Friday, October 14, 2005
Existential Friday: What is your oldest article of clothing?
Here are the rules for this meme:
1. It has to be something you can still wear. I'm talking about clothing, not keepsakes. Not your Dr. Denton's footsie pajamas that you've handed down to your kid, or the sweater fragment you sleep with.
2. It has to be something you bought new. Not antique clothes or stuff you dug out of your parents' closet.
This subject came up last night when B was modeling some new clothes she ordered on line. Her "Dana Scully" business suits with the pants and extra-long jacket are quite out of style, and the new work suits she ordered to replace them have short jackets again -- a bit too "perky" or "kicky," if you ask me.
This made me reflect on my own suit situation. With my litigation days behind me, I don't wear suits very often, but even at the height of my career as a practicing lawyer I never had more than four suits. Now I have three. Their average age is 13.3 years.
Okay, my business suits are, respectively, 9, 10 and 21 years old. That's right: I have a suit that is old enough to drink, vote, be drafted into the army and get an abortion without parental consent. It's a charcoal Armani double-breasted number that I bought in Filene's Basement when that still meant only the basement of Filene's Department Store in Boston. It's in excellent condition, and it's still very much in the suit rotation. That's the thing about good quality clothes -- they last.
The Armani is not my oldest clothing item. It is exceeded by my cocoa-colored cable-knit sweater and my "Harry Potter" academic gown (both age 23, though the gown is arguably no doubt a keepsake rather than a clothing item); and a 24 year old pair of white bucks that may technically be relegated to "keepsake" status unless I can work up the nerve to wear them again. That's problematic, because I can't wear them after Labor Day, and it's hard to find dressy summer occasions in my current lifestyle.
There are probably a couple of odds and ends in obscure corners of my wardrobe, but it appears that my winning items are a tie. No, not a necktie, but two articles tied for oldest: souvenir T-shirts from the summer I went to check out college campuses. They are pushing 30, and I have had to reduce my wearing of them because they're likely to disintegrate in the wash one of these years.
1. It has to be something you can still wear. I'm talking about clothing, not keepsakes. Not your Dr. Denton's footsie pajamas that you've handed down to your kid, or the sweater fragment you sleep with.
2. It has to be something you bought new. Not antique clothes or stuff you dug out of your parents' closet.
This subject came up last night when B was modeling some new clothes she ordered on line. Her "Dana Scully" business suits with the pants and extra-long jacket are quite out of style, and the new work suits she ordered to replace them have short jackets again -- a bit too "perky" or "kicky," if you ask me.
This made me reflect on my own suit situation. With my litigation days behind me, I don't wear suits very often, but even at the height of my career as a practicing lawyer I never had more than four suits. Now I have three. Their average age is 13.3 years.
Okay, my business suits are, respectively, 9, 10 and 21 years old. That's right: I have a suit that is old enough to drink, vote, be drafted into the army and get an abortion without parental consent. It's a charcoal Armani double-breasted number that I bought in Filene's Basement when that still meant only the basement of Filene's Department Store in Boston. It's in excellent condition, and it's still very much in the suit rotation. That's the thing about good quality clothes -- they last.
The 21-year old Armani suit. Pretty, sharp, eh? Eh?
You know, I never realized this before, but my bedroom closet
kinda looks like a fancy haberdashery.
You know, I never realized this before, but my bedroom closet
kinda looks like a fancy haberdashery.
The Armani is not my oldest clothing item. It is exceeded by my cocoa-colored cable-knit sweater and my "Harry Potter" academic gown (both age 23, though the gown is arguably no doubt a keepsake rather than a clothing item); and a 24 year old pair of white bucks that may technically be relegated to "keepsake" status unless I can work up the nerve to wear them again. That's problematic, because I can't wear them after Labor Day, and it's hard to find dressy summer occasions in my current lifestyle.
White bucks. Don't worry, those scuff marks can be
cleaned right up with some white chalk.
cleaned right up with some white chalk.
Still plenty of good wear left in the old cable-knit sweater.
There are probably a couple of odds and ends in obscure corners of my wardrobe, but it appears that my winning items are a tie. No, not a necktie, but two articles tied for oldest: souvenir T-shirts from the summer I went to check out college campuses. They are pushing 30, and I have had to reduce my wearing of them because they're likely to disintegrate in the wash one of these years.
The collegiate T-shirts. The holes in the Penn shirt (right) are from wear and tear, not bullets.
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I appreciate the clarification on the holes. I was worried. And wasn't the white shoes after labor day thing revoked? Hm. Maybe not. Fashion has never been my thing.
As for my oldest clothing that I didn't still from my mom.. that's tricky, as anything too old would be too small for me to wear, considering I'm still somewhat young. Oh no wait, I have a cheerleading competition shirt from fourth grade that was bougth big and I still wear it. Which makes it almost 16 years old.
As for my oldest clothing that I didn't still from my mom.. that's tricky, as anything too old would be too small for me to wear, considering I'm still somewhat young. Oh no wait, I have a cheerleading competition shirt from fourth grade that was bougth big and I still wear it. Which makes it almost 16 years old.
not sure about clothes, but my collection of cordials and specialty alcohols dates back to the new year's eve party i threw during the first year of law school, that is, Dec 31, 1979. having moved the bottles from ny to dc to madison, i am still serving chocolate liqueurs and foreign grappa that is 26 years old -- old enough not only to drink and to drive, but to get a discount for the "over-25" crowd in auto insurance.
# posted by 
: 9:53 AM, October 14, 2005
: 9:53 AM, October 14, 2005
I wished you had this competition before I did the closet purge and redesign last year... I disposed of a 30 year old skirt, that up until about 6 years ago, I could still zip up if I really sucked in my gut.
The best I can do at this point is my souvenir "Star Wars" t-shirt, purchased shortly after the film was released in 1978. It's in slightly worse shape than your Penn jersey. I also have some hiking boots from that era.
The best I can do at this point is my souvenir "Star Wars" t-shirt, purchased shortly after the film was released in 1978. It's in slightly worse shape than your Penn jersey. I also have some hiking boots from that era.
# posted by : 12:19 PM, October 14, 2005
: 12:19 PM, October 14, 2005
I have a couple of 40 year old sweaters. I still wear them and they look as new as they did when my parents bought them.
20-year-old large grey sweatshirt. I wear it all the time. The cuffs are very frayed, but I am in total denial about that.
# posted by : 1:51 PM, October 14, 2005
: 1:51 PM, October 14, 2005
Before my recent move -- the list would have been huge and varied. Now, maybe a scrappy t-shirt or two. Nothing else. Is that good or bad? I don't know. I'm into minimalism. And restocking.
I have a green plaid knee-length pleated skirt I made in eighth grade. I loved it at the time, and did a very nice job on the sewing. I can still wear it, and it's still a cute skirt, but alas, it's not cute while it's on me anymore. My daughter borrowed it last Halloween for a Red Riding Hood costume (safety pinned to make it smaller around her waist, and it came to her ankles).
I can play along with this meme once I get home, but I need clarification: when you say clothing that you still wear, does it have to be clothing that I would still wear out and about in public? In other words, do t-shirts that have now been relegated to wearing around the house, while painting, and while mowing the lawn counted? I've got some t-shirts from college ...
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