Cleaning out my closet
You know you have too many clothes when:
- You can manage beautifully for months even if the maid misplaces some of your clothing.
- When you finally find your missing stuff (usually in mom's/the brothers' closets), you go, "Oh, yeah! How could I forget that I had such a dress."
- You never have anything to wear (this is ironic, I know, and something I didn't understand either back when I had a pobreng wardrobe. But it's true. The more clothes you have, the more mornings you spend standing there helplessly in a state of utter confusion, having such trouble figuring out what the day's outfit should be)
- The most obvious sign of all: it takes a great amount of physical strength to venture in and out of your closet and your drawers.
"Pambihira, kayo naman pala may kasalanan kung bakit ang sikip-sikip dito eh. What will you do with this?" I said, holding up a cute blouse of hers.
"Uh, throw it away," she answered plainly.
"What!? But... hey I think I like this. I'll keep it na lang ha."
"What about this?" I asked again, holding up another one of her cute blouses.
"Throw away," she said again.
I looked with pity upon the poor silk thing. "Ang sama naman ni Mommy sa'yo," I told the blouse before telling my mom that I'd keep it. My tita who was nearby laughed at me.
I also happened to pass by her room and rummaged through her "throw-away" pile.
"WHAT!? You're throwing away this? But why? You've never even worn it! I'd save it, except I've tried it on before and I know it doesn't fit me," I wailed about another one of her beautiful silk blouses and the fact that I couldn't wear it to save it.
Anyway, before you start thinking that I ended up accumulating even more stuff in the end, I was able to throw away a huge mountain of clothes. So I was successful after all. I also realized that I ought to slow down a bit on my dress-addiction shopping. A bit lang, haha.
I'm no expert when it comes to dressing up, but here are a few things I've learned:
- Shopping for the basics, such as white shirts/tank tops, shorts and tubes in black, white, and nude, and a good pair of jeans (even for someone like me who hardly wears jeans) seems like an awfully boring waste of money. Usually I'd be more excited to buy a gorgeous dress. But really, once you have these basics, dressing up and exploiting everything you have in your closet becomes a lot easier.
- Steer clear of fads and trends, especially if you notice that everybody is already wearing them. There is nothing uglier than a sea of women all wearing pretty much the same thing. Call me the ultimate snob, but I would not want to be caught dead taking part in the uniform parade. You want to look smarter and more sophisticated than that, like it was actually you who put together what you're wearing. I personally don't take it as a compliment when someone tells me, "Wow, ang ganda ng damit mo! Uso yan ngayon!" It's not that I don't love checking out fashion spreads, but a girl must always, always make her own judgments and concoct her own deconstructions instead of readily accepting every glamorous picture she sees.
- Don't bother with boring clothes. Fill your wardrobe with interesting pieces so that even when you're too much in a hurry that you literally just throw stuff on yourself, you still end up looking good.
- Try clothes on before you buy them. It is of the utmost importance. This is the reason why I don't buy from online shops and bazaars. Just because a dress looks good on the hanger/mannequin, it doesn't automatically mean that it will look good on you. Your body is unique. The way the dress will fall on your body, therefore, will also be unique. Trust me. It's something you have to see before you decide to hand in your hard-earned money.
- The most beautiful and most stylish women are always the most simple. You want your clothing and accessories to flatter and enhance your aesthetic details, not upstage you altogether.
Catherine