My Clothes By the Numbers: A Very Strange Post
So, despite weather reports warning that it would rain all weekend, it was gorgeous on Saturday. Jesse and I took full advantage, walking from Union Square to Times Square to meet Derrick at Penn Station. Along the way, we ducked into a few stores, but I didn't find anything I really wanted to buy. That got me thinking about the way I buy clothes. I won't buy something just to have it. I have to really, really love something before I commit to a purchase. But once I give in, I'll probably love it forever. As a result, I don't have a ton of new clothes all the time, but I tend to like what I have.
I also started to wonder about what has been in my closet forever. The oldest piece of clothing I have is from 1992. It's my Squiggles shirt. If you didn't grow up in my hometown, Squiggles was this place that hosted spin-art birthday parties. If you were the birthday girl, everybody signed a shirt in puffy paint, and then it was thrown in the spinner. In addition to everybody's groovy, splotchy signature, the shirt also has the date of the party (1-15-92), otherwise I never would have known what year it was from.
The next oldest pieces of clothing I have are from 1994. They're both boxers that I picked up as favors at Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. The first is from Adam's Bar Mitzvah, one of the first I ever attended. I guess his party was comic-book themed, because the boxers have Wolverine on them. The second pair are from Beth's Bat Mitvah, the absolute last one I went to, and they're considerably girlier, with her name in purple lettering. Both boxers have the date on them, so I know they're from 1994.
I only use the Squiggles shirt and the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Boxers to sleep in, but I still won't get rid of them.
After that, I'd say the next oldest pieces of clothing I have are from 1996. I have a couple of concert shirts-two They Might Be Giants tour tees and a stained Ben Folds ringer-that I also sleep in. I'm pretty sure there are more clothes in my closet that have been knocking around since high school, but I can't easily identify them as such, since most regular clothing doesn't come conveniently stamped with the date on them. I have a lot of nostalgic tees, like the wilderness-themed shirt I bought after I hiked almost to the top of Mount Washington, that I can remember how old they are because I remember what I was doing when I bought them. Like the rest of my oldest clothing, I only use them to sleep in. I have a lot of pajamas.
I actually have two hoodies that are of indeterminate age: Classic Blue and Yellow. In general, I have a lot of hoodies: Classic Blue, Yellow, New Blue, Red (which Jesse is holding hostage), Sweatery, Blacky, Shiny, and Gloria. Classic Blue and Yellow both appeared in my wardrobe one day. I'm pretty sure they're both hand-me-downs from my mother, so they might be older than the Squiggles shirt. Yellow is missing in action. I think it might have found its way back to my mother. It wasn't that great of a hoodie, though. It was too big, and not very warm. Classic Blue, on the other hand, was my favorite piece of clothing ever. I wore that everywhere, starting sometime in high school. I have pictures of it on Alcatraz island, and also in the woods of New Hampshire, so it's pretty much been coast-to-coast with me. I definitely wore it through senior year of college, when the wrists started to fray. Then I had to retire it, because I didn't want to wear it out completely. I bought Red as its replacement, but Jesse took a shine to Red and bought me New Blue to take its place. New Blue is pretty good, but in-between I acquired Gloria (named so because the label says Gloria Vanderbilt)-probably also from my mom-and now that's my favorite piece of clothing that I own. And I use it for more than just sleeping in.
I also started to wonder about what has been in my closet forever. The oldest piece of clothing I have is from 1992. It's my Squiggles shirt. If you didn't grow up in my hometown, Squiggles was this place that hosted spin-art birthday parties. If you were the birthday girl, everybody signed a shirt in puffy paint, and then it was thrown in the spinner. In addition to everybody's groovy, splotchy signature, the shirt also has the date of the party (1-15-92), otherwise I never would have known what year it was from.
The next oldest pieces of clothing I have are from 1994. They're both boxers that I picked up as favors at Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. The first is from Adam's Bar Mitzvah, one of the first I ever attended. I guess his party was comic-book themed, because the boxers have Wolverine on them. The second pair are from Beth's Bat Mitvah, the absolute last one I went to, and they're considerably girlier, with her name in purple lettering. Both boxers have the date on them, so I know they're from 1994.
I only use the Squiggles shirt and the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Boxers to sleep in, but I still won't get rid of them.
After that, I'd say the next oldest pieces of clothing I have are from 1996. I have a couple of concert shirts-two They Might Be Giants tour tees and a stained Ben Folds ringer-that I also sleep in. I'm pretty sure there are more clothes in my closet that have been knocking around since high school, but I can't easily identify them as such, since most regular clothing doesn't come conveniently stamped with the date on them. I have a lot of nostalgic tees, like the wilderness-themed shirt I bought after I hiked almost to the top of Mount Washington, that I can remember how old they are because I remember what I was doing when I bought them. Like the rest of my oldest clothing, I only use them to sleep in. I have a lot of pajamas.
I actually have two hoodies that are of indeterminate age: Classic Blue and Yellow. In general, I have a lot of hoodies: Classic Blue, Yellow, New Blue, Red (which Jesse is holding hostage), Sweatery, Blacky, Shiny, and Gloria. Classic Blue and Yellow both appeared in my wardrobe one day. I'm pretty sure they're both hand-me-downs from my mother, so they might be older than the Squiggles shirt. Yellow is missing in action. I think it might have found its way back to my mother. It wasn't that great of a hoodie, though. It was too big, and not very warm. Classic Blue, on the other hand, was my favorite piece of clothing ever. I wore that everywhere, starting sometime in high school. I have pictures of it on Alcatraz island, and also in the woods of New Hampshire, so it's pretty much been coast-to-coast with me. I definitely wore it through senior year of college, when the wrists started to fray. Then I had to retire it, because I didn't want to wear it out completely. I bought Red as its replacement, but Jesse took a shine to Red and bought me New Blue to take its place. New Blue is pretty good, but in-between I acquired Gloria (named so because the label says Gloria Vanderbilt)-probably also from my mom-and now that's my favorite piece of clothing that I own. And I use it for more than just sleeping in.