The New and the Everyday

There is a long list of Things that Make Me Happy, and one of those, I must admit, are new clothes. New colours to blend into the clothes already in the closet, new patterns and textures to touch and look at, and an all around new feeling inside my person when putting on and wearing the new clothes.

There is a part of me that feels like I should be less in love with buying new clothes, that there is something a bit... shallow, a bit crass, but, then I think: since it is more accepted to be out in public dressed, rather than, undressed (at least in my zip code), I may as well buy some things that will make me smile inside when wearing them. 

Buying new clothes always, always, always sends me back to that shop for new school clothes which happened in our family every August. All the new clothes, carefully chosen, and the new pair of nice shoes, to put away in the closet: All the clothes that I had outgrown removed from the closet and either claimed by my younger sister or put in a pile for Goodwill. Such a ritual, just like the new notebooks and book covers (ah but paper supplies, that's a different entry on the List of Things that Make Me Happy) that were purchased every year. 

The new clothes all put away so lovingly, so carefully, even organised by colour, and outfit; and, for the first few weeks of school, returned to the closet or folded carefully after laundry day, eventually became familiar, ordinary even, and more often than not, never made it off the floor of my bedroom in between washings (and, truthfully, that hasn't much changed).

There is a different smell about new clothes, even after washing them, they have an aura of specialness, a feeling of rarity, even a sense of daring. Perhaps wearing these clothes will make me walk differently, perhaps I will fall a little in love with the feeling of the new linen skirt brushing against my calves, perhaps I will see a new and different aspect of the person that lives deep inside of me, perhaps wearing these new clothes will shift something in my perspective. Or, more likely, they will just make me ever so happy, way deep inside, the first few times I wear them, and then they will blend in with all the other colours and textures in my closet, and become more ordinary, and special in their everyday familiarity: Friends.

Comments

[maryse]

i love the first time i wear something new, shoes, clothes, a new bag. i love that feeling so much that sometimes i postpone the first wearing because once it's been worn it's lost it's magic.

[tangobaby]

Oh, you and I could be twins. Absolute twins. You made me smile remembering the day that the Back to School issue of Seventeen magazine would arrive in the mail, and my sisterand I would pore over it, making lists of what kinds of outfits we wanted and squirreling away allowance for different items.

I am glad to know you dress up, too. In a world that looks kind of shabby, I like to think that we add a little pizzazz to the city by looking spiffy.

See you soon, my clothes-loving pal.