Goodbye Garb and Magnificent Memories

I recently lost a few pounds. It was about time. As with all weight loss, both the skin and the clothes got loose. Ok...so both got loose and wrinkly. I've retired some pairs of pants after friends said I looked as though I had droopy drawers...not a good look on a senior. People might get the wrong impression. We elders have enough embarrassing issues.

I don't think I'm a very vain person. I also don't think that I'm terribly materialistic, but then everything's relative isn't it?

When it comes to clothing, I have a decent wardrobe. I like clothes. There was a time I barely had two outfits to wear to work (insert tiny violin playing here). There was also a time when I wore clothes out. That is now beyond the realm of my comprehension, but then, vinyl, barkcloth, terylene, crimplene were all the rage. Who ever thought those were a good idea and did they actually wear out or just disappear as some fads and fabrics should?

Now, rather than wear clothes out,  I eventually get tired of seeing the same outfits. It's like looking in the mirror every day and seeing the same old thing, but at least with clothing, we have a choice. We can get rid of the 80% we don't wear and the 20% we wear far too often. (a statistic I recently heard)

So it has been necessary to downsize my clothing along with my girth. I spent a few days test driving a lot of pieces to see what fit, what was still borderline, and what was unacceptable. I found a lot to give away. I also found some items that still work plus a few from a previous diet, an earlier size, and so on. Then there were a few....just a few that I know are too large, but went back into my dresser drawer. It made no sense, but there they are.

I think that most people who hoard "stuff" which they consider treasures do so because of the memories they stir up. The clothes that went back into my drawer had memories, fond memories. As I put each thing back, I had flashbacks of friends I was with, events I celebrated, and trips I went on while wearing the piece. I was not yet ready to say goodbye to everything.

There's a quote by Rachael Taylor that goes like this. "For me, clothing is nothing without the story behind it. Everything I own evokes some kind of memory."

Whereas Petticoat Lane and Diabetes Society have been the beneficiaries of much, my dresser drawer still contains a few....a few good memories of times gone by.