Monday, December 8, 2014

different isn't wrong

I am going against the blogging norm today, almost every blog is posting affiliate links to aid in your shopping (& earn them a discount or a few dollars) for household products, hobby supplies, even groceries & clothes. (I am totally not against those blogs or bloggers! to each their own, this is just my little spin on it.)  I am going to talk about how differently I live than that & how differently it is from how I used to live.

Doing childcare at home has enabled me to not need to spend a small fortune on wardrobe items each season, in fact, my work clothes become work the clothes when they are handed down from the 'good clothes' category.  They aren't in style in the least- although, if I keep being nice to them, they just may last until they come back in, they aren't flattering at. all., but seriously, they are comfy & make me feel good.  Today, I have on a pair of jeans that may at one time have passed as stonewashed, now they are just faded w/a hole in the knee-a wear hole, not an intentional-store-bought- one, a white turtle neck under a multi-stripe fleece v-neck pullover that might pass as tunic length.  That is one of my few winter work outfits. Yesterday, it was a pair of too big, navy, swishy pants an orange t-shirt & a grey hoodie w/navy screen printing on it.  The other day, I wore my black 'fight like a girl' screen printed hoodie & coordinating sweat pants w/a pink t-shirt. Still in my drawer, the shirts way out number the single pair of black yoga pants, but I do laundry at least twice a week in the winter -the dryer doubles as an added heat source if I run it during work hours, so often I do, I wear one pair of those pants twice.  The second time, I pair them with a different top. Long or short sleeve t-shirts, various hoodies, a fleece 'jacket' that buttons, they are all good clothes cast offs, hand me downs or bought new with the intention of using as work clothes.  Since a typical work day consists of burping babies, changing diapers & cooking, among other things, so, I refuse to wear anything I would hate to stain, splatter with grease or tear a hole in.



 My good clothes for winter, are a few sweaters (multi-shade brown stripe, dull blue/grey boxy, black short sleeve with a big cowl neck, & a red mock turtleneck) that I layer over a t-shirt or long john top, or some more good ole hoodies over t-shirts for something casual, several scarves of different textures & colors, & 2 pairs of jeans. I did bring home a vintage red/white/blue plaid long wool skirt when we were cleaning out Great Grandma's basement, that I am hoping to put to use this winter.




Hmmmmmm now that I think about it, I have more pairs of flannel pants than I do good jeans :)  I live in them most weekends & evenings if I have worked in my jeans during the day.  I travel in them with out question, if we aren't stopping to eat or shop.  Another drawer I have, is my 'running clothes drawer'.  In it, I have 1 pair of long pants just for walking/running/working out, a long sleeve dri-fit race shirt, a long sleeve base layer & dri-fit short sleeve race shirt.  I don't run in the winter, we walk 2-3 miles 2-5 mornings/week in the high school halls. I could wear my work clothes & not change when I get home to save on laundry, but I feel better about doing it if I am dressed for it.  Just like putting something little on the calendar makes it a bigger deal, that's why I will continue to 'suit up' for our morning walks. If I am working in the sweats, swishy pants or yoga pants later that day, I will wear them to walk in that morning just wear a different top.  Since I am not getting stinky, sweaty, I will hang my walking clothes up & re-wear them a couple of times until the next laundry day.


This is all so much different than I was 10 years ago.  I lived a very commercial lifestyle back then, I was buying clothes every month, my dresser and closet overflowed for every season and it would be so very tempting to go back to a lighter version of that if the checkbook allowed. Alas, it doesn't, so I will stick to my own version of the capsule wardrobe & enjoy the change in seasons as each change means I get to open that tote & re-discover all  new outfits.  I even currently have a pile of short sleeve race shirts to send to a friend to make into a couch quilt for me; getting them out of my closet & dresser, yet, still put to good use.

So, tell me, how differently do you do your wardrobe?

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