An Abundance of Clothes
/A few days ago I was getting ready for school and looking through all my clothes. The problem with having a messy closet is that I can’t find anything. My clothes are all over the place, on top of each other and incredibly wrinkled.
I decided the best place to start the cleaning of my closet has to be with organizing my clothes. It starts with sorting through all the clothes that have made it off the hangers and out of drawers and on to the floor. I like to put all the same type of clothing together: tank tops together, pants together… you get the drill.
At the moment I have 34 sweaters. From hoodies to cardigans to plain old crew necks, I have everything in between. Why do I need 34 sweaters? I don’t know. I live in Canada, but this is excessive. I could always say that I have a sweater for every occasion, but let’s be honest, it’s because I feel like I need that many. I see a sweater I like in a store, and I buy it.
The question: why do I, and almost everyone I know feel the need to have so much stuff? There is no right answer to that question, but I’m going to try and figure it out.
I feel the need to keep up with the trends. I have loved shopping since I was young, and it used to be about quantity over quality, because I never had much money and I wanted more bang for my buck. Now, I'm going for better quality clothes. Not that it’s entirely a good thing, as they’re expensive and I’m a poor student. I have a hunch that many young people, students or not, feel the same way.
I see this happening with adults in their late twenties and early thirties, but with different things, such as bigger houses, better cars, and junk they don’t need. I’m so influenced by what the hottest thing is at any given moment, I fear I’ll fall prey to it when I’m older and own a house. Why can’t we settle for a smaller house for awhile and second-hand cars, to save for later?
The reason we have so many possessions is because we want to show them off. We want to show everyone around us that we what we have is important and they should want it too. You see someone in a nice car and you want that car. You see someone wearing a sweater you like and you want that sweater. What we see is a competition. What we don’t seem to see, is that no one is winning.
Yes, I have 34 sweaters, but I get cold and I “need” them. Of course those are more excuses. I’ll probably buy more, but for now I’ll just try to put them away when I’m done wearing them because really, that’s all I can handle at the moment.
Left: My clothes all organized and folded. Top Right: Folded t-shirts and tank tops in the drawer. Bottom Right: Long-sleeved shirts and pants folded in the drawer and not on the floor.
A few of the many sweaters I own all neatly folded.
STEPHANIE BELLEFEUILLE
Stephanie is a twenty-something Professional Writing student at Algonquin that can be found forever cleaning her closet. Which is what this blog is all about. When she’s not cleaning her closet, she is either reading, writing or watching copious amounts of television.
Stephanie can be found on Twitter and Pinterest. She also follows this blog The Happy Slob's Guide To Housecleaning
