Thursday, September 9, 2010

why my closet is so full

My closet, while impeccably organized, is a scary place.

Every nook and cranny of its expanse is filled with my clothes and shoes. My shirts are hung neatly - all on matching hangers facing the same way - according to color and sleeve length. My tank tops are folded neatly and stacked on their shelf based on category (athletic, lounge, going out, undershirts, simple) and color/pattern. My sweaters are also folded neatly (store-style) on their shelf, arranged by type (cardigans, pull-overs, draped), season, and - once again - color. My jeans are hanging neatly on their respective hangers, organized by wash and length. Above them are my coats and jackets, arranged by weight and color. My dresses hang near them, arranged by color (what else?) and occasion.

On the floor lie my shoes, arranged first in frequency of wear according to the season/weather (the current top five that have prime real estate are my TOMS, my Asics running shoes, my gold sandals from Target, my trusty black Old Navy flip-flops, and my silver sandals from Target). Above those shoes are my drawers, filled neatly with t-shirts, sweats, shorts, under-garments, and socks. Above the drawers my cosmetics and and lotions and potions are arranged neatly according to how frequently I use them, as well as their sizes.

On the highest shelves on my closet - the shelves only reachable to me by a step-stool - are neatly labeled shoe boxes that hold old school-work and mementos that a pack-rat like me simply cannot bear to part with.

Clearly I digress, because none of these extremely organized locations sound that scary.

What's scary is the fact that this closet doesn't contain all of my clothes. There are more stowed away in other drawers around my room, and I'll admit that the only time everything can be put away is when there's at least four days' worth of dirty laundry in my hamper.

Clearly, I know how to deal with this issue while I'm here in Eugene at my parents' house...but by the end of next month I'll be moved into my new house in Corvallis. I would have embellished that with a few explanation points or a smiley face or something, except I'm nervous to make this move.

My closet in my new room is tiny. We're talking a quarter of the amount of space of my current closet (which isn't that big, as far as closets go). My room itself is going to be the size of a shoe box (I'm obsessed with it though, what it lacks in size it makes up for with charm and character), so storing much of anything in there is going to be an interesting challenge.

[As a side note, I'm watching Oprah's "Farewell to Nate Berkus" episode right now, so it's giving me some inspiration on how to deal with such a tiny space.]

Contrary to what you might be thinking right now, the purpose of this post wasn't to ramble about my closet and its contents, or how I'm going to store things - although a post on that will come once I've figured that all out. The real purpose of this post was to 1) get my writing juices flowing again, and 2) brag about my bargain-shopping skills.

You see, on a college student's budget, there is no way my closet should be as crowded as it is...but despite this, my wardrobe has substantially grown this summer. At first, this concerned me - all my hard-earned money should be going to rent and school, not looking good, right? WRONG!

I see no reason why, as long as I can afford it, I shouldn't be able to update my wardrobe in my college-student state.

If you looked at my wardrobe, you'd think I was made of money. My closet is filled with designer denim (Citizens of Humanity, Joe's Jeans, and Paige Denim, to name a few), spendy workout clothes (Nike galore), and random pieces that would have you scratching your head and wondering, "how could she afford that?" (Coach wristlet, dresses from The Limited, cashmere sweaters from Banana Republic and J. Crew).

I am somewhat addicted to designer clothes, and consider myself to be a bit of a label whore, but I am proud to report that I have never ever ever paid full-price for a designer item. Not even half-price, actually. I am that good. I consider myself to be the world's best bargain shopper, mostly because I have the utmost patience when it comes to updating my wardrobe on my meager budget (in my book, the cheaper the better, as far as cost goes).

I have found my jeans (that normally run the outrageous price in between $140 and $180) for anywhere between $30 and $45. I have found my sweaters (that normally run anywhere between $60 and $80) for $20 to $30.

My bargain of the summer was the dress I found to wear to a wedding a few weeks ago - at The Limited it would normally cost me $89.50 (actually, it wouldn't have cost me that much, I would never pay that much for a sun dress) only set me back $5.27.

On that same trip I also scored a pair of brand-new Nike yoga pants, originally $60, for a mere $4.27. My running shoe collection has grown to include a few pairs of Nikes and Asics that I receive for free through my job at the Oregon State athletic department.

Bargain hunting is something that thrills me. I love finding designer duds for a fraction of the cost. I love being able to wear them, see someone else wearing something similar, and thinking to myself - you paid full price for that, and mine looks just as good. (From my experience, you can tell whether or not someone pays full price for their designer clothes based on the first glance...but who knows, looks can be deceptive!)

So thanks to my fantastic shopping skills, I now have to get extremely creative in order to cram everything in my teeny-weensy, sorry excuse for a closet at school.

I'll let you know how that goes.

♥ abigail

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