4a What's in my closet

Okay so this whole post isn't really part of the SBSGETBM, but it kind of goes with the 'what's on my desk' theme. It is basically for Jess, because she is obsessed with decluttering/culling and minimalism (though there really isn't much minimalism here) and asked me to blog about my closet cull.

I have a lot of stuff. Somehow I always end up with stacks and stacks of clothes, but end up wearing a variation on the same outfit all the time and feeling vaguely dissatisfied with a lot of what I own. Or a garment might have started out looking great but I really cannot be bothered with things that require fussy laundering (unless they're really really special) and so things can end up looking pretty terrible after a few washes.

Also, with my body type, I'd like to be a jeans/sneakers/hoodie kind of girl (and do often get around in such gear) but it really doesn't suit me. I've been embracing the dress a lot more over the last year. You may recall that I have issues finding dresses that fit. That was until I found Metalicus and eShakti.

Metalicus has one size. The fabric they use has been designed to stretch to fit many different body types. Sure, their clothes look vastly different on me than they do on their model, but that's ok, because I'm not that model. Also you can just throw their stuff in the washing machine (in a garment bag if you really care) and you don't have to iron it. And their clothes are designed with a layering principle in mind. So I have lots of their tops and dresses. And I tend to buy them online - I have had a couple of items that weren't perfect on me (seams that sat across the bust, etc), but easy enough to send back.

eShakti has lots of gorgeous designs right up my alley, and their key drawcard is that for $7.50 you can customise the item to your exact measurements, so I can have a structured dress that fits my bust AND my waist, I can give it long sleeves or make it shorter or change the neckline. It's amazing. Also the clothes aren't that expensive to begin with. And the dresses have pockets! So many pluses. Downside is that they only ship to the US. Upside is my ex-flatmate now lives in the US so I can get my order sent to him and he kindly sends it on!

Oh I've gotten sidetracked. Culling. Right.

I decided it was time to get rid of clothes that didn't make me feel good or didn't fit well. Turns out I was keeping rather a lot of clothes that fit that description. The particular culprits here are the clothes I wore to death last winter and were on their last legs, but I just put them back in the drawer when the weather got warmer instead of dealing with them then. So jumpers that were overly pilly or had shrunk in the wash. Long sleeved t shirts that had also shrunk so the hem was at the top of the hips instead of under them (makes a difference on a cold day!). Clothes that made me feel frumpy.

Into the Anglicare/Vinnie's/Salvo's bag. Also a few pairs of shoes, seeing as I pretty much wear the same shoes all the time (in winter, my ankle boots or my wonderful Bootmaker boots - another custom made brand!).

I amassed a pile of t shirts that I'm going to cut up into t shirt yarn, and try to crochet a pouffe out of, that I can stuff with the teeny tiny offcuts of fabric from my sewing (there is rather a lot and I don't like putting it all in landfill when surely there is something better that can be done with it - like making my feet comfy).

And I'm going to cut and re-sew these jeans so I can wear them inside boots. I don't like skinny jeans, but my normal kind of jeans have too much bulk at the ankle to tuck into boots comfortably. And I don't really need three pairs of similar jeans on rotation. Not when I have so many dresses!

So here's my temporarily neat closet. Not that interesting. Still a lot of black. But many more dresses!

A rant about sizes

Last night, I was idly looking at some online boutiques, and although I appreciate how the internet has opened up a world of clothing options for those of us who aren't in the narrow size range of most mall boutiques, I've noticed something annoying.

(Yes! Rebecca's annoyed about something! Shock!)

This may happen on many other websites, but I noticed it particularly on The Iconic and Asos. They both have a great selection of larger sized clothing, which is praise worthy, but...it's in a category all its own. Why is it so? Why do the euphemistically-named curvy and plus size clothes need to be segregated into their own area, as if they will contaminate the other dresses, jeans, coats and pants that aren't curvy?

Fat is catching, people. Watch out.

Though really, that's very churlish of me - it's great that these giant online emporiums have such extensive ranges in all sizes. But clothes are just clothes. Why can't they all be together? This way of cataloguing them implies that non-curvy people are allowed to choose items of clothing, but curvy people have to just...go over there and think about how big they are.

Other things to note: while sometimes there are unique styles in the curvy sections, often the clothes are the same styles as in the 'regular' section, just in larger sizes (so why do they need to be in their own category?). Also, the men's sections aren't broken up in this way (eg, a large and tall section). 

I've been reading Mel Campbell's Out of Shape, and it's been helpful in my quest to not let myself be defined so much by numbers (weight, size, etc). I like what she has to say.

Many women and men actively identify with the numbers on their clothing labels: 'I'm a size 10', 'I'm an extra large', 'I'm a 38', and so on. It's hard to figure out which came first: this self-identification, or the orthovestic* media coverage that frames weight gain and loss in similar terms - 'Drop three dress sizes by summer'; 'Nicole has ballooned to a size 18!'; 'Nine out of ten men prefer size 14 women to size 10 women!'

Here's what your size says about you: absolutely nothing. Feeling good about yourself cannot be measured against an arbitrary scale. When we make size shorthand for a personal relationship with clothing, it feels true because it's imposed externally, in ways that seem objective because they are quantitative. Retail spaces are organised by size - sometimes very visibly, using signage and colour-coded hangers, forcing shoppers to sort themselves into a category - and sometimes less visibly, requiring a sales assistant as gatekeeeper ('Are you right for sizes?'). Levi's jeans even display their size on the outside label.

Size, therefore, becomes a public, social interaction - a space for pride or shame. Shoppers feel pleased by the idea of fitting a smaller size, and upset by the idea of a garment in a larger size, even if the tag is hidden or removed so nobody else can know.

(hmm...how do you reference page numbers in a Kindle book?)
Mel Campbell, Out of Shape: Debunking Myths about Fashion and Fit, Location 283-285, Kindle edition, 2013 (my emphasis)

* Campbell has coined this term, 'orthovestia':

Much of our angst about size and fit springs from the notion that to be socially successful, we need to constantly tend to and revise our appearance. I call this philosophy 'orthovestia', after the Latin words for 'correct' and 'clothing'. You can see orthovestia in action in everything from personal training gurus and 'body shape calculators' to makeover TV shows and the oft-cited statistic that '80 per cent of women are wearing the wrong size bra.' 

Orthovestia doesn't solve the practical problem of finding well-fitting clothes. Instead, it fools us into believing that if your clothes don't fit, it's our fault for not understanding, training or disguising our bodies properly.  (Location 128-129)

I don't think that this is ever going to be 'solved'. Anyone who doesn't fit within the narrow bounds of a 'normal' shape is always going to feel wrong in the mainstream, somehow, whether they struggle to find clothes that are big enough or small enough. I think it's important, though, to just be aware of how manufacturers and marketers manipulate our insecurities, and to not be suckered in by it. Clothes are just clothes. No matter how frustrated or tearful they might make us feel when they don't do what we want them to, they don't tell us who we are. Clothes do not really make the man.

New from old: skirt from dress 2: the skirtening

Since I went so well with the first skirt-from-dress, I gleefully attacked the other dress that has never fit me. I do try to avoid the 'I'll use this garment to inspire me to lose weight' trap that never works, but as you can see, occasionally it gets me. This dress I bought in Leura, again because I loved the print, but I also thought it would be a lovely light summer dress (when I lost that troublesome weight). Unfortunately, even when it did fit reasonably well, the style around the bust just didn't sit right. And it really was a bit tight around the back.

Side note: so many tops and dresses these days have a seam or detailing stitched into them just under where clothes manufacturers think the average bust line is, and they never ever get under my bust line. Ever. Even plus sized labelled clothes. Clothes manufacturers seem to think that most women have breasts that sit right up high on their chests and aren't affected by gravity at all. Maybe they do. Hmm. So I have to either just avoid those items of clothing (which rather limits the options) or wear things with a seam going across the middle or lower third of my bust, making it look like I have no idea how to dress myself.

Anyway.

Another thing I like about this dress is the waistband. And even though when I wear skirts I don't tuck in tops or wear short tops, I thought I could do something with this, rather than having an elastic waist.

I carefully cut the bodice off the waistband, and this time instead of taking out the zipper, I cut it down to shorten it. I folded down the waistband so the point was now pointing down, ironed it flat, top stitched around the waist and added a hook and eye to keep it all neat.

So now I have two lovely light skirts to take to Malaysia! You can't see it in this photo, so it looks like I'm just laughing at my feet, but the cat is sitting in front of me, admiring my handiwork.

New from old: skirt from dress

I've had this Nobue dress for many years (I bought it in their shop in Paddington, and the dress seems to have outlived the brand...the shop has long gone and I have no idea if it even still exists as a brand). It's never fit me properly in the bust. It was always a case of squash into it and pretend that it fit fine. I love the fabric so never wanted to give up on it, but I finally admitted that it was never going to fit.

With my revived sewing passion I decided it was time to make this something I could wear instead of feeling sad about it whenever I saw its prettiness hanging in my wardrobe.

I cut the bodice off and unpicked the zipper for future use. I then sewed around the top edge, folded it over and sewed it down to form a casing for the thick elastic.

It was a bit harder than I expected to get the waistband flat;  I persevered with it but it's a bit messy and I think I have to make it a fraction tighter.  But it matters not! I now have a lovely skirt.

I also love the way the perspective in the bottom photo makes me look like a giantess in my courtyard. :)