Recycled Clothes

Last Saturday rolled around in its typical way, strongly welcomed after a workweek spent across the country from my little family of three. I woke up around 7:15 a.m. to Adelyn chitchatting with her stuffed animals in her crib through the baby monitor, and after about five minutes of simply relishing in the various inflections of that sweet toddler jibber jabber, I finally rolled out of bed to at least wash my face, brush my teeth and throw my hair into a knot on top of my head before snagging up that sure-to-be energy-filled little toe head from her crib.

We went through our normal Saturday morning routine, which included Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with a cuddly, blue-eyed girl on my lap downing a cup of warm milk while I sipped on a cup of coffee before she spotted her doll which cued me to head to the kitchen to make scrambled eggs and whole wheat pancakes. Husby strolled out of the bedroom around this time and we sit down as a family for a haphazard breakfast. Adelyn went down for her morning nap around 9, and I showered and got ready for the day.

Then it happened. “You look really pretty today.”

I looked around the room with a blank stare. Who? Me? After returning Husby’s compliment with a borderline snort and eye roll, I continued on with my naptime to-do’s and he continued working on his latest studio project.

Adelyn woke up from her nap around 10:45, so as Husby bundled her in her stroller for a brisk fall walk down to Target for some things, I threw on an old jacket and locked the door to meet them in the driveway.

Then it happened again. “Wow, I have a pretty wife.”

WHAT is going on?! It’s not that my husband doesn’t compliment me often, because he really does, but he usually does it on days that I haven’t just thrown together an outfit. He usually does it on days when the newest piece of clothing I’m wearing isn’t from 2008. Or does he?

This brought about the topic of conversation that my outfit was made up of my {favorite fitting} jeans with a hole in the left knee, a loose, long-sleeve loose-knit pullover and a maroon corduroy crop jacket. And he adored my look. So I went back through my closet {in my mind} and realized that this season I’m recycling so.many pieces from way in the past.

Seriously, the aforementioned jacket is from 2004. I probably shouldn’t even admit that!

So below are some outfits I pulled together that are all made up of what I’m calling recycled clothes. Instead of getting rid of clothes that are still in good condition, when a piece goes out of style I pack it away in a tote labeled “out of style” and revisit the totes over the years as time permits to see if anything can get reinvented in a new way. Everything from the belts to the shoes are all old pieces I'm just reusing in new ways this year.

WHOA! The above shirt is navy blue, but I swear it looks purple to me in both of the above pictures. I promise you I wouldn't wear a purple shirt under a maroon jacket!

There are so many more outfits in addition to the ones shown above, but the point is that everything, all the way down to the gold glitter belt that came on a pair of Hollister shorts from 2004 was a good save because this season both gold and glitter are my weaknesses!

So I'm not saying don't donate your stuff because that's always a good thing to do. I'm saying that if you love clothes as much as I do but don't want to go into crazy debt every season buying new stuff, you don't have to feel guilty stashing away clothes that are in good condition for when they come back in style.