Finally-letting go of clothing

A few weeks ago, I posted Measures of our worth, discussing unhealthy things we hold onto--the things we know we should let go of but don't necessarily until we finally realize how detrimental that item is, whether it is behaviorally or emotionally or both.

Many of us have old clothing items we have held onto for a long time, even during recovery. Whether it is out of security, a longing for, or a symbolism of the past, truly, it just is not helpful to us in the end.  

Earlier this week, I decided to get rid of this pair of jeans.  A local rescue group is having a yard sale this weekend, so I thought I would put this in my donation box.  I was actually going to hand this pair of jeans plus several other items over to an upscale consignment shop, but I just never got around to it.

This pair of jeans got some usage, mostly in my twenties, but hasn't been worn in several years to be honest.  Besides that I'm no longer starving myself, I think it's also the fact that I decided I wanted to wear things that actually fit me better-not only waist wise but also length wise.  This pair of jeans has an inseam of 30".  On someone who is only about 5'1, it was way too long.  When I originally bought this off of ebay, I was stoked, because I found a pair of Abercrombie & Fitch men's slouch jeans. (I had another pair my mom had found for me years before which I loved) 

I think I kept this pair of jeans hanging in my closet for the sole purpose of wishing-knowing that there was always the option to go back.  And I needed to hold onto that for a long time until I felt strong enough to know there was the least bit likelihood that I would revert back.

So this is now farewell, good riddance to this piece of clothing.  Though there isn't quite as much anguish as I thought there would be, it is still removing a part of your life-a symbolism of sorts.  I just hope now that whoever buys them does it for the right fit and not a yearning to be something they are not.

In case you didn't see these other creative posts by some fantastic bloggers, check them out:

Sarah used her jeans as an art project.

Katie, for her 100th post, took more drastic measures and watched her jeans melt and crumble.

p.s.-yes, this photo was staged-see the symbolism?

Cirque delayed

Ahh, Mother Nature has played her nasty role here. The week has been filled with heavy rain, high winds, and tornado warnings. Not much fun to say the least. Cirque du Soleil cancelled their shows this entire week due to the rising river levels. Seriously, the river is like 4 feet above flood stage and not receding quickly whatsoever. Their poor site is a mess with workers having to boat their way to the tents and trailers. We have heard that for whatever reason this show seems to carry a "black cloud." They've had snow in AZ, floods in San Diego, ice in an Francisco, and now record breaking flooding here.

This means no work for me, at least until next week, hopefully. Boo. But actually, this sort of works out as I have decided to run the half-marathon this weekend. By not working, I'll have ample time to register (yes, I missed the online registration by 30 minutes!) and go to the Expo which is always fabulous, though a bit mazey. I may also have time to do a SAR session with Tovah too. I've got to check on that one for sure.

So I complained mentioned about the black clothes I had to buy for this temp job. I did follow everyone's advice and went to thrifty/consignment places. I was pretty surprised to find some nice clothing for bargain prices. Here are a few of my purchases: I am usually not a big dress person, but I really liked this B. Moss one. The blazer was just my size, and I figured would work well for other occasions. You can see a few more black items I found. A few of the pics are just other clothes I like or ones my mother brought me. I'll get to that in a minute.

While my mother came to visit, she brought me more clothes. Some were black, others not. You see, my mother is like the Queen of consignment shop/bargain hunting. I even took her to one here which she fell in love with, telling me that every time she visits, we must go to that store.

Many times, my mom finds great buys, because she has a lot of patience to dig through stuff--I do but to a point. Now, one thing I have decided my mother does, and for whatever reason, it clicked on this visit, is live vicariously through me by buying me what I call "Bohemian" clothes. Seriously, check out this dress which has grown on me I must say:

Though my mom is a child of the 40s, she really loved the 60s era and went all out on flowery dresses, headbands, and the like. The blousey shirt in the photo album is another one of her bohemian finds. I wore that the day I went to the butterfly show.

Unlike

Now one thing I did have to buy twice was black shoes. The first pair I bought hurt my feet way too much standing. So I wound up with this pair of Merrell last week. Sadly, they were not on sale, but again, they are usable for future occasions.

That's the wrap on my clothing saga. One thing I am trying to do in general is dress better. It's not that I dress poorly or anything, but I tend to dress for comfort than style. I guess that is the dog trainer in me, years of fearing dog prints on nice clothes. But I think overall, it is a good thing for me--kind of lifts my mood a bit. And heck, we all need that at times in recovery, eh?

Booty can have style

Earlier in the week, I went grocery shopping. It was a pretty mundane shopping day, so I didn't have too much anxiety.

Anyway, I was in the produce section, specifically deciding on whether to buy asparagus that looked decent and was $1 cheaper than usual. As I was deciding, a woman came up in her cart, debating the same question. I stepped aside and decided to grab a few zucchinis while she took some asparagus.

And then, suddenly, something caught my eye. It was similar to the picture above. All I could see was what looked like two butt cheeks sitting in the front part of the cart but with no legs or torso or head for that matter. I took a double look and finally saw the strap which concluded that it was a handbag.

Please tell me I am not the only person who knew these things existed. Seriously, I had never seen one before.My first thought of this was how bizarre. However, I began thinking about it some more and then thought:

This would be such a cool thing to do to those skinny jeans a lot of us still hold on to
It's like a way of reinventing but with style. Instead of wearing these jeans around our waists, berating our selves, they can be worn as an accessory!

So what do you think? Cool or not?
Note--*images by handbagblues
*For all those seamstresses out there, if you're interested in making your own blue jeans handbag, ehow offers directions.
how to make blue jean handbags