Do you get sentimental about your clothes? Do you regularly toss out old stuff but keep a few things for sentimental reasons? Are you still dragging around -- and wearing -- clothes from a decade ago, or do you purge your dresser on a regular basis? Are you the kind of cold hearted person who could toss your own wedding dress in the garbage bin? Or do you still have your first pair of bronzed baby shoes in a box?

-- Anonymous, November 22, 1999

Answers

I am very sentimental about clothes. I can still remember every formal I've ever worn, and I have all of them too. I have many pieces of clothing that cause people to ask, "Where did you find that?!" (usually in a good way), and I'm protective of all of it. I'm one of those find-it-gotta-buy-it kind of shoppers. I'll mourn such items that I've passed over for financial reasons in a fit of rational thinking. Sigh.

Even worse are the pieces I've sewn myself. I have a gorgeous silk 1920's tango dress that I made for a gangster party a few years ago. It's pale blue, deep turquiose and indigo, and it's as soft as buttercream and flows like water. The silk cost over $100, not to mention the time it took to make it (and the situation I made it in, which is another long story in and of itself). I adore this gown. Then there's the navy, zig-zag woven shawl with the tapestry silver crescent moon that I made in weaving class. And my patchwork hat with embroidered dragonfly. These pieces are worth more to me than anything I've ever found in a store, and in case of fire will probably be more important than (gasp!) books for me to grab.

I really need to toss other old things, though, especially that stuff which hasn't fit for years and years. I keep thinking I'll remake those green jeans into something fun by inserting flashy cloth down the sides - they'll fit again and they'll be a unique piece!! However, my mending basket already overfloweth....

-- Anonymous, November 22, 1999

I don't really get sentimental about my clothes -- but then, I don't really have any spectacular clothes. I do still have my first formal dress, a gunmetal grey princess line balldress my mother made me for my high school grad. I'll probably keep that forever - it doesn't take up too much space.

As for the other stuff, I regularly purge -- I get rid of all the clothes I don't wear, the ones that don't fit - either my body or my lifestyle, the ones that are so funky that I never have the nerve to wear them. It's not just a way of getting more closet space, it's also about accepting who I am, and getting rid of the clothes that don't reflect that. I don't need clothes that remind me I'm not thin, or not funky.

And the clothes I get rid of go to Goodwill, where hopefully they'll be worn by someone who they suit, and who will love them. I love giving clothes away; it makes me feel almost as good as getting new ones.

Amy

-- Anonymous, November 22, 1999

I get sentimental about odd stuff. I don't have any baby clothes, and I let go of the size 32 jeans when it became clear that I won't need them again in this incarnation. Ditto all of the unusable clothes associated with specific good events in my life. (I have the pictures, right?)

But I have a box full of insulated underwear that I can't throw out. They've been in that box since I left Maine for Virginia in 1991. Somehow, if I throw them out, it will be a final admission that I am going to spend the rest of my life in the city, indoors. And I'm not ready to give up my dream of practicing lumber law on the banks of the Allagash just yet.

I also have a pair of white tennis shorts that I've never worn. I bought them in 1980 or '81, shortly before dropping out of the tennis program. It just seems wasteful to throw out something that I've never worn even once. D'ya think Goodwill would take 'em?

-- Anonymous, November 22, 1999

I have rock band t shirts that are now 13 or 14 years old and I will never ever throw them out. I wear them only 2 or 3 times a year, on special occasions. They always get comments and I imagine I actually am as cool as I want to be. Also, the first pair of Levi's I bought in high school; my goal is to fit into them again. It used to be hard for me to throw out shoes, but i've gotten better at giving them the boot, so to speak. Bizarrely enough I have trouble throwing out clothes that used to belong to boys I used to run around with. Usually I wore their clothes because they were so comfy, and though I can't really wear them anymore, I don't want to throw them out. and this old jean jacket i wore through my tortured teenage years. While I save my tough girl clothes, now the clothes I'm attached to are the well made ones, which is rare nowadays. The only formal dress I have is really awesome, but is made of plastic or something. I worry about the state of my leather jacket or the sweater my sister got me instead.

-- Anonymous, November 22, 1999

I wish wish WISH I were sentimental about clothes! My senior prom dress was an (my mom's name) original...and like your dress, it was gorgeous. Black velvet top, scoop neck, long sleeves, and a dark rich purple/black satin skirt. I insisted that my mom sew a dress for me, because my junior year two other girls had the same dress that I did. My dress was beautiful. I have no idea what happened to it. I hope my mom has it. I'm going to ask her on Thanksgiving.

My mom, however, saved my very first shirt and pair of overalls... clothing from 27 years ago that is going to be worn again next year..I can't wait! :)

-- Anonymous, November 22, 1999

I still have my thrid grade Halloween costume. It also still fits, although it is a bit short. Anything I've had longer than that is not in my closet, you'd have to ask my mother. I do have several dresses that belonged to her oh so long ago, both much shorter than I will normally wear but too cool to get rid of.

I haven't worn a dress since May, but my closet is overflowing. I need to figure out what my body is planning to do, so I can get rid of those things that do not fit and aren't likely to in the future. As Amy said, purging the closet is partly a matter of accepting who you are right now, and I don't seem to be very good at that. Add in the influence of my mother, who looks hurt if I cull something that she likes or, worse, something that was never worn, and it gets to be very dificult to whittle down the closet.

-- Anonymous, November 23, 1999

Oh, and I also collect other people's cast-offs. Jeremy's old Depeche Mode concert shirts are some of my favorite t-shirts (so thin and soft), and my only white buttoned shirt is an old one of his as well. And most of my jeans are what my mother doesn't want anymore.

I think I get a bit of comfort from knowing that if I decide tomorrow that I want to be a goth, or a hippychick, or something out of an Austin Powers movie, I could probably do it. The only thing I really can't do is wear a suit. The fact that I almost always wear t-shirts and jeans isn't relevant, is it?

-- Anonymous, November 23, 1999

Hmmm....while we're on the subject of old clothes....maybe, Heather, (first entry above) can find the time during her Xmas visit to go through some of the boxes of her clothes still stored at my house. Do I really need to provide space for a pair of white band shoes from high school? And yes, I save old clothes too. I have both my stiff, scratchy, NET formals from the fifties. And a blouse that I liked that I bought around 1960. I haven't worn it, of course, for 30 years, but it is so pretty with embroidered blue flowers and a bow on the front. And a sexy, red cocktail dress I made with a great, gored skirt that swirls about the knees.....just the thing to do a tango in. Ahem! Well, if I could get in it that is....And if I still knew how to tango! I believe there is a pink chiffon dress hanging in my closet at my mom's house. The dark, deep blue brocade dress with its skirt of 4 yards of fabric I made into a costume 30 years ago. Of course I still have the costume. I never throw any of those away. I also keep and wear clothes for a very, very long time and I keep the ones I can't get into because after all, when I get to be that size again, I will need something to wear. Something else that must run in this family!

-- Anonymous, November 23, 1999

But, Mom, what will I wear if I ever join a marching band again?

Seriously, though, take those heavy, vinyl, stiff awful shoes into the SHS band department and DONATE THEM; you're right, I will never, ever put my feet into those terrors again.

Everything else, you just hold your horses on. Some of that might be back in style soon. All those pastel shaker sweaters from 7th grade (with the matching patterned button-down shirts and twisted strands of beads) could be made into nifty pillows, maybe. And I could use old paisely shirts for patchwork stuff...

Where did I learn to hoard old clothes just in case I can reuse them later? From you! Ok? I learned it from watching YOU!

-- Anonymous, November 23, 1999

I'm not sentimental about my clothes, but I hate to throw things away, because I keep thinking I'll wear them again. I'll lose weight, really, I'll wear those skinny jeans!

I do a lot of costume things, too, and you can always take parts of one costume and combine it with parts of another. So you better not throw any of that stuff away because if you do, you'll need it.

-- Anonymous, November 23, 1999

...i've always end up tossing|donating stuff because i've moved so often...and if i really want something, i have to carry it to the next destination...many things haven't made the grade...

...funny enough, i purged my closet this weekend too...and also got rid of almost all of my high school t-shirts...now everything is either a baby-tee or some .com thing-y...but really the reason is that i almost never wear t-shirts so i really shouldn't have so many...

...on the flipside, i've been getting rid of things that are too big...all the extra-extra-baggy sweaters i used to wear in high school...i'm past the phase of wear i like to hide under a large wool tent...same thing for baggy pants...

...some stuff i'll send to my mother, some to my boyfriend [who is happy to get some of those baggy sweaters which fit him just fine], and the rest i'll donate to folks in my building --- meaning: i leave it in the lobby with a sign that says "free"...it's funny when i see someone two weeks later wearing one of my former blouses...

-- Anonymous, November 23, 1999