I'm doing a little spring cleaning today (one more time...Yea Spring!), and although I usually sort through the kids' clothes about every six months, I decided it was time to do it for myself as well. Now, I'm not a packrat. I'm actually pretty good at getting rid of things that I don't need or not using anymore. But although I have certainly unloaded my fair share of "old" clothes, I have also hung onto certain items for whatever reason, some as old as when this journey of my adult life began.
I'm not sure if it was my 4-year tenure at Hechinger's Home Improvement store or my horribly inadequate sense of style all through high school, but for whatever reason I remember my first day at Nordstrom being dressed in a yellow and black flannel shirt and black jeans. Aaaaccckkk!! Don't ask me how I remember that is what I was wearing, but thank god that fashion statement didn't last much longer. I quickly became transformed into the typical stylish Nordstrom girl that I always knew was in there dying to get out! And oh the wonderful styles! How about the Nine West Kimmie that we looked at that first day as we unpacked the boxes, and we were all in awe of how chunky the heel was. Now for those of you that aren't Pam, I should explain that it was the first time anyone had seen anything like a loafer on a heel. And by today's standards, there was nothing chunky about it. But we all bought a pair, and we were so cutting edge! I know I also owned a couple pairs of palazzo pants along the way, and I epitomized the "Rachel" haircut. Good times!
Fast forward a couple years and I was being promoted from assistant manager in BP shoes to assistant manager of Ladies/Salon shoes. There were a couple suits I just packed up that made me laugh because I remember showing up for work that first day in my new position and stunning everyone I work with by how I was dressed. Again, for those of you that don't know, BP shoes is more of a Junior's type department with lots of fast forward, funky styles. My new boss had only ever seen me dress a little on the crazy side. So when I showed up in a professional looking, but beautifully fitted skirt and double breasted suit jacket, he and everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. So I have all this professional looking Nordstrom clothing that I have hung onto all these years that I could never dream of ever fitting into again. There are so many great pieces in that collection including a really cute little mini skirt that I was wearing one day with my calf-high black suede Via Spiga boots when a lady came up to me and told me she wanted me to sell her some shoes because she had noticed me numerous times and always thought I had great style! I'm not sure why I've kept this stuff all these years except maybe because of the money I invested and the timelessness of the styles made me loathe to drop it all off with everyone else's rejects in the Goodwill piles.
Some of the items definitely made me laugh though. I have an iridescent royal blue pant suit that looks like something Liberace would wear and certainly shows a lack of shopping impulse control. What in the hell did I ever need an iridescent blue pant suit for, no matter how cute it looked?!? I have to admit that I'm keeping it though. You never know what kind of cool Halloween outfit that might make! I'm also having fond memories of my boot cut black leather pants. And no, I have never been on the back of a motorcycle. That was the style!! For about 5 minutes anyway. And I think I spent close to $200 on those pants. I'm saving those for Halloween too!
There are others that hold memories too. Remember the "Freedom" shirt? Yeah, I hated getting rid of that one too. I also have concert t-shirts that hold certain memories, as well as my Dingleberry Dynasty t-shirt, some random shirt that a bunch of people at the Ram's Head signed with a black marker during the Superbowl of '03, and others that I know are going to have to go too. And I can't help but wonder what final resting place was the destiny of some of my lost but not forgotten pieces like my Snowshoe sweatshirt and my Powerpuff girls Everclear concert shirt.
Obviously there are a million more moments that I could define by what I was wearing. Thankfully, like I said earlier, I'm not a packrat so most of that stuff is long gone and will only live on through the stories. But it's definitely a trip to walk down the memory lane of my 20's through the "eyes" of the clothes I used to wear. I think it will be interesting to see what another ten years brings. Although I'll definitely always have a little bit of Nordstrom in me for the rest of my life, my priorities and my style continue to change. I just hope in ten years I'm not piling up all my clothes thinking that the curse of the stay at home housewife took over my life!!
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