it when you need to get to other things, it suddenly really isn't free anymore. This skirt was costing me space in my closet, and my sanity every time I put it on because it was too small and a funny length. Not to mention, it was terribly itchy because it was made of wool. Item 80: A free skirt that doesn't fit, looks funny, and itches like mad!

Have the "free boxes" in your life been a problem for you? 

Friday's Fashion Fallout: Men may love it...

This shirt just proves how completely distorted women's body image is, compared with the way that men see us. I wore this to, er, work one day. While it looks demure and all that, I'm all chest when I wear it. I wear it to work and suddenly guys are telling me how good I look. 

Only problem is, this shirt is so, so tight that it makes me body conscious. Body conscious to the point that I binge because of how body conscious I feel. Why? Because I bought the shirt 15 pounds ago and I remember how it felt then. Every time I wear it, all I can think is, "OMG I've gained so much weight." 

The complements don't make up for the way the shirt makes me feel. Strange. So it has to go.  $15 wasted. Item 179, an ED-inducing shirt.

Does anyone else have pieces of clothing that you hate but that other people seem to love?

Friday's Fashion Fallout: a handbag, a trip, and a marriage

I looked on Facebook this morning and read a friend's comment:

"Ten years ago today some of my new friends in London invited me to see Star Trek: Nemesis. Best decision I ever made. I sat next to the most wonderful man I've ever met." 

(aka, the guy she married!)

Is there a British spelling
 for the word "ugly?"

I visited my friend and stayed with her in London a couple months after she met this guy, and we had a fantastic time romping around the UK. One of my favorite memories of that trip was going to Harrod's and having high tea. We had too many scones with clotted cream, the strongest tea I'd ever had with too much cream and too many brown sugar cubes....it was just wonderful. We were shaking at the end from the caffeine and the sugar! I can't believe it was ten years ago.

After all of that we went down to the shopping halls in Harrods and I must've bought about $100 worth of teas, mugs, and of course, a handbag.

Have you ever felt pressure to get the stererotypical souvenir from somewhere you've visited? I felt like I needed to bring something home that had the Harrod's logo on it but hated the typical green oilcloth bags. So I got this handbag. It had the logo, and matched my preferred handbag style--black and boring.

Label as souvenir. Why do
I keep doing this to myself?

Which I've ended up hating. It's too narrow, too deep, and the straps are too long. I still have much of the tea from that trip, in fact I made some this morning before I read her post. Now I'm staring at the tea I'm finishing now and being shocked that 1.) it's ten years old, and 2.) the ten-year-old tea still tastes this good! I can and will reuse the tea tins, so I don't need to keep the handbag as a souvenir because I have other things to remind me of that trip. But, oh, the nostalgia! The wonderful memories of that vacation! The smells, the tastes....

None of which are actually captured in the handbag. I can let it go. Breathe....Wow. You'd think after decluttering this much stuff this would be easier. It doesn't seem to be. I logically know that there's no good reason to keep this bag, yet my heart really wants me to.

On to...

~The Reckoning~

Item 175: A souvenir handbag.

Cost: About $20. But it was ten years ago so I can't remember.

Fate: The thrift shop.

Total money wasted on crap I never should've bought: $1943.00

Friday's Fashion Fallout: a two-fer

Courtesy of some unfortunate computer problems with my laptop I'm a little behind on everything, and now borrowing the Chief Engineer's laptop. So you all get a two-fer to make up for last week's missed Friday's Fashion Fallout. Try these on for size. One thing you'll notice is that the items have numbers now. I'm keeping track of FFF items separately. I have a feeling that I'll have one for every week of the year this year. But let's hope not! I hope I don't own that many worn-out, ill-fitting, ugly clothes!  Let's go.

Up first is a set of lace-embellished devil horns. (Yes. Keep laughing.) I bought them for Halloween two years ago. There were just two problems: 1.) apparently NONE of the 1600 people in my building do Halloween, and 2.) If you wear devil's horns and hang an egg carton around your neck, nobody understands that you're deviled eggs.

Fate: donated to the thrift shop.
Cost: well, I suppose they were worth it because one of my friends in grad school did it and everyone loved it. I knew my grad school was lame, but I didn't realize we were that lame.

Now that we're in week two of this year's FFF, meet another victim of my eating disorder. I bought these jeans in an attempt to buy pants that fit...and either I made the mistake of not sitting down in them in the store (since jeans always feel tighter when you sit), or I gained weight. I'm going to ignore the last option and just say well, they don't fit, they probably won't ever fit, and they were only $7. Out they go, ironically back to the thrift shop they came from.

Today's FFF total: two items, $7 wasted.

That makes for 174 items and $1923.00 wasted on crap. Ugh.

It's Friday! What stupid Halloween costumes have you gotten rid of today?

Friday's Fashion Fallout: have your feet shrunk too?

I must be weird or something. Because in high school I wore a size 8 shoe. By grad school I wore a 7.5. Now, I fit into size 7 shoes!  Has anyone else had this problem? I thought feet didn't get smaller, only larger. Unfortunately this means that I don't fit into my older shoes. So much for the $99 I spent on these cute things ages ago. I fall right out of them now. Then again, how cute can I really think they are? I only wore them four times!

*the reckoning*

Item 151: a pair of heels that don't fit. 

Cost: $99

Fate: the thrift shop

Total money wasted so far: $1743.00

Friday's Fashion Fallout: yes, an entire post about bras

If you lived through the 80s like I did, who can forget Madonna and this outfit? If you can call it that.

courtesy of stylesbyclaudia.com

We all decided this was ridiculous, of course. I mean, I thought we had left the bullet-bra in the 1930s, when we didn't seem to know how to sew anything other than triangles?

from lingerieweapon.com. No kidding. I thought lingerie was supposed to attract a mate, not threaten to kill it?

No, in the 21st century we have learned. We have evolved. We have figured out how to make bras that have curves, and feminine form....and an incredible likeness to external silicone implants.

Behold, the Victoria's Secret Miraculous Bra. Guaranteed to add 2 cup sizes, for $59.99. Unlike the rest of my body, I'm quite happy with the size of my, er, tatas, but I never had cleavage. Oh, the downsides of having a huge ribcage. I thought I'd try it. The result? Sure, it added two cup sizes. But I think it did it in the wrong spot. Did I just glue a red, satiny breast implant to the outside of my chest and put a shirt over it? Why yes, I think I must've.

Me in my normal bra. See? NORMAL.

And now, me modeling the "miraculous" bra. It's an appropriate name, because only a saint could produce something this unnatural. And the most ironic part? Still no cleavage.

But apparently someone else wants to either look like a porn star or a plastic surgery case gone wrong. I sold it on ebay for $10. So I only lost $49.99 on the bra. Shudder.

The Reckoning

Item 143: The miraculous bra.
Cost: $50 in the end. And a large chunk of my feminism.
Fate: Ebay
Total money wasted on junk I never should've bought: $1554.00

 It's Friday....what have you cleaned out of your lingerie drawer today?

Friday's Fashion Fallout: What do you call two banana peels?

A pair of slippers! That would've been more fashionable than these hideous slippers:

Black watch plaid? What was I thinking?



It's Friday! What fashion fails have you gotten rid of today?

Friday's Fashion Fallout: there's a mumu in my closet

Everyone has at least one piece of clothing hidden in their closet that's really embarrassing. This is mine.

Okay, I'm lying a bit. It's actually not that embarrassing because it's not really mine. This one has a tale to tell and a lesson to learn from it, but it's one that better fits a post for my Grief and Clutter series, which I SWEAR I will return to. But that's for Sunday.

What's the most ridiculous piece of clothing you own, or have ever owned?

Item 138: A Hawaiian mumu! Off to the clothes donation box it goes.

FFF + Project 333: Look, I'm cheating already!

My body and eating habits have decided that I'm a size 8, and I darn well better learn to live with it. Learn to love it? Ha. We'll see. But what better way to encourage myself to enjoy being me than with a closet of nothing but clothes that fit? I finally decided that I'm going to start Project 333 in September.

If I can only have 33 items, then they better be the perfect ones. Things are slowly coming out of my closet and going into three piles: keep for afterwards, use for Project 333, and discard.

First, I looked at the drawer where I keep my exercise clothes. I swim, bike, and run regularly (I'll do a sprint triathalon in 2013, I swear).

My selected biking clothes: one pair bike shorts, one pair bike leggings, one short-sleeve bike shirt, one bike tank. 

My selected running clothes:

one pair running shorts, one tank, one pair running leggings, one jacket.

Floppy the Bunny says, "My Human owns too many clothes from Lululemon!"

why did no one tell me about that loose ribbon?

But why can't I wear the purple running tank for biking and cut one item off the list? This lovely picture of me doing the macarena at my wedding should answer the question. See the spots on my skin to the left and right of the piece of fabric? Those are patches of vitiligo. I don't have any pigment there so I burn almost instantly. Sunblock delays the burn for a little while but not long. Two weeks before my wedding I went on a bike ride and wore a tank top. I put sunblock on but it wore off. The patch closest to my hair was still visibly pink two weeks after that ride.

I have to ride with my back covered. The white and purple bike shirt covers my entire back and is long enough in the back not to ride up.

Burning like this doesn't seem to be a problem when I run, though. I run in the early morning and evenings when there's only a little sunlight.

I haven't decided about my swimming items yet. I boxed up the few other athletic items I have.

This is where I cheat, though: I decided that my running clothes will be lumped together as one item, and the same goes for my biking clothes and swimming clothes. Why? Because Project 333 is about seeing how little you can live with, and after years at these sports at know that there is no way I am running in DC in early September in anything more than a tank top and shorts, and no way I'm running in November in less than leggings and a long-sleeve pullover. I can wear the jacket for running and cycling.

Friday's Fashion Fallout

One item I know I'm getting rid of is this old cycling shirt. It doesn't fit anymore. Even when it did fit the fabric was scratchy. Item 136 and today's Friday's Fashion Fallout item: a well-loved cycling shirt.

And its tag says....Made in U.S.A. Can't remember when I last saw that on a piece of clothing.

Tribbles

My clothes keep multiplying. I'm getting better at not acquiring so many items. But unfortunately changing this habit isn't as easy as poisoning some grain on a space station. Okay, I'll stop with the Star Trek allusions for now.

As I recap my spending this month I'm taking a closer look at how many objects I'm bringing into my home. Not only do these things take up space but they tend to be unnecessary purchases. This month I purchased five objects that weren't consumable. Two of the five were pieces of clothing:

A pair of bike shorts to replace the old ones that I finally admit don't fit. It's hard to tell ED that it's okay that I need bigger bike shorts. But this made it final. I'm okay with this decision.

A pair of track pants. I got these because they looked incredibly comfy and I wanted something that would give me an excuse to get out of my work clothes when I get home instead of keeping them on and doing things like, oh, baking. And messing up my clothes. And needing to spend a fortune on dry cleaning. I know this was a lousy reason to spend a ton on another pair of pants. Next month my goal is to not buy any more clothes.

To keep up with my Friday's Fashion Fallout, I'm getting rid of three items:

Two more pairs of cycling shorts, replaced by the new bike shorts. These old bike shorts are multiplying like Tribbles. There will be more, I promise. I know there's at least one more pair in my dresser at my parents' place.  Their fate: The Goodwill store.

An old pair of scrubs that are stained in some unfortunate places. These can't be worn out of the house anymore. The track pants will replace them. Fate: rags.

Do you keep track of how many objects you purchase each month?

Why I went to Spain with holes in my shoes

This is a story of broken hearts and broken bones. (okay, don't freak out too much.)

Junior year of college I studied abroad in Spain. I fell in love with the country's sensuous hills, its tempting food, its luscious parks, its endless sidewalks....and its shoes.

No, I wasn't completely devoured by a foot fetish on this trip. In fact, I followed a purchasing pattern I try to follow today on trips: literally wear out your clothes on the trip. Then buy clothing as souvenirs instead of junk.

Here's what I mean. When I went to Spain I brought a bit of good clothing, but I also packed a few items that were within an inch of their life: a shirt that had a few permanent spots so I couldn't get away wearing it around company I knew anymore. A pair of shoes that was starting to rip at the seams and couldn't be repaired by the cobbler. Et cetera. These clothes had a bit of life left in them, but not much.

Of course I brought clothes that were in fine shape as well, because who wants to be traveling in a foreign country while everything you're wearing is falling apart? But I think about 1/4 of what I brought for those four months was on its last legs.

Then, when I wanted to get souvenirs, I bought clothes and shoes instead. When the shirt finally got to be too embarassing even to wear around strangers, I got rid of it and bought a blouse that was in fashion in Madrid at the time. When the holey shoes wore out, I bought espadrilles, a quintessentially Spanish shoe. I came back to the States with the same amount of clothing I left with (okay, okay, I did buy a couple extra items.) But it kept the overall tally of souvenirs down. I loved the items I purchased more than I would have if I'd bought them in the States, simply because they weren't just replacement clothes, they were souvenirs.

There's only one problem with this. These souvenirs wear out.

Today's Friday's Fashion Fallout is a pair of espadrilles I bought at the end of my stay in Madrid.

I remember touring a neighborhood I'd never visited before, eyeing these and falling in love. My Spanish host family told me how to take care of them (clean the rope part with salt, make sure you reinforce the place where the laces go through the heel), and it was just a great purchase. And then I stopped liking how they looked on my feet. I couldn't keep them clean. The sole kept falling off no matter how much I glued it back down. My feet shrunk. Then I broke a bone in my foot. (Wondered when we were going to get to that part, didn't you?) High heels aren't in my repertoire much these days. 

So it really hurts emotionally to let these go, but that's what photographs are for. Like, the 1000 or so photographs I have of the trip. I don't need these to remember it by.

How do you avoid souvenirs on trips?

 The Reckoning

Item 135: souvenir espadrilles. I never liked them that much and probably shouldn't have bought them in the first place. 


Cost: 14 euro (about $25)


Fate: the clothing donation box


Total money wasted on stuff: $1522.00

(last) Friday's Fashion Fallout: oh, but they feel so good!

Okay, just the fabric feels good.

Sorry for the delay folks, work has gone crazy this week *and* the hubs is out of town so I'm stuck doing my own dishes <whine>. Free time is not as abundant as it was.

Last Friday morning I realized that a piece of clothing can feel good...while feeling absolutely awful at the same time. Here's the little conversation I had with my jeans at 6:30 AM last Friday:

Jeans: ooh, it's Friday. Wear me, wear me!
Me: Okay, I think you're too short...
ED: You're too fat for them...
Me: Oh hell, let me just try them on.
(puts jeans on and successfully buttons them with minimal agony)
Me: See? The fabric feels great.
ED: They make you look fat.
Me: ED, fat is not a feeling.
Jeans: Keep us! Keep us! Feed me, Seymour!
Me: I have to go to work...no time to talk to inanimate objects!
Jeans: Before you go...did you realize we display your beautiful ankles when you walk so everyone can see them? And your belly button too? And make you look like you took up a side job in plumbing when you bend down?
Me: uh.....okay, these don't feel so good after all. I think I've found my weekly item to discard.

Lesson learned: there are lots of things that we judge a piece of clothing on when we play the keep/toss game. If it doesn't pass every test (fabric, fit, length, height, tightness, whether it talks to you....) then it probably needs to go. The space in the closet is worth it.

I'm now down to my goal number of jeans: just three! One junky pair for painting/camping/etc, one really good pair for work and a spare for when the others are in the wash. 

Item 133: Jeans that never really felt good. Money wasted: $25.

Total money wasted on stuff this year: $1437.00.

Friday's Fashion Fallout: wearing my grief on my sleeve (literally)

This Friday's Fashion Fallout item is an Alzheimer's Association hoodie in their trademark forget-me-not purple. Ah, it's purple and it reminds me of Gram. I'm screwed already. 

If the whole point of wearing this was to be a walking advertisement for the Alzheimer's Association, why didn't they design it so that you could actually see their logo? 

Hey kids, here's a marketing lesson: your slogans need to make sense! Putting the word "move" on a sleeve with no context is just silly. Then again, maybe it's just a sign that they're using donation money for research instead of marketing. 

The only move I'm going to make is to take this thing to the thrift shop. 

The Reckoning

I'm going to leave this one out of the reckoning this week. It's financially confusing because some of the money from the jacket did go to a cause I support, but some of it didn't and I don't know how much. I also had to purchase a shirt for my new volunteer job, which will take the place of this in my closet.