War, war, war-drobe!

Guess who was watching Gone With The Wind the other night?  Do you know Olivia deHavilland is still alive?  97 and kicking.

But I digress.

A couple of months ago I ran across a very interesting and inspiring blog post by Nadia Eghbal.  A former fashionista, she wore the same outfit every day for a year.   Did people notice?  Maybe, but no one followed her through the halls pointing and giggling (she doesn’t work in a high school, obvs).  Her uniform was a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a scarf.  That can carry you through almost any situation.  She also kept a couple of formal dresses for special occasions, but she got rid of all her other clothes.

That really resonated with me.  I thought about it for quite a while and then I realized the reason why I got such a charge out of that post.  I wear a uniform almost every day, too.  I take the bus to work in all weather, so I usually wear slacks.  I have about five pairs so I wear one a day for the work week — jeans on Friday, natch.

I top the slacks with a short-sleeved top in the summer and a long-sleeved top in the winter.  A couple of cardigans. Three or four scarves.  One necklace.  That’s it.

So do I need too much else?  No, I really don’t. I buy a lot of clothes at the Gap because they are comfortable and affordable.

Now that we have to squeeze two wardrobes into one PAX system, I’ve got to pare that wardrobe down to the basics. But it’s not like I have to re-invent myself.  I’ve been doing that for years.  I just have to get rid of the stuff that doesn’t fit my re-invented lifestyle. And buy new clothes that do fit it — and me.

It helps that I’ve lost some weight in the last year.  No, it didn’t just fall off me, every pound was hard-fought, and I have to keep working at it to keep it off.  (I know what you’re going to say, “If you lost that weight, how come you’re still….plumpish?”  **Hard Stare**.) I still own several ensembles that are just too big for me.  I’m tossing them.  And I have lots of tops that I can still wear, but they are my old size and make me feel…plumpish.  So they will be replaced one by one by tops that fit me better.

We want to start travelling more.  That means clothes that can be rolled up and squeezed into carry-on luggage.  Tops that can dry overnight after being washed in hotel sinks. Slacks that can be worn on long flights without bagging at the knees and bum.

I won’t need a lot of clothes, and I won’t have the space to store clothes that can’t meet the criteria.

Next weekend — I will gather my forces to get rid of that sad pile of ill-fitting clothes, and fight the battle of the Droop Mountain.  I knew I’d work in Gone With The Wind somehow.