I walked out of the house today in the jeans I could find, a shirt that no one claimed after xmas last year at my Dad’s and a pair of black clogs that are so scuffed they look like I’ve been painting in them.
How did this happen?
I used to ‘go shopping’. It was an activity, and a regular activity like having dinner. It was not something I did ‘on special occasions,’ it was part of my life. I was kind of always shopping. Window shopping, leafing through magazines, going to favorite stores…shopping.
How did I even afford it? It matters little now. We mocked my father growing up for his glasses bought at CVS, his non-branded black running shoes that served somehow for every occasion. His willingness to wear ABSOLUTELY anything. I am not laughing now.
I want to be very put together. Nice boots and a shirt you actually picked out go a long way. Some care is nice. My friend LB’s hair always looks so good (I think she blow dries).
But, when faced with the time (and money) all of that takes, I just reach back down in the hamper for my jeans again…
I am definitely dressing by default and not design.
More proof:
Number of items I took out of my stepsister’s good will box: All
Number of items my in-their-20s-sisters took out of my ‘hand me down’ bag: Zero
My bathing suits
Percentage of bathing suits I own and wear that look like I am someone’s Aunt Gladys 100%
Percentage of bathing suits I own and wear that I bought in a hotel lobby b/c I didn’t have a suit or missed a flight but now this is all I have: 100%
Do you see the Mickey Mouse emblems on the red one (and that is not me by the way). Thank you Disney World upper level range hotel–too expensive for us to stay at but we stopped off to play in their amazing pool with sand. I think buying things like this on the fly in gift shops is why I don’t have the money to stay at these hotels…it is a perfect closed loop.
Additional Proof
I did buy a kind of tunic-y thing a while ago, thought I looked quite fetching actually. Upon walking out of the house with my daughter she turned to me and said: “Oh, I thought that was a bathrobe.”
I think that says it all.
