I go through this box occasionally, to pull out things for friends who need them, or to do the occasional now-I'm-up-or-down-a-size try-on marathon possibly worthy of a movie montage. I've kept everything - or I say I've kept everything - because I've basically been in the range of two sizes for the past seven years, and it means I have clothes waiting for me, whatever size I'm wearing.
This can be a good thing - I'm always a fan of wearing clothes that fit - not clothes that you want to fit. This can also be a bad thing. For one thing, it's blocking our feng shui. I don't mean to be all new-agey about it, but when things block your way, and you have to squeak around them or break your path, it breaks your general serenity. And also, it's a crutch. If I gain weight, I don't have to worry about getting new clothes. If I lose weight, I don't have to worry about what I will wear if ever I gain weight again.
I'm not certain - but I'm pretty sure - that most of what's left in there isn't particularly beloved. There are plenty of very nice pieces that still have a little (or a lot) of life in them. And if I'm not using them, someone should.
We're tight in the budget-area these days (it was a tough year for freelance editors, mine included.) So my first goal is to run each nice piece on fatsionxchange, the online community for plus-sized clothing sales. And whatever doesn't get picked up within a few weeks will be donated. It's our goal to spend part of a day this weekend, laying out, photographing, and cataloging everything. I've even created a design for the sale html - since I've seen well-designed (well-marketed, essentially) sales have more success than plain ones. Here's my design, with clothing items there for placement only. (FPO, in graphic design jargon, heh.)
It'll feel so good to have all of that out of the house. And - you'll laugh. Tom did, too. With the extra budget, I'm going to... buy more clothes. No, no, not lots of them. Just 3 good-quality pieces that I've been admiring - and that I'll be buying as a reward for ditching all of those other items that have been blocking our way (and my progress.) And it's a budget-neutral way to do it!
One of these pieces is a nice pair of feminine brown flats. My current brown flats are a little too sporty to wear with a dress, and they've got that telltale two-year-old odor. The other two pieces go together...
The Igigi "Coco" Herringbone cardigan and wide belt. Doesn't it kind of scream "Heidi" to you? All it needs is a good pop of red.
There's just something about a new outfit that makes me feel exceptionally confident. But I suppose it doesn't necessarily have to be about newness. I can also feel confident in a piece that fits and flatters, and is exactly my style. One of the hard things about being plus-sized is that I don't get to choose just anything - I don't sew. I get to choose what is most like my style, in a narrow range of options. Part of this wardrobe-culling I'm doing will help me focus on what I like best, what makes me feel confident even when it isn't fresh off the clothes rack. And as I continue to stay active and eat mindfully, someday I'll be able to shop at Anthropologie and be able to pick and choose from a variety of pieces that are my style. We'll see how well I can prevent closet-crowding, then!
Tonight, Tom and I made a last-minute decision to head out to our now-annual Halloween tradition, Universal Horror Nights. It's surprisingly cheap for a front-of-line pass on opening day. (We purchased online, and it was only $10 more than the regular-ticket folks are paying at the door!) I'm usually the Halloween-hungry one, but Tom has been salivating over the various Halloween events for weeks. We'll get plenty of walking (and screaming) exercise tonight, but it can be a challenge to eat well at Universal after-hours. I can probably swing a veggie burger, maybe some iceberg salad. Theme park offerings of fried dough in various arrangmenets... they longer hold the sway over me that they did when I was younger, but when I start getting sleepy it'll be hard not to avoid sugar of some sort. (Hungry+Tired=harder.) But then, I haven't eliminated anything completely from my diet. Moderation is the key. So, tonight, moderation. And screaming. Hurrah for the weekend! I'll post pictures of ghastly ghoulies for you tomorrow.
Love what you are doing with your closet! I need to get a handle on my clutter as well. Hope you had fun with the screaming :)
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