I’ve been catching up with some old pals since starting the GAAD. As I was flipping through the hangers in my closet recently, I looked at my old clothes with new eyes – and well, hello there! I found a vintage pleather shirt that I thought I’d given to Goodwill several years ago. Sure, it still fit me fine and if you’re familiar with that ‘60s pleather stuff, well it’s virtually indestructible.
I’ve realized the root of my pack-rattiness is that I get a little too sentimental about clothes. I bought the pleather shirt in 1997 in Prescott, Arizona; the same day I bought the green suede fringed coat with the label “Geronimo” inside. When I sold the “Geronimo” at a yard sale, I hugged it goodbye, much to the bewilderment of the guy who bought it. Why do I still have that pair of black suede shoes with the huge silver buckle on the toe (Pilgrim-style!) after 17 years? Because they were the first pair of shoes I bought in Switzerland. That fringed skirt that looks hideous on me? It’s from a little shop around the corner from Buckingham Palace. Um, yes, and it is 20 years old.
Some of these items must go. However when I’m looking at old clothes with new eyes, I’m keeping in mind a few things:
- If a skirt made me look as wide as a Buick in 1989, that’s not going to change. Kiss it goodbye.
- If it’s a basic color, say black, and a classic cut, keep it. Even if it’s made out of pleather.
- If it was bought when going through a brief stage (Bananarama wannabe, sulky bohemian, ‘70s pseudo rock-star), get rid of it.
- If I bought it because I thought it would Change My Life, totally stomp on it and then get rid of it.
- If it’s vintage, yet completely worn to shreds, salvage the cool mother-of-pearl buttons and sew them on something else. As we sang in Girl Scouts, “Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold.”
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Francine, it’s fun to reconnect with old friends in the closet. Some you wonder…did I really love you once?