Shift happens.

Do you remember a few years ago when all the rage was to get your “colors” done?  Some swatches and fabric squares, paint chips and a new way to find “you”.  I never really got in to my “colors” but someone made a boat load of money off the program. 

About two years ago, maybe three, I decided to take a moratorium from buying clothes.  I had a closet full of things that I rarely wore, and it became even more rare when I began working from home.  I said “I am not going to buy anything new for one year”.  I did pretty well at that, too.  Next step was to start weeding things out.  Things I probably didn’t really like in the first place, but, was a good deal or fit, or worked well for “the office”.   So out went the odd color thing, the skirt that needed hemming, the shirt that never fit quite right.  Yes, even things with tags still on them.  Someone needed these things more than I did and a big bag of clothes went to Goodwill. 

My next phase was all the things I sort of liked, but, knew in my heart it was outdated.  Either the color was wrong, the length was wrong, the flare of the leg, whatever.  If an event happened that I might need this or that, I was probably going to need a new this or that because enough time has passed that what I already owned just wasn’t going to work.  Who hasn’t been somewhere and seen some little old lady in last decade’s dress? Charming at 80, even endearing at 70, but, I’m not there yet.   I might even have loved it once, but, its time had come and gone, at least for me.  This included things that no longer fit...I have had a body change, shall we say.  Shift happens. 

My closet began looking pretty bare, and pretty monotone.  Have lots of black, lots of red and an occasional cream or ivory thing mixed in.  My coloring has changed somewhat over the years, too.  My hair, once darkish and reddish, is now most definitely “salt” with a dash of pepper.  Always fair, its easy to look washed out with this new palette around my face and maybe all the black is a bit too harsh.   I think I am ready for some new threads. 

I’m looking forward to it.  I decided I was going to stick with what I love, which is red.  Red.  But, I may have to soften that up a bit with a pinker tone, more cherry than tomato.  More water color than crayon, if you know what I mean.   I’m introducing some gray, keeping the ivory and black and adding turquoise, which I have read is a color that is flattering to almost everyone, with rose being the next.  I want to be able to go in to my closet and pick any two or three things to wear together.  I don’t need a lot, and I’ve proven that to myself over the last two years.  

Now, about my shoes....