I’m pretty sure I’ve written this post before but I’m too lazy to find it, so here it is again!
Do you ever stumble across an old picture of yourself and think “er, I still wear/use that?” I’m guilty of this a thousand times over. In particular with my purse, sunglasses, and certain shirts. What’s that item for you?
I still wear the shirt and sunglasses in this picture from our 2016 Alaska trip. I’m sad how faded and pitted out that shirt is, because it’s incredibly comfortable (duh, I still wear it).
Those sunglasses have a story. When Gina, Steve, and Luca visited for Fanksgiving in 2012, we went to an indoor go-kart place.
Case in point – I still wear that hat, scarf, and coat! I have a different purse Steven got me years ago that I use all the time. When the purse got too dirty to clean, I replaced it with the exact same purse, just a slightly different color.
To amuse ourselves while watching Steve and Steven race, Gina and I pretended we were “Go-Kart Wives” (the wives of famous go-kart racers, obviously!) and that we were in a reality show with a segment about watching our husbands train.
For the rest of the trip (and for a few years after), there were many Go-Kart Wives references made between the two of us. We went shopping and tried on glasses we both liked at Banana Republic, and said they were our big Go-Kart Wives glasses – we were so famous we didn’t want the paparazzi seeing our faces.
[Yes, we were were in our late 20s and early 30s while making these bad jokes to each other.]
I ended up buying the black version of the glasses for Gina for Christmas that year, and Steven got me the white ones. So I always fondly think of them as my Go-Kart Wife glasses. Ha.
But they aren’t exactly white anymore…
I got a chai twice last week!
… which maybe makes sense since they are almost eight years old?
I wonder what it means about me that I use the same things until they fall apart or smell too bad to use anymore. I find what I like and stick with it? (<— yes, this) I despise searching for something new when I can’t replace what I have with the exact same thing? (<— yes, especially this) And I don’t care about fashion and switching things out (like my purse) to be in style? (<— hundo P this)
I do feel oddly embarrassed when I’m wearing the same thing in most photos though.
Everything I’ve read about clothing waste makes it sound pretty grim, so you using stuff for a long time sounds good to me!
I do notice that I have the same accessories in photos from a long time ago. (But not jeans since their lifesoan is so short.)
Yeah! Good point! I am doing it for the environment! Gah, I hate how much clothes I have to get rid of each year, like, how did I accumulate all this? (Not always on my own…)
How long do jeans last for you? The newer stretchier ones don’t last as long for me, but the more stiff ones last me a long time! I usually blow out the inner thigh first. Ha.
I was going to say, I think you’re just being environmentally friendly! Fast fashion is awful for the environment. Wearing your clothes as long as you can is much more eco-friendly! I bought a bunch of staples about four years ago, and I really haven’t bought much in the way of new clothes since. I’ve gotten t-shirts from races and stuff, and got a sweater or two for Christmas, but other than that I can only think of one top that I’ve bought new since 2016 (though I have bought plenty of jeans, since I also find their lifespan to be very short). Of course, I also don’t care about fashion and HATE buying clothes, so that’s a big part of it for me.
Have you ever used ThredUp? I wonder if that would be helpful for your “replace what I have with the exact same thing” situation. Old Navy stopped selling the jeans I’ve been wearing for years (RUDE), but I’ve been able to find them on ThredUp.
Good for you for sticking to your staples!!! Did you invest in higher quality stuff so it would last longer?
I haven’t! I didn’t even know what it was until I googled it after you mentioned it, so thanks! I will have to look there for replacements!