I am avid about donating clothes and cleaning out closets. I believe each time you buy something new, you get rid of something old. This is partly my nature, but partly a trait that has been nurtured from years of living in New York City (where "no closet space" is an overstatement). So...my closets and drawers are filled only with clothes I wear (with the additional of 3 sentimental/fun pieces that I don't wear, but that certainly fit me). Clothes that fit me, that I like putting on, that look decent on any given day or for any given occasion. That means, my closet is full of clothes ranging in size from 2 to 12. Okay, so I only have one item that is a size 2, and only two that are a size 12. But that still leaves a wide range of 4, 6, 8, and 10.
If someone asks me what size I wear, 10 would be my first instinct. "I am a perfect 10" is typically my proud, somewhat sarcastic, answer. Typically 10s fit, often I get them home and realize that I should have gone for the size 8. But when I try them on, I sometimes fear that I need more of a 8.25 or 8.5, and it is easier to shrink or take in clothes than to expand them (oh, and if you ever wondered, dry cleaning does shrink clothes! it is not you, you are bloated, you haven't gained yet. the clothes shrunk. i recently put our living room drapes in the dry cleaner to make them look like new.....the drapes that once swept gently across the floor now are at least 3 inches off the ground. terrific....but i digress).
i have a pair of capri pants from Banana Republic. their clothes fit me well...i saw the pants, and loved them. i wanted a 10, they only had a 12 or a 6. i tried both on. i swam in the 12 and, when i put the 6 on, the clerk, my husband, and my little sister (well, not my sister, but she lived with my family for many years, and is therefore like a sister) all wondered why the hell i thought i needed a 10. the 6 fits great and has for 3 1/2 years. but, i thought i needed a 10 because all the other clothes that i have that are a size 10 - some from BR - fit great too.
my go to little black dress? a 4. my go to long summer dress that i love? a 12. my go to jeans (in the event I am not wearing my Sevens that don't come in 6-8-10-12, which is a rare occasion)...an 8. my favorite Laundry suit for work? a 10. my favorite black pants? a 10. my second favorite black pants? a 6. my favorite summer brown skirt? a small. my second favorite summer skirt? a 10. my favorite black work shirt? a 6. my favorite brown shirt? a 12. my light tan capris? a 4. my favorite sweater? a medium. my second favorite sweater? a large. my favorite tank sweater to wear with my suits? a small.
So when I hear my colleague today saying that she refuses to wear anything over a size 6, i not only have additional reason not to like her (which i don't, for many reasons, but i won't get started on those reasons b/c then i will really digress), but i also just don't get it. If clothes fit nicely, they look good. If I see two people, about the same size, and one tries to fit into something too small -- she looks much bigger to me than someone who wears the size that fits. And unlike some men's clothes, no one has to know the size you are wearing but YOU (the size of our jeans aren't typically spread across the back of them, like the old school men's Levi's). Clothes that fit look good. Clothes that are too small or too big don't look as good. And we ("we" meaning me and everyone else in the world) don't look as good in them.
And I think my wardrobe should show - the size of our clothes says nothing about our bodies. My body doesn't morph from a tiny little 4 to an average size 12 depending on what I am wearing. Neither does anyone else's. The clothes are just cut different, made differently, happen to fit differently. I'd lie if I said I was a "size 4" or if I said I was a "size 12," but not because I don't wear both of those sizes. I just don't fit the body type people associate with those sizes. (Actually, to be honest, I don't fit any body type, which is consistently disappoints me each time I read the magazine articles that share what clothes best flatter which bodies).
So I know I am preaching to the converted, because of those of you I know read this blog, I know you think the same as I do on this point. But in the case of clothes, our bodies don't come in perfect sizes. They don't correlate with the 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, etc...that we see in the store. And they shouldn't. And we shouldn't care.
However - my husband's wardrobe -- size 34/34 pants, size L shirts (with the occasional XL) across the board:)
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3 comments:
Yup, preaching to the choir on that one. :) Although I don't have nearly the clothes variation that you do (in size), I am compulsive about cleaning out clothes and donating (so you should see how funny my now Texas-sized ginormous walk in closet looks, with one rack used for clothes!) It's one of my quirks - immediately getting rid of anything I perceive as no longer useful. Drives Rich nuts. He's constantly asking "Where is such and such...and PLEASE don't tell me you got rid of it!" He says I have the opposite of pack rat syndrome. However, I take great pride that, even after 3 kids, there is very little clutter in my house.
Anyway, I'm at a very odd crossroads with my clothing size, so interesting that you post this now. I probably "should" be a 10 - what I mean by that is that I HATE clothes that I consider tight, but what most people would consider actually FITTING, so that I am wearing 12s right now but they are baggy and loose. I like them that way. But I have been told (by MANY) that they are not the most flattering. My friend Sarah brought be a pair of her size 10 jeans (she is a larger size now and wanted me to see that yes, I really am that small) and they fit fine (meaning I could button and zip without sucking) but they SEEMED so tight to me - even as Rich practically drooled.
Oh well, body issues abound, right? So...my closet is filled with 12s and 14s (having only recently lost a lot of baby fat) and I probably SHOULD start shopping for 10s. But I'm not. Maybe if I lose 10 more pounds (when I "should" be a size 8, maybe) I'll bring myself to buy 10s.
Okay...totally wrote a novel there. Sorry!
Tracey--Derek and Rich must go through the same frustration sometimes. I throw everything away - my theory is that if it is important, it has a place or something that clearly TELLS me not to throw it away. If not - then it is gone. Maybe not thrown away, but donated. Many many many things have been "victim" to my opposite-of-pack-rat sybndrome, too:) It's a good thing! I hate clutter, I am totally with you.
By the 10s....trust me, we all look smaller (which is generally the goal right? otherwise, why would we work so hard to be a certain weight, etc...) when the clothes fit! And your idea of comfort will soon change and you'll realize that the bigger clothes (excess material) aren't actually that comfortable either.
I agree with both of you. On the size part...I am an 8 or a 10. Here is my problem, if the pants fit my butt then the waistband doesn't even come close to my body. I could probably fit 4 hands in the waistband. I so wish they had a size 8.5. I go through my closet 2 to 3 times a year and donate clothes. I used to keep everything. I would only wear about 1/4 of it and just held on to the rest. Now we try to declutter throughout the year.
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