Shopping in my closet
Apr. 25th, 2016 11:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutA friend on FB mentioned that she was shopping in stored boxes. It must be the season cause I've been doing that too, altho I was going through drawers (that sounds wrong, somehow).
I have a five drawer dresser (bureau? what do people call this piece of furniture? I feel like there are regional variations on this particular vocabulary word) and primarily use the top 4 drawers. Seasonal items like swim suits, coverups, scarves, gloves and hats wind up in the bottom drawer which is, predictably, inconveniently overcrowded. While packing for the most recent trip, I knew I was bringing a sleeveless dress and might want some kind of wrap. The color of the dress didn't go so great with any of my sweaters (well, except the black ones and I try hard never to bring anything black to Florida because it is always an Error). While I was looking at sarongs and other Pieces of Cloth online, it occurred to me that I owned several similar items. So I abandoned online shopping in favor of shopping in that bottom drawer. I brought something that is older than my children and almost never wear and it worked out great.
While I was on vacation, I got to wear my new rashguard which I am really happy with (paisley print, half length sleeves, so not life-guardy or surfer-y at all). But the nature of these things is such that one is sort of stuck wearing something underneath it and I opted for one of my one-piece swim suits. But then I felt like, why am I wearing a one-piece, swim shorts and a rash guard. I should own a swim bra (yes this is a real thing). And the trip established that the cut of the rash guard is such that it doesn't tend to pull up, which could be awkward. Heck, it doesn't even trap water, the way a lot of swim shirts with built in bras and elasticized bottoms tend to do.
So again, went online, looking for a bikini top or bra top that might work and failing kinda badly (I'm Not Small in any dimension). I got to thinking, wait, I feel like I've been here before. How did I finish this last time? Oh, yeah, I went over to Lane Bryant and found bras in neutral (black and beige) colors and the right kind of fabric to cope with being in the water. What did I do with those? So I went digging in another drawer, extracted the items in question, tried them on with the Lands End rash guard and went, nice! Way better than wearing a one piece under this (visiting the facilities so, so, so much easier).
Then I thought, okay, if I'm gonna do this, it would be nice to have more than one rash guard, because they sometimes can take a full day to dry on the line and I sometimes wind up at the pool or on water rides on two separate occasions on a vacation day and clammy swim wear sort of sucks. Back online (why did I even bother?), I'm looking around and find myself looking at a VERY familiar looking shirt. Wait, I already own that! For the third time in as many weeks, I excavated the bottom drawer, found the shirt, tried it on with the recently recovered support undergarments and went, hey, that looks so much better that way.
By this point, I just gave up on shopping (other than to buy my favorite swim shorts in the next size down because while I've only lost a few pounds on this whole walk a ton lifestyle, I have shrunk in some dimensions, while remaining Not Small). I pulled out everything, tried it all on, was very happy to see that some things I don't wear because they feel sausage-y now fit great, was somewhat sad to have to say good bye to some swim shorts that were awesome for touring parks in, because in combination with a UPF shirt, it did not matter what happened in terms of splash, everything dried super fast and was very comfortable. A few items landed in the trash due to wear; the rest are waiting to head out to the Middle Class Guilt Reduction Station.
A nice round of decluttering, and a completely unplanned money savings as well.
I have a five drawer dresser (bureau? what do people call this piece of furniture? I feel like there are regional variations on this particular vocabulary word) and primarily use the top 4 drawers. Seasonal items like swim suits, coverups, scarves, gloves and hats wind up in the bottom drawer which is, predictably, inconveniently overcrowded. While packing for the most recent trip, I knew I was bringing a sleeveless dress and might want some kind of wrap. The color of the dress didn't go so great with any of my sweaters (well, except the black ones and I try hard never to bring anything black to Florida because it is always an Error). While I was looking at sarongs and other Pieces of Cloth online, it occurred to me that I owned several similar items. So I abandoned online shopping in favor of shopping in that bottom drawer. I brought something that is older than my children and almost never wear and it worked out great.
While I was on vacation, I got to wear my new rashguard which I am really happy with (paisley print, half length sleeves, so not life-guardy or surfer-y at all). But the nature of these things is such that one is sort of stuck wearing something underneath it and I opted for one of my one-piece swim suits. But then I felt like, why am I wearing a one-piece, swim shorts and a rash guard. I should own a swim bra (yes this is a real thing). And the trip established that the cut of the rash guard is such that it doesn't tend to pull up, which could be awkward. Heck, it doesn't even trap water, the way a lot of swim shirts with built in bras and elasticized bottoms tend to do.
So again, went online, looking for a bikini top or bra top that might work and failing kinda badly (I'm Not Small in any dimension). I got to thinking, wait, I feel like I've been here before. How did I finish this last time? Oh, yeah, I went over to Lane Bryant and found bras in neutral (black and beige) colors and the right kind of fabric to cope with being in the water. What did I do with those? So I went digging in another drawer, extracted the items in question, tried them on with the Lands End rash guard and went, nice! Way better than wearing a one piece under this (visiting the facilities so, so, so much easier).
Then I thought, okay, if I'm gonna do this, it would be nice to have more than one rash guard, because they sometimes can take a full day to dry on the line and I sometimes wind up at the pool or on water rides on two separate occasions on a vacation day and clammy swim wear sort of sucks. Back online (why did I even bother?), I'm looking around and find myself looking at a VERY familiar looking shirt. Wait, I already own that! For the third time in as many weeks, I excavated the bottom drawer, found the shirt, tried it on with the recently recovered support undergarments and went, hey, that looks so much better that way.
By this point, I just gave up on shopping (other than to buy my favorite swim shorts in the next size down because while I've only lost a few pounds on this whole walk a ton lifestyle, I have shrunk in some dimensions, while remaining Not Small). I pulled out everything, tried it all on, was very happy to see that some things I don't wear because they feel sausage-y now fit great, was somewhat sad to have to say good bye to some swim shorts that were awesome for touring parks in, because in combination with a UPF shirt, it did not matter what happened in terms of splash, everything dried super fast and was very comfortable. A few items landed in the trash due to wear; the rest are waiting to head out to the Middle Class Guilt Reduction Station.
A nice round of decluttering, and a completely unplanned money savings as well.