Friday, November 5, 2010

Do these jeans make our closet look fat?

My husband is fully aware I have a proclivity towards shopping. I am not a hang out at the mall type of girl, but I do love fashion. And our closet reflects this or what I call my earnest interest in supporting our economy.  When I first purchased the house, I had one wall of the walk in made into shoe shelves. Beautiful, necessary shoe shelves. About 10 feet high and 10 feet wide. Awesome for me. NOT awesome for the man who would later share that closet. (Clearly, his shoes are not welcome in my shoe shelves.) I have them organized by color, heel height. (Yes, feel free to mock it all you want BUT I know exactly where to find the exact shoe I am looking for, right? Right. Same goes for all the clothes, sorted by color and by sleeve length. NO it is not anal. It is called organized. It might be busy in there but my closet is not going to be a hot mess.)

JohnnyMac has not a single issue with these purchases but years ago began to strongly encourage me to adopt the “one in, one out” policy. My initial response: just because Oprah said it is a good policy, doesn't make it right for everyone! But later, I have responded to this suggestion and have discarded of plenty of things. He said throwing out old lipstick is not the same as one pair of shoes in, one pair of shoes out. I do discard bags of old or unwanted items twice annually, but let us say what he and I consider a “full bag” are not the same thing.

Well, my little brother came in the spring and he loves to team up with JMac and hard time me about my closets. My little brother is very stylish, and also loves to purchase so this is what I call being a hypocrite. He offered to ‘help’ me pare down my closet, especially the shoes. By ‘help’ I imply that he would hold up almost every item of apparel and ask when the last time I wore it. Things not worn in the past six months needed to go. This is not realistic, I asserted. I am not Punky Brewster. I can’t wear 19 items at a time.

As he was pulling things out, I would merely go back and put them in their proper place. And as he is spinning around like a dervish, he discovers this shelf that due to construction, is not immediately visible. On the shelf lies about 30 pairs of jeans. Ironically, I not a frequent jeans wearer but the pairs I have, I love. He called JMac into our room to point out the stash.  For some reason, this was the source of much entertainment for them. Not entertaining like “WOW, you are a denim addict” but more like “WOW, you are a ^#*&^# hoarder.”

Some of these jeans have seen some pretty fantastic days. That is not to be taken lightly. And they all fit, but I have discovered similar to Halloween candy, when I like a little something,  like Earl or Seven, I buy more than needed.  We successfully made additional room in the closet (some of it just moved to one of the other bedroom closets) and a great big bag to donate. I thought to get them both out of my clothes business, I would send them to look at the garage. That turned out worse because the first thing said to me was “ALL of this wrapping paper and bags of ribbon need.to.go.” I offered to make bloody mary’s instead. Bloody Mary’s were a great distraction.

I recently bought a pair of skinny jeans. JMac likes them. I asked if he thought these jeans make our closet look fat. For some reason, he didn’t answer. Must be that his filter for sarcasm was  set to high.

31 comments:

Maria said...

We must be kindred spirits. I LOVE me a good pair of jeans and have "too many" pairs, according to my Hubby. What does that mean?

Regardless, after three children, there used to be a myriad of size contained on that shelf. You know you are an addict, though, when you wish you were heavier so you can wear a particular pair. Just sayin'...

Unknown said...

Ooooh, you sort of lost me after that description of your fabulous shoe shelves, lucky you!!

Great post :)

Chain Stitch Crochet said...

JMac should consider himself a lucky man. I cleaned out my closet in the spring to see what jeans I could and could not wear because of the weight I've gained since quitting smoking - 100+ pairs of jeans. I kid you not. And I am NOT going to get rid of them...most are the real thing, not the stretchy kind. :o)

Herding Cats said...

You have a walk-in closet with shoe shelves??? OHHHHH the jealousy!

Anonymous said...

I'm so jealous of your closet/shoe situation. I can't think of a witty comment.
xoxo

abby jenkins said...

funny!

Mama-Face said...

the fact that your brother gets after you about your closet is hilarious.

i have a tons of jeans and shoes as well, but no organization at all. which makes it quite difficult to remember what's in my closet. bah. i'm sure you wanted to know that about me.

punky brewster...hahaha.

Kristina P. said...

Jeans are one thing I don't have a lot of. I hate shopping for jeans. But I do have a TON of clothes.

In fact, I just switched my closet over for fall/winter, and filled up 3 trash bags full of clothes to give away!

Paul said...

A woman who doesn't love to shop makes me worry...:-)

Anonymous said...

Shoes: If they are an investment they should stay. If they are a work of art (in your eyes) they should stay. If there is a possibility you will wear them again in the next 2 years they should stay. It's not hoarding, it's collecting. You don't tell a curator to toss some crap out. And for everything else: You will need these items some day and it isn't like you have trashy cheap stuff and "Happy 50th Anniversary Mom and Dad" wrapping paper. You need this stuff! You do!

I obviously defend myself on this subject too often! We might see each other on Hoarders in 20 years JennyMac!

Jenn @ Youknow...that Blog? said...

I just got rid of 11 huge bags of clothes from my beloved walk in closet, and it still looks well endowed. I too have a shelf devoted specifically to jeans, and although I did get rid of over a dozen pair (which I have blissfully declared TOO BIG!) I still have over 30 pairs on said shelf. One cannot have too many pairs of jeans (or shoes, which also have their own setup, and are non-anally organized by colour and heel height). Jeans, like shoes, are all different, and obviously uniquely appropriate to specific occasions and coordinates. How can these men not understand this???

Hrm. I do believe you hit a nerve with this one, JM.

Unknown said...

I love the sound of your closet, but I have a very small wardrobe compared to yours. Would you believe 3 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of sneakers? 3 pairs of jeans? I'm embarrassed to go any farther!

Simply Suthern said...

I wear jeans most every day to work but I dont think I have owned 30 pair of jeans in my lifetime. I can say not one pair of those were the stretchy kind. I only have 5 pairs of shoes.

I spose I'm cheap to keep.

Jennifer Vanderbeek said...

I'm totally coveting your shoe shelves! One benefit of (maybe) having to move this Summer is that we might actually find a place with decent closets! I went from a deep walk-in to a single-pole 70s nightmare (that we've since updated but there's only so much you can do in a rental). *shudder*

And, of course, this just makes me remember I need to get that shoe post up, soon! I actually took out all of my shoes and photographed them together: they took up the entire hallway!

Unknown said...

I'm still in awe by the fact that you have a walk-in-closet with a built in shoe-shelf. You lucky, lucky girl.

Can one have too many pairs of jeans?

Even if I lack the walk-in-closet part I can totally relate to this post. Shopping is fun and that one in-one out police is just bull. Me not likey.

Loved this post!

Bird Shit said...

I wish I could have enough pair of jeans that I liked to be mocked about...sadly, I have the hardest time buying jeans

Leah Rubin said...

You know, at least he HAS a sarcasm filter! That's a great post-- I could really see it all happening (notice I refrained from saying 'unfolding'!)

Shell said...

I am majorly jealous of your supply of jeans. I have 2 pairs of Lucky jeans and 2 pairs of Old Navy.

I dream of having a closetfull of fabulous. Particuarly a pair of True Religion jeans. I am fully convinced that they are called that because they worship my body and make me look like my body didn't go through 3 pregnancies.

McGillicutty said...

My hubs has taken to leaving his shoes around the bedroom sighting my growing shoe collection as the problem.. no room for his boats... we need a bigger house!!!
Love your organisation....

nice post.

Caty said...

It's so nice to know there are others out there that like organization. I alphabetize my cd's, put my keys in exactly the same spot, and I know the exact spot to go for something I'm looking for in my closet! I get mocked too, but at least I'm not late for something because I was standing around pondering, "now where was it I left my keys?" :)

Sorta Southern Single Mom said...

I'm not really a fashionista and shop largely out of other people's closets, but I do organize mine in a similar fashion. AND, if I ever do remarry and have to share the closet with someone, well, we are going to have to move, because the closet is mine... MINE!

Anonymous said...

so I'm unclear. Did you donate Earl and Seven jeans or keep? You should eBay. Or what size are you? We could have our own private auction. hee!!

because of recent big weight loss my closet was purged big time. never lose weight and hold onto the chubby clothes but now? scarce in there.

secret agent woman said...

The six month rule doesn't even makes sense if you live somewhere that has seasons.

I admit, I used to scoff a bit at women who had lots of shoes. I was married to someone who was very practical and likes a pared-down life. I do, too, to a certain extent. But then I found myself back out in the dating world and discovered how shoes can make me feel sexier and have a hell of an effect on men. Sold.

Elz said...

Ha! I would love all that shoe storage. I keep going to The Container Store trying to find new ways to store mine. I could stop buying more shoes, but...nah.

shortmama said...

I admit that Im a jeans addict too...30 pairs seems like a completely normal thing to me. In fact 50 pairs seems more reasonable

Desiree Lynn said...

I too have my closet sorted by color and sleeve length. The hubs makes fun, but he then asks why I don't sort his as well (since I put away all the laundry). I married an odd one haha.

Kir said...

just like Black shoes, you can never have too many pairs of jeans...jeans that you wear to pumpkin patch, jeans you could wear to the office, jeans that you don't care about getting paint on, and jeans that you will KILL SOMEONE IF THEY GET PAINT on them.....I totally feel you Girlfriend. :)

and I recently redid my closet to make more room for more shoes too....

HalfAsstic.com said...

Punky now attends a support group 3 times a week for the overly layered. Don't let this happen to you! Tell bro and John to keep it to themselves! ;-)

Intense Guy said...

*rolls eyes at some the really inane comments...*

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The Absence of Alternatives said...

A picture of that shoe shelf would have been nice. Just sayin... ;-)