Do you have clothing hanging in your closet that still has the tags on? I see this in my clients’ closets all the time. When I ask them why they haven’t worn it, they often say that they are saving it for a special occasion. It’s too nice for them to wear on just any day.
We all love getting new clothes. The best thing about new clothes — other than their newness — is that they fit the body we have right now. This is unlike much of the clothing we already own, which has stretched or shrunk — or has not kept up with us as we’ve stretched or shrunk.
So this new item of clothing — the one with the tags — is probably never going to fit you any better than on the day you bought it. Why not make it a special occasion by wearing it now?
I’m in the enviable position right now of having lost 20 pounds and needing to retire many of my pants because they are now too big. I was about to go online and buy some new pants, when I came across two pairs of pants that I had been saving as my “nice jeans”. One pair is black and the other is dark blue. They had each been worn a couple of times, but no more.
For the past few years — even before the pandemic drove us all into perpetual casual mode — I have been wearing jeans every day. Since I don’t wear jeans that are faded or torn, all my jeans are actually pretty nice. If I was going to wear something a step up from jeans, then I would dip into my selection of pants that aren’t jeans. So why was I still saving these “nice jeans”? It was time to start wearing them. And I am.
The danger in putting off wearing new clothes is that they may no longer fit you by the time you get around to wearing them. Or they may still fit you but no longer fit the times. (See my previous post What Decade Does Your Closet Reflect?)
So go ahead and wear those nice clothes. And wear that special jewelry. And use those nice dishes. And drink that good wine. Life is too short.
