Worthwhile Things to Last
Just like buying a house will mean that it will finally seem worthwhile to buy furniture, probably 15 years ago it was nice to realize that I wasn't going to grow out of clothes anymore.
Of course, this meant that the annual "back to school" trip to Marshall's, led by Mom trailed by Juliet and myself, was over. No new blue jeans that are just so ridiculously blue and stiff that they scream "first day of school." Same for the blindingly white sneakers, that you drag and scuff on the walk to school to break in before stepping into the classroom.
Clothes will now wear out, be ruined by a stain or pen mark (rats!), or go out of style before they stop fitting me. (Barring any big swings in weight plus/minus.)
My friend had a 'closet organizer' spend a day with her to go through her wardrobe and tell her which clothes to keep as 'timeless classics'; which ones to toss because even if she did lose weight to fit into them again, they'd be hopelessly out of style; and what 'flexible essentials' she should add to her wardrobe.
After my trip to Madrid last year I identified the need for the timeless, classic, flexible essential. Despite what you might consider my worldly history, living in London and Tokyo, and traveling about the world, I don't think I possibly could have had a jacket that screamed more AMERICAN and TOURIST than my windbreaker. But when you're packing one bag for nearly two weeks away you're not going to bring one nice jacket, one casual jacket, and one rain jacket. That's impractical. How would you fit the five pairs of shoes?? (Just kidding.)
So this is what I need to hunt for - a black trench coat. Black is very classy. A trench coat is timeless.
Quintessentially, there's Burberry. But I'd kill myself if I left a hundreds-of-dollars jacket on the train. What makes these things so expensive??
(After spying the price tag, I now see why Mom treasured hers. Must have been a rare splurge amidst her closet of thrift store finds. Wonder if a good tailor could get the sleeves on her beige trench to get closer to my wrists? Or maybe rework as though it's meant to have 3/4 length sleeves?)
I'm more thinking of this Bluefly parallel, at a more reasonable price, able to be amortized over the years and further trips.
Even cheaper, but maybe too girly (skirt so full, big bow reminds me of my junior prom dress) is this Anthropologie find on ebay.
Of course, this meant that the annual "back to school" trip to Marshall's, led by Mom trailed by Juliet and myself, was over. No new blue jeans that are just so ridiculously blue and stiff that they scream "first day of school." Same for the blindingly white sneakers, that you drag and scuff on the walk to school to break in before stepping into the classroom.
Clothes will now wear out, be ruined by a stain or pen mark (rats!), or go out of style before they stop fitting me. (Barring any big swings in weight plus/minus.)
My friend had a 'closet organizer' spend a day with her to go through her wardrobe and tell her which clothes to keep as 'timeless classics'; which ones to toss because even if she did lose weight to fit into them again, they'd be hopelessly out of style; and what 'flexible essentials' she should add to her wardrobe.
After my trip to Madrid last year I identified the need for the timeless, classic, flexible essential. Despite what you might consider my worldly history, living in London and Tokyo, and traveling about the world, I don't think I possibly could have had a jacket that screamed more AMERICAN and TOURIST than my windbreaker. But when you're packing one bag for nearly two weeks away you're not going to bring one nice jacket, one casual jacket, and one rain jacket. That's impractical. How would you fit the five pairs of shoes?? (Just kidding.)
So this is what I need to hunt for - a black trench coat. Black is very classy. A trench coat is timeless.
Quintessentially, there's Burberry. But I'd kill myself if I left a hundreds-of-dollars jacket on the train. What makes these things so expensive??
(After spying the price tag, I now see why Mom treasured hers. Must have been a rare splurge amidst her closet of thrift store finds. Wonder if a good tailor could get the sleeves on her beige trench to get closer to my wrists? Or maybe rework as though it's meant to have 3/4 length sleeves?)I'm more thinking of this Bluefly parallel, at a more reasonable price, able to be amortized over the years and further trips.
Even cheaper, but maybe too girly (skirt so full, big bow reminds me of my junior prom dress) is this Anthropologie find on ebay.
Comments
I love a black trench but it actually does tend to show wear quickly and often, depending on the material, is easy to get covered in lint/cat hair etc. so sometimes I think it ends up looking a bit ratty.
However I love the idea of taking your mom's old trench and having it re-fitted. If it fits in the shoulders, it will be an easy tailoring job. Otherwise, it will need to be reworked completely but I think it would be really cool!
Not that I know a lot about these sorts of things ;)