Day 21: Abandonded Clothing

When I started this project I had very few rules—really only one: I was supposed to write creatively every day. I was not going to edit obsessively, or worry too much about style—the point was to simply WRITE. I actually have written a little every day, but a vacation and a frequently failing internet connection have prevented me from updating this blog. My minimal writing for the last three weeks is on little scraps of paper tucked here and there, or in e-mails I sent to myself from the road.

So here I am again… with a lot of catching up to do! Clearly my second goal of getting rid of 365 unneeded items is going to take me longer than a conventional year.

Today’s item is actually several.

On my vacation I ditched several clothing items I no longer need.

I started this habit years ago: When travel I bring clothing that is worn out, ever so slightly torn, stained, outdated or just not my style. I get one or two last wears out of it, and then leave it behind. Usually the clothing is not worthy of a second use, so it goes in the trash. (This may be marginally unethical, since the hotel then has to dispose of it, but I’m careful not to ditch too much in any one place.) I end up with space for new items in my suitcase and fewer dirty clothes to deal with when I come home.

So somewhere in a Lafayette, Louisiana landfill sits a tired brown turtleneck, and Pratteville, Alabama is the proud owner of a pair of olive green pants that I was very fond of until I spilled olive oil on them. In the TMI department, a couple pairs of torn underwear were left behind in Atlanta, Georgia and I ditched a pair of saggy socks I never did like in Texarkana, Texas.

Tomorrow I return to the discipline of cleaning out closets and drawers and writing and blogging. Promise.

Day 19: Cute Little Shoes

These are cute and from a time when my feet, back and legs were younger. My feet just get tired looking at them.

Day 10: Cheap Sunglasses

These $2.99 shades are headed for the trash can.

Sunglasses: Are they like your favorite jewelry or a silk scarf—a form adornment that makes a statement about who you are? Or are they a health aid whose sole function is to project your eyes from dangerous UV rays? Or are they shear practicality, something you wear to keep from driving off the road when the sun gets in your eyes?

Whatever they are, the variety is stunning. Did you know you can spend $3,800 on a single pair of Moss Lipow shades? The glasses, framed in ostrich and alligator leather, are featured on the Web site, www.most-expensive.net. And if that seems a little tame, you can go for a pair of Dolce and Gabanna’s with gold frames and diamond-studded bows for $383,609. Never mind that for that price you could buy a house and dozen or so new cars. You could keep your favorite NPR show on the air for years, or see your local food shelf through the recession.

A pair of prescription bifocal sunglasses could easily set a person back $500. I recently spent more than I spend on most shoes on a pair of really nice off-the-rack sunglasses that dull even the strongest rays. They are worth every penny.

On the other hand, consider this pair that I found in our junk drawer. Not even worth the $2.99 we paid for them, they don’t look cool, don’t block UV rays and the quality is so poor that they make it harder to see in the sun, not easier. They are one step up from the disposable kind you get from the eye doctors, but just barely.
I’m not sure what to do with these. If I was into theater I might save them for a costume, but I’m not. I think this is the first piece of true junk I’ve come across. I think these are destined for the garbage.

Day 9: A very cool yellow hat

Yellow just isn't my color.

I think to wear this kind of hat you have to be young and tres chic, or much older and of a status in life where you just don’t care. Remember how cool Aretha looked at Obama’s inauguration? No one could question her authority to wear that hat. It–and she–was spectacular. The day was spectacular.

But alas, I am neither young and chic or have Aretha’s personal power, so I am somewhat regretfully adding this gem to the pile.

This hat reeks of coolness. I wasn’t buying a hat when I plucked it off a sale table more than twenty years ago, I was buying image. With this hat I could take the world by storm.

I thought it looked really snappy with my dress coat, and it did double-duty as wall art. It looked swell hanging on the hat rack on the wall.

But let’s face it. I’m a parka kind of gal, and if I wear a hat it has to keep my ears warm. The one time I wore this hat it blew off my head and I almost killed myself trying to rescue it. And in twenty years all it’s done on the wall is collect dust – lots of dust.

And anyway, yellow isn’t my color.

Day 8: A Nifty Purple Book Bag

 

This item is testing my resolve. It’s a very nice bag and I’m really tempted to keep it. It’s made of sturdy purple canvas with grey trim, it has several pockets and it holds a lot. Its best feature is a zipper that lets it expand from quite trim to really big. It’s nicely worn around the edges, just enough to give it some character.

I bought it many years ago when I was still a bus rider and it served me well. It could hold my lunch, several books and whatever else I needed for the day.

That’s mostly the problem–it holds too much. It’s easy for this bag to get way too heavy and I’m trying to be kinder to my back and shoulders. Somebody taller and stronger needs this bag.

I’m sure someone will pounce on this bag at the Goodwill unless a student I know snaps it up. Eliza? Alex? Anyone?

Day 5: Socks

These nice socks went through the dryer at way too high a temperature. I don’t know whose calves they might fit, but it will never be mine.

Day 3: A chunky necklace

I miss Powers Department Store.  In particular I miss the Highland Powers.

That’s where I bought two chunky chokers because the nice Powers lady told me they would dress up any outfit.

The necklaces—one bronze, one silver—were $1.99 each. I bought both, figuring I needed quite a bit of dressing up if I was ever going to succeed in the world. $3.98 wasn’t too much to invest in my future, the nice lady told me. I could wear them on job interviews or on dates, they were very versatile. Never mind that had no prospects for dates or job interviews in the foreseeable future. They still seemed like too good a deal to pass up.

Turns out they were too much. Too chunky, too heavy, too tight around my neck, and too monochromatic. No dates or job interviews presented themselves and they hung on my dresser mirror with the rest of my finery.

Eventually I did get job interviews and a job, and eventually I did get dates, in particular several with a very fine man who became my husband. I have never worn the necklaces.

I think sometimes of the nice Powers lady, selling a young woman dreams in the form of clearance-rack jewelry. I miss those days. Now I need a lot more than a $1.98 necklace to sell me a dream.

I passed the bronze necklace on to my young friend, Scancy. The chunky beads will look good on her tall, gorgeous self. The silver one is up for grabs. What are your dreams?