|
What Your Closet Says About You
One woman's dating history is mapped in her closet.
by Katrina Heron
Another friend, an artist who doesn’t own a piece of clothing without paint on it, said to me out of the blue one day that it was “always so important to pay attention to the green wood of yourself.” I still can’t claim to know exactly what she meant, but I sensed that she and Vreeland were soul sisters; the words captured perfectly the way I longed to feel.
The unhappy state of affairs in which I found myself has a time-honored, all-purpose remedy: Get thee to the gym. Get in touch with your body. The hitch is, working out (at least in the beginning) brings to the fore all the things you don’t like about your appearance. Plus, you may develop a tendency to hang out in lumpy sweats. So while I’m all for physical exercise, it would not be the magic bullet. I needed my body to get in touch with me.
And it did. The first messages arrived in the shape of an ‘S,’ for small. This lovely letter revealed to me things that ‘M’ had left hidden and ‘L,’ in affording a warm cocoon, had made all but invisible. My waist, for one thing. And then my legs and my arms, which boldly began asking for less coverage, more swing.
Warmer weather spurred me on, as did my friends. One in particular, for whom clothes shopping has always been a high art, sensed a transformative opportunity. She installed me in a Neiman Marcus dressing room and put a battalion of sales clerks to work finding me a pair of perfectly fitting jeans. I don’t know which of us was more pleased by the victory.
Though it helped that I had finally washed that guy right out of my hair, there was no new man in the picture when the first flight of gorgeous, buttery-hued Cosabella lingerie caught my eye. (Now there is. As I noted oh-so-sagely to a friend who recently commented that it was a waste of time to lay in good lingerie when she had no love interest, “Don’t wait–get it now!”) The stirring of my fashion desire had nothing to do with anyone else, and everything to do with me.
 (No Ratings Yet) Loading ... |
Email to a Friend
Share on Facebook
Digg It
Delicious
Newsvine
Stumble
Reddit
1 Seven Weeks Away from Mr. Right? // Feb 27, 2008 at 2:24 pm
[…] to dredging up your past wounds in order to get over them, and she equates the CITO process with cleaning out your closet—after all, there isn’t room for new stuff until you toss out the old. Post Comment 1 2 3 4 […]
2 T // Jan 6, 2007 at 2:36 am
You just described the last year or two of my life. Everything in my closet was black and my rolls were plenty. When I realized that my marriage was over, I was freed in a sense that I could justify paying attention to myself as a woman - not just a wife and mother. I lost weight because I was happy. Suddenly, I was buying cute nighties to wear - even though no one saw me in them. I started borrowing clothes from my teenage daughters’ closet and now shop in the Juniors section. My closet is full - I hate to get rid of anything! But the section of cute and fashionable outfits is what I frequent - and is what makes me feel flirty and feminine again. It’s so nice to have these additions to complement my newly-found self!
3 Toni // Jan 6, 2007 at 2:36 am
You just described the last year or two of my life. Everything in my closet was black and my rolls were plenty. When I realized that my marriage was over, I was freed in a sense that I could justify paying attention to myself as a woman - not just a wife and mother. I lost weight because I was happy. Suddenly, I was buying cute nighties to wear - even though no one saw me in them. I started borrowing clothes from my teenage daughters’ closet and now shop in the Juniors section. My closet is full - I hate to get rid of anything! But the section of cute and fashionable outfits is what I frequent - and is what makes me feel flirty and feminine again. It’s so nice to have these additions to complement my newly-found self!
4 khalid // Nov 2, 2006 at 5:27 pm
sex
5 Noelia // Oct 6, 2006 at 1:13 pm
Excellent! Loved the article and totallly relate to it. I recently lost 50 lbs. have worked-out for 6 mos. and my closet has gone from prissy to pure sexy. I enjoy being a woman and I finally enjoy my sexuality.
Read All 11 Comments on What Your Closet Says About You