The 6-items-of-clothing diet
If I had to choose only six items of clothing to wear for a month (plus underwear), it wouldn’t be these six—bore-ing (especially that sad sack of a dress):
But oh, what would my own selections be? To start with, they’d have more color. I’d have one blogging/relaxing/grungy outfit, two pairs of slacks and two shirts or blouses, and one snazzier dress.
What a stupid idea, though, to limit things to six—although cutting down on the wardrobe isn’t a bad idea in general. After all, I tend to wear only a small percentage of my clothes regularly anyway, which the article describes as typical. The rest of my collection consists of (a) older items I can’t quite fit into at the moment, but have fairly recently and might again some day (I’ve only fluctuated about a size and a half during the last fifteen years; the really skinny clothes from my starvation/dancing days are long gone); and (b) stuff I thought looked good on me at the time of purchase but was always a mistake.
Buying this latter variety is one of the perils of shopping alone, which I’ve done for most of my adult life, alas. I say “alas” because I much prefer to have a friend along—not a husband or the man in my life (sorry, guys), though, because I’ve never had a husband/boyfriend with the superhuman patience to come along on these lengthy excursions, nor one who could withstand the admitted double-bind of that ancient question: does this outfit make me look fat?
Agree wholeheartedly, on all counts.
Btw, why there are only 5 articles of clothing pictured? or they count socks as one, too?
I, too, fluctuate within 1.5 size in the last 15 (actually, 20) years, and I have got rid of almost all skinnier versions of size 6 items. Due to budgetary restriction in the last year I bought exactly 3 new garments: a micro-corduroy Ann Taylor pants and 2 dress tops by Adrienne Vittadini – not at the same time.
They added a fresh note to my wardrobe without breaking the bank.
I never had a habit of buying a lot of clothes, though.
Years ago, when I was in my 30s I put a lot of thought in developing my dressing style, suitable for my body type and aesthetics; individual pieces look up to date (on me) now as they were 5 and in some instances, 15 years ago.
But, Neo, I would love to be your shopping companion – give me a ring next time you’re in the city!
Tatyana– it’s hard to tell from the photo, but possibly the black “dress” is a scoop-neck black top worn over a black skirt.
Tatyana: that sounds like fun. But I don’t know whether I could ever actually buy anything in NY; it’s so pricey!
Tatyana and PA Cat: On close study, I think the thing I thought was a dress is indeed a shirt and skirt. That would make 6 items without the socks, which probably don’t count in the tally.
When I first started working I bought a really good suit and 5 shirts to last the week while traveling. When I had saved enough money to get more business clothes, I went into a good shop and talked with an older sales lady. I explained my needs and what I could spend. I think she had more fun than I did with coordinating my new wardrobe. I went back to the store until I had a complete year of good businesswear.
I still take that attitude of coordinated buying and it’s much easier for travel.
I am currently evaluating my closet. I found a lot of duplicates, which I packed away. When my smaller set of clothes get tired/ripped/stained, then I’ll just shop in my other closet.
With respect to that story, I could never live in just 6 items. You couldn’t sweat, drop anything, get wrinkled or anything! I would be washing daily!
That make sense, skirt+shirt. Which makes the choice even stranger.
NY is expensive, sure – but I don’t shop in boutiques on 5th ave. Sales calendar also helps.
I don’t understand why the dress is a sad-sack. But then, I’m a man.
I had a friend who had a system to ensure that she never word the same outfit twice within a month.
That is indeed a sad sack of a dress (or shirt and skirt). And it’s a silly idea.
Personally, I have never successfully shopped with a female. Even my daughters, when they were young. I just went elsewhere in the mall, and looked at tools and such. I waited for my cell phone to ring, with instructions of what store to go to in order to pay for what has just been picked out. It’s one of the mysteries of life, that. One that is better left alone.
I just “joined” (or whatever) a site called MyShape.com, which makes you take a gazillion measurements of yourself and then purports to show you only clothes that will flatter you (at least figure-wise; style-wise, I think you’re still on your own). You don’t specify a size while shopping; they just send you the size that will fit. I’ve bought, iirc, four pairs of pants and about the same number of tops, and all, as promised, fit perfectly; I’ve gotten compliments on all four pairs of pants. (One top is a little more revealing in person than I imagined it’d be – still perfectly decent, but more “club” than “office.”)
And I did all this because it’s been a good five years since I last bought work clothes, and because I had knee surgery this year and, as it says in Airplane, “Louie… is getting larger!!”
…not a husband or the man in my life (sorry, guys)…
Intelligent, gifted, posed, beautiful…and modest too! 😉
posed -> poised
I actually like to watch my wife and daughter shop, except that they take longer than thirty minutes. How could this be?
When my son was in high school we got him a tux for the prom at a thrift store in under thirty. He looked really sharp, too.
The men’s shopping goes something like:
“Do you sell shirts?”
“Yes”
“I’ll take one, thanks.”
I’m ALL about the sack.
Michael, it’s a lot easier to buy a shirt that isn’t as fitted as most women like them and when you don’t have boobs to fit into said shirt (at least, I would hope you don’t!) 😉
Where are the hiking/combat boots? How is this woman supposed to navigate the coming collapse in those silly shoes? Broken glass, burned out buildings, running from gangs, etc….lol
and ont forget sewage in the streets. And lots of un picked up garbage.
“don’t” not “ont”
Oddly enough, I read the “don’t” and didn’t notice its absence.
> because I’ve never had a husband/boyfriend with the superhuman patience to come along on these lengthy excursions, nor one who could withstand the admitted double-bind of that ancient question: does this outfit make me look fat?
OK, ladies: This one is REAL SIMPLE: Don’t ASK a question of a guy you don’t want an honest answer to. Don’t expect us to READ YOUR MIND — ever — and figure out what you are actually looking for. We aren’t wired for telepathy, or at least most of us aren’t. And we don’t particularly like to lie (at least those of us you SHOULD be wanting to hang out with don’t).
That’s one of those things, you see — you have two mutually exclusive aims in your head and want some guy who can fulfill them both. Ain’t happening in this universe. You can have a guy who’s a good liar, or you can have a guy who is honorable and forthright. Pick one and deal with it.
The former will often tell you exactly what you want to hear — he’s got lots and lots of practice at it. It’s how he got to be such a smooth talker — and YOU aren’t so special that you will EVER be able to change that. TRUST ME.
The latter will generally NOT screw around on you (and certainly won’t go out on a deliberate poon hunt), and will actually want to help you SOLVE problems as opposed to just helping you complain about them.
You don’t get to mix and match those qualities — it’s like wearing stripes and big polka dots, they just don’t ever go together.
There in lies the rub, Bupkis. In my experience, women don’t want men to fix the problem, they just want us to listen, nod, and hug.
I immediately, of course, want to reach for the pliers, phillips head scredriver, etc. and fix what is wrong. It’s what I do. But hardware doesn’t fix emotional things. And if root cause is emotional instead of mechanical or electrical, I am, unfortunately, out of my element. Ronald Reagan used to say the scariest words were “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” Nope, “Does this make me look fat?” blows that statement clean out of the water.
Whats up with the old tourist guy socks and shoes look in the first photo?
I hate shopping for clothes, and so (not surprisingly) I’m not very good at it, and spend little time on it. I have very few rules. One is: Never wear dark colors above light or plain tops over patterned bottoms, and especially never ever wear dark shoes and socks below lighter colors. The first two make you look top-heavy, and the third makes you look like a clodhopper. Beyond that, I can get in a lot more spending trouble in either a book store or a food establishment with a large selection of French and Spanish olive oils.
I very much like the idea of, “Do you carry shirts? Good–I’ll take one.”
Oops. Make that patterned tops over plain bottoms.
Well, unfortunately I have never been married, Neo, but even I know the answer to “Does this make me look fat?” is “no.”
I also know the answer to “Are you actually planning on wearing that?” is also “no,” and when a woman says to a man, “We have to talk,” the man will not like what happens next.
Never mind. It’s plain tops over patterned bottoms. Too early in the morning to figure out what to wear.
Oh shoot, wear whatever you want. And then–smile!
Like this: 🙂
I’d rather have someone tell me if a particular outfit was unflattering (i.e. made me look fat); I would rather be told before I spend money on something I’m not going to look good in and before I wear it out anywhere.
Alex, consider it a lucky escape, lol.
Thanks for writing about this. You last post highlighting that model was quite a shock. Her PLUS size photo was absolutely beautiful, and who could imagine anyone more perfect as a woman? And mind you, I have loved much more imperfect versions of women in my time, and I was quite a player in my less conscious days.
I have grown to be a man who truly loves a woman more for what’s inside than out. Cottage cheese is fine if her heart is fine.
It’s a question which has baffled better men than me.