Yesterday, I decided that after losing so much weight, it was finally time to clean out my dresser and closet.
So I spent the afternoon boxing up just about everything I owned: a 20-year accumulation of clothing in graduated sizes.
I filled 10 bankers' boxes with old - and not so old - garments.
Parting with the "fat clothes" was easy. I was nearly giddy to be merrily stuffing the boxes with size 14 pants, ugly dress suits and tent-like cocktail dresses I had to buy for business socials, because t-shirts and jeans were inappropriate.
I filled one box with old maternity things, and wondered why I'd kept them for so long. After all, I finally accepted the fact that I'd never be pregnant again when I turned 47 -- five years ago. Why keep it? Could it be because I weighed as much as I did just before giving birth to my daughter? Was I thinking that these were the only things that would fit any more? I threw them into the box.
Much tougher were the items I'd been holding on to, just in case I ever got small enough to wear them again. Some are too big now. Others are so woefully out of fashion that even though they fit nicely now, I would probably never be able to wear them in public.
I had to say good-bye to the beautiful green jacket with the black velvet trim and gorgeous buttons, which I'd purchased in 1991 for a pitch meeting with Warner Brothers. My partner took a photo of me that morning, just before we went into the studio. I look happy; young and hopeful. We made our sale, and from that time on, I thought of that garment as my "lucky" jacket.
I don't remember the last time I was able to wear the thing, button it up and move my arms freely in it, as I did yesterday. It paired beautifully with my jeans. Then I noticed the deal killer: big hulking shoulder pads. I guess we were still wearing them in 1991! Even if I was handy with a needle or hired someone to remove them, the shoulders wouldn't hang right. I put the jacket in the box. Someone who IS handy will be excited with this find at the Salvation Army store.
I went through the same process with the gold lame dress I'd worn at the last party I'd attended as an employee of the Tonight Show. It was cutting edge at the time. Now, it just looks busy -- it has a funny bow, a weirdly-shaped skirt, and those ubiquitous shoulder pads. It went into the box.
I held on to a few items for sentimental reasons: Another Tonight Show party frock, its black lace turned royal purple by the passage of time... the black leather miniskirt my husband would like to see me wear again (which, at my age, will never happen -- in public, anyway)... the jacket I wore on our first date...
About the only garment I've kept all these years that I can proudly wear again was purchased back in 1992, for my brother-in-law's wedding. It's a filmy, pink and white floral print, and was a retro style then, so remains timeless now. I have to admit, it looks beautiful. So if I get invited to any formal garden parties, I'm in luck.
As for the rest of the spring and the coming of summer -- I haven't a thing to wear.
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