I used to do some storage design that usually involved reminding women that their closets would still be too full no matter what shelves and hanging rods we built into them. And I saw clues to what makes us buy so much. One woman had an armload of beautiful, feminine, flowered tops and dresses. Thinking back to her closet reminds me of my mom. Mom had convinced herself that she couldn't wear the same thing twice to club meetings. So even the guest closet was jammed full of interesting outfits, only one of which I'd ever seen her wear. Since vacations were spent fishing with Dad, she wasn't saving those outfits for the out-of-town crowd.
Making my own clothes as a kid, I fell victim to the prettiest yard goods, the most flattering pattern. Over and over. My allowance wouldn't cover the dresses I saw in Seventeen magazine. By the time I got married, not only was the closet full, but I had a full closet rod of interesting dresses up in the attic.
Years passed. My closet space and sometimes my budget got smaller. I got a job in an upscale store and had to be there every day in full view of her clients. I had lost weight since my corporate days. Five days a week, I wore the only black wool skirt that fit. Burbank, CA can be hot for a wool skirt. But a black straight skirt is just a black skirt so nobody noticed.
It reminded me of a book I read in grade school called The Hundred Dresses. A girl from a not-rich family wore jeans every day. She told other kids she had a hundred dresses. Then her family moved away. They found her empty closet was papered with her colorful drawings of - you guessed it - a hundred dresses. She had learned that a pair of jeans (in those days) was like a plain black skirt. No one knew for sure it was always the same one.
Someone I know can wear the same black denim pants and white shirt to work every shift - no one knows.
Sherlock finds the closets full of flowers and frills and plaids and stripe pleats and colors and even flowered shoes GUILTY of TMHA.
(Too Much Hanger Appeal. Too few basics. And too easy for everyone else to remember.)
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