It is 1970, and I am working at my first waitressing job at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I am wearing the classic black maid’s dress, complete with white apron and frilly white cap. It is the first time I have ever worn a uniform for a job, and I like it. During the day I wear my faded bell-bottoms and one of a number of colorful shirts, and on the job I have my uniform. Bliss. So blissful am I that I find myself making lists on my 3 by 5 inch notepad. They look like packing lists for a trip, but they are really a plan for my ideal wardrobe – one that is ENOUGH but never TOO MUCH. I don’t have the lists today, but remember the basics:
The only ominous thing about this fixation with the minimalist wardrobe is that I was, at the time, a fashion design major. Fast-forward to my life as a retired professor in 2019. Most days, I wear comfortable casual clothes, usually jeans and one of several turtlenecks or tees I own in different colors. I have six linear feet of hanging clothing (half for cold weather, half for warmer months), 12 pairs of shoes, one winter coat and one bathrobe. Am I in possession of enough, or still in its pursuit? Stay tuned for more.
2 Comments
Eve
4/5/2019 06:36:35 am
Hi there, just saw your comment on Unravel Podcast and came to read your blog. Capsules have been around for years! that is really cool. My closet is huge..I edit every once in a while but getting it down to double digit numbers is not in me! I do like capusules...and I do them for vacations or when I don't want to think about what I will wear every day. Great entry. Thanks.
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Jo
4/5/2019 06:53:04 am
Thanks! I once taught a course in simple living and anticonsumerism in American culture. It goes waaaay back, even before Thoreau. There has always been tension around how much stuff we need. ("Consider the lilies of the field...")
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