Although it was pretty terrible I feel pretty good about the results. I trashed some clothes that I had apparently used to roll around in grout and caulk. I filled up a rag bag for the garage. I made a substantial pile to donate. The clothes I kept fall in to two categories- clothes that I like and fit, plus clothes that I really like a don’t fit. I was warned against hanging on to clothes that din’t fit but some of them I bought right before a new job. In a manner similar to the “freshman-15” I had a little growth spurt. So I’m hanging on to some clothes I JUST bought that are a little too snug.
Here’s the resulting data for people who are in to that sort of thing.
The week since the clothes purge I have felt some benefits. I don’t have to rummage through clothes that I don’t like or don’t fit to get ready in the morning. It doesn’t seem like I’m doing laundry more often, but when it is time for laundry I’ve found that I’m not washing clothes that ended up in the laundry cycle just because I pulled them out of the closet and and dropped them on the floor because they didn’t fit.
If you read the Intro, you know that I’ve decided to pay a little more attention to what I wear to work. As an engineer there’s something a little cathartic about thinking through how to break the problem down into its component problems and making a plan to address them. One of those steps is to remember to start taking care of myself 15 years go. This particular step is doing some data analysis to try to figure out what I have and how I got here. What I discovered was that I haven’t gotten rid of clothes in over a decade. It’s not good.
Let’s just get it over with- here’s the data.
I might tell you I’m not sure how it happened, but in the process of doing the work to get all my clothes together I now know exactly how it happened.
When I get ready for work in the morning my concerns are typically centered around getting out the door as quickly as possible. Most of the time the clothes I wear typically come straight from the dryer. I haven’t given it much thought, mainly because it’s a system that, until now, had worked for me. But I has slowly created a situation. A shame inducing, mountain of bad clothes, situation.
No sleep until sorted
First, my typical work wear is the software engineer’s uniform. Polyester polo shirts with company logos, jeans, khakis, tennis-shoes- the look is ubiquitous in the industry. Unless its hot- then the jeans get replaced with cargo shorts.
Second, my weekend wear is basic. I work on my house so most of the clothes I buy are clothes I know I’m going to ruin with paint or caulk or expanding foam. For that reason I’m steeped in a rainbow of various pocket T-Shirts from Target and Wrangler Cargo shorts.
Third, when I absolutely must get half-way decent I’ll rummage through the closet, not find anything I’m super happy with- mainly because it’s a little more snug then last time I saw it- and run to the store and pick up a button-up. It’s typically Kohl’s, or an outlet mall. I hate shopping, especially for clothes so sometimes I’ll find something that fits and grab 2 or 3 of the same brand.
These factors, over time, have resulted in a local economy of sorts, that keeps my dryer filled with employee swag polo shirts, and an ever aging collection of other clothes that somehow keep getting smaller over time.
I’m going to get up in the morning and sort this out. It’s probably going to be terrible.
This is an attempt to create a not-so-terrible introductory post to what is most likely going to be terrible.
Googles “How to write an introduction to a blog.” … first result: ok, done.
Invite the reader in
State a commonality
Be personal
State facts
Use quotes
Be exciting
Conclude
Hi. This is a blog. Take a look around, make yourself comfortable.
Hey, do you remember that time you got a technology job in the fashion industry and only then you realized that you didn’t know how to dress yourself? Good times.
Well I do. It was a couple of months ago!
Did you know that the first pair of sweatpants was introduced in the 1920s? These were simple knitted grey jersey pants that allowed athletes to stretch and run comfortably. I’ve learned that you typically shouldn’t wear them to work. However, after becoming a global symbol of “giving up on life” sweatpants have made a resurgence as “street wear.” Let’s hope that we can learn how to make wearing sweatpants to work a thing.
“Clothes don’t make a man, but clothes have got many a man a good job.”
– Herbert Harold Vreeland
So stay tuned as together we embark on a journey of overcoming years of fashion apathy, digging out of a desk job induced physique, and probably very little of both! Let’s go!
