Wardrobe Confessions

Thug.

The noise came from the bedroom.

Behold, one of the doors of our closet got detached and fell on the floor. As I examined the damage and the hinges I can still salvage, reality loudly screamed at my face: "Hey woman, you seriously have a problem organizing your clothes. What a mess!"

I took the door, placed it somewhere safe and far from the baby's reach. It's heavy and I need extra hands to screw it back.

Later that day, I took all of my clothes out and started to place in an ecobag all items I have not worn in the last year. These babies will go to Caritas Manila; our community has an ongoing project encouraging the residents to donate to them.

Problem solved. Wala na masyado kalat. Yung pinto na lang problema ko. Ha!

Now while the drawers and shelves are exposed, I'll let you in and indulge in my closet.



I will continue to wear it until I outwear it.

It took me 5 long years before buying a new pair of jeans. When I finally decided to buy in 2014, a few weeks later I found out I was pregnant with Baby #2. Bummer.

Let me tell you a story. When I was in college, I lived in a dormitory, far from my family. I had a fixed allowance and had to budget every centavo. Every now and then 2 major brands of jeans will conduct a sale near the campus and I took those opportunities to buy myself a pair that was of good quality. True enough, I was able to use them even years after graduating. Since then I've always chosen jeans that are classic and would last for a long time.

After getting married, I did not buy any pair of jeans. The old ones still fit and my body was changing as I became pregnant in our first year of marriage. I thought, "yeah, they'd fit me after giving birth. It would be a waste of money to buy a pair now." The jeans did fit but only after a few months from giving birth. While waiting (and working) for my body to get back into shape I just used leggings.

The same thing I do with blouses and shirts. If it still fits, I'll wear it. And if they'll have flaws, I use them as pambahay.



I "shop" for free

Whenever we visit my parents' house, I almost always go home with bags of goodies: veggies from their garden and clothes for me (lately its for the kids). My husband tells me, "O, nagshopping ka na naman sa bahay ni Mama."

Can you blame me if my mother and sister give me gifts?

My in-laws also give me items.

And I don't mind getting hand-me-downs. Specially kids' clothes and shoes. They grow up too fast; the next thing you know, they've outgrown the 500-peso shoes you bought just a few weeks ago.

I grew up getting some hand-me-downs myself and if it would help us save a few hundred pesos, why not di ba? Maging praktikal.


If I don't need it, I ditch it.

About a year ago, there was an article I read about Jaden Smith, the son of Will Smith. It was revealed that the young actor has only one pair of shoes. Yup. Just 1 pair. Will revealed that his son lives a frugal life. I admire how Will and Jada raise their kids.

No, I'm not a minimalist. I am waaaaay too far from being one. But I do try to not buy something I don't need, well, at least with clothes and shoes.

More often than not, I only buy clothes and shoes when I need it. For example, if I am to attend a wedding in a few days and I found out that my old dresses don't fit me anymore, that's when I buy something for the event. Or if I am attending an event that would require me to sweat, and my gym clothes have seen better days, I buy something I could use for the event and later be used when speeding to do groceries. Frankly, my only worry when reusing the same old clothes on events is when pictures are taken and in all events I wore the same outfit - like 5 times! Haha! But other than that, I'm good. I don't think I'd ever be a fashionista, tamad ako magisip ng susuutin.

Since I don't get out a lot and when I do, it's at the mall or at the hospital for the baby's monthly check-up, I prefer wearing blouses that are nursing-friendly. I always bring the baby with me. The longest time she has not been beside me was when I was at the recuperating room after giving birth and she was at the nursery. Since then, she's everywhere I go and she's directly breastfed.

I only own 3 pieces of nursing blouses/dress. Since nursing clothes are more expensive than regular clothes, I opted to use my old baggy shirts with low necklines or my super luwang at presko blouses or the ones that have buttons in front. I expect that I'd be wearing these for another year. If I can score inexpensive nursing clothes and have extra budget, I'd be buying more.



Daster daster, and daster some more

Earlier in the marriage, I promised myself that I won't wear a daster (long flowy dress with batik or floral prints).

It's just not me.

It's big and long and I might look like a lola.

But things changed when I gave birth to Baby Z last year. Dasters are now my bestfriends as they are airy, and the baby has easy access to the boobies. It also gave good coverage specially when I was still wearing my abdominal binder.

I just don't like wearing it when I clean the house. It can collect dusts from the floor while I sweep hard-to-reach areas. I can also get sweaty in it.



My dream wardrobe

Remember the movie Clueless in the early 90s and there was a scene where Cher, the main actress, was choosing her outfit for the day using a computer that would mix and match her clothes, then the wardrobe will move and provide the outfit she chose? I used to want something like that. But I realized, she must have a hard life spending minutes (or an hour?) just to figure out what to wear.

So I changed my mind. I just want to have a walk-in closet. The size is just enough to house mine and hubby's clothes, shoes, and bags. We don't have much so I guess it wouldn't be big.

But I need to have a bigger house first. Haha! Claiming it!! Di masamang mangarap!



I have started cleaning my closet. I've realized I've been keeping items I haven't used in years like the costume I used for Halloween in 2008, and the dresses I used to wear at work. Maybe next time if I have more places to go, events to attend, and budget I'd buy new clothes. But for now as someone who stays at home 98% of the time, I'm good with what I have.