Cardigan | Rachel Roy Dress | J. Crew Shoes | J. Crew* |
Living in an apartment means that I have much less closet space than I want. Full disclosure, for an apartment, I do have more closet space than average but, that being said, it still isn't as much as I'd like! As such, in addition to my half of the closet, and my half of the dresser, I have a tub of clothing that are my "I can't quit you clothing" and which is shoved under the bed. About twice a year, when I do some half-hearted KonMari-ing, there are inevitably a few pieces where I think (i) I haven't worn this in a while, (ii) I rarely wear this, (iii) I would wear this if it fit better, but I keep them anyway, just in case.
*Obviously the Jenna Lyons news also was in my head this morning.
This cardigan is a perfect example. I got this cardigan in 2011, from a Macy's in Pasadena. I don't know why I remember that, but the memory is burned into my brain. I wore it a bunch for a few years and then for whatever reason, stopped wearing it. It is a little itchy, but I love the color, which honestly, these photos do not do justice. I don't need this cardigan. If I hadn't thought about it this morning and pulled it out of the bin, I would have worn a green or black or grey cardigan and gone on with my day and still felt pretty jazzed about the outfit. Instead, I thought of this piece, pulled it out (loved the color combo) and now, I'll probably keep this for another few years. I won't start wearing it frequently because it doesn't speak to me in the same way it used to, but I'll keep it because this outfit serves as proof that I might wear the cardigan again in the future.
Here's the question - if I have space for it, is it so wrong to keep these pieces? Is it practical to have them sit there for a future event that might not come, rather than donate them and replace them with something I will wear on a weekly basis? Do you have clothes in limbo and if so, what do you do with them?
Close up of the detail. |
Don't sweat the small stuff is my belief! It's tiring to make irreversible decisions on things that don't actually need deciding, keeping a few extra pieces of clothing is not detrimental to your overall quality of life, and effort and attention can be better allocated in more profitable areas of your life. I don't have a lot of clothes, but quite a few are clothes I don't regularly wear: cocktail dresses that I scored on mega sale that I've yet to wear; not quite right backup office wear for days when I missed doing laundry (thankfully haven't actually worn them); and this pair of blue toile de jouy J. Crew pants that currently serve as a visual divider between my work and casual pants in my closet.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tracy - too true! Also, after looking it up, I can now add toile de jouy to my fashion vocab = )
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