Part of the reason we live in a disposable apparel culture is that we don’t take the time or make the effort to take care of the clothes we own. I remember as a kid my mother hand washing her favorite items. This was long before people sent everything to the dry cleaner, which by the way can ruin a wardrobe if you are not careful. My mother’s special “delicate” silks and jerseys would hang on the shower rod in our bathroom or on the floor laid flat to dry. I can’t remember the last time I hand washed something. My mother, by the way is a fashion icon at 72 years old. Her wardrobe can go up against anyone’s wardrobe anyday. Most of what’s especially beautiful in her closet are those things she has hung onto for years. So that brings me to this…how do we modern girls learn from the generation before us about taking care of what we already own? Here are some basic principles. Please add on your own and I will post them too.
Tips for taking care of the clothes you already own:
- Avoid dry cleaning as much as possible. The chemical process strips down fibers in clothes over time.
- No wire hangers!
- Wash rougher pieces together like jeans, and softer ones like cotton dress shirts on their own.
- Use the gentle cycle as frequently as possible with a gentle detergent like Woolite.
- Wear your clothes more than once before washing them. If a stain is small, spot clean with seltzer water or a reputable spot remover.
- Remove clothes from the dryer and hang them up immediately.
- Don’t use the dryer if you don’t have to. A clothes line or a shower rod make for good “air drying.”
- Pay attention to what you are ironing and look at the instructions for recommended iron settings.
Tonight I was with my friend Portia who has been contemplating going on this diet for 11 months now. I told her that I have decided to extend the diet for one more year, in light of the fact that there have been so many people interested in joining the effort in the past few weeks (here we go again). When I told Portia it wasn’t too late to realize the benefits of clothing deprivation she hooped and hollered “That’s what I need, a closet colonic.” The visual made me gag. She went on to claim, “Deep within my big, fat, bloated walk-in closet there is a skinny one begging to be free.” Portia, warming to the idea, is going to “think about it,” before she commits. Let me be clear…I am not doing this for another year myself but I will moderate, facilitate, contemplate and write about life post diet. 
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