A few of your favorite things, in the ragbag

[mrissa]

[Poll #1953348]

(I have just this week completely worn out not one but two favorite garments--to the point where there is no point to donating them to any charity, as they would do no one more good than they have already done me--so I am thinking about these things at the moment.)

Comments

[clarentine]

My favorite t-shirts, once they grow too holey for public wear, graduate from the t-shirt drawer to the pajamas drawer.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

This just pushes the question back to "how do you handle your favorite pajamas," though!

[clarentine]

If they were so worn out they couldn't even serve as pjs, they'd have to go in the ragbag, I'm afraid.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Right, but: on the way there. Do you rotate them in a particular order, save the best ones for special, wear the best ones more often, wear whatever comes out on top....?

[clarentine]

Sorry to make you pull the requested response out of me! I think I tend to wear my favorite whatever more often; there's a reason it's my favorite, and even knowing that will make it wear out more often doesn't change it being the favorite.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

That is what I do too! I just sometimes wish I didn't when they do wear out.

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

I wear my favorite new shirts (socks, underpants) a little more often, but then as they get less new and I worry about washing them that often, I wear them less.

So, my favorite camisole with bralet is wearing out, and I therefore only wear it when it's the only thing in the right color, or something. But I was just given a new football hoodie, and I appear to be wearing that constantly.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Ah! I think I can see the graph of that in my head, and it makes sense to me.

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

Of course, also, the older and more likely to completely go the way of all things in the next wash cycle an article of clothing is, the more favorite it is, but also the less often I can wear it.

[thanate.livejournal.com]

Yes, this option. Favorite means more used until the wear starts to show, and then I get all careful about it. Except for a small subset of things--mostly period clothes-- where wear is an asset & I just keep patching as appropriate.

Which means there are one or two most favoritest things that live in the bottom of the sock drawer or wherever because they're about two uses away from disintegration.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I picked special occasion and then realized that doesn't quite capture it. Favorite things are in the rotation every laundry cycle but I strategize which day of that cycle they'll be worn on (and will pick whatever less-favored items to fill the less-special gaps).

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I do that. I especially do that with things on delicate wash. With darks (I hardly ever wear lights--most of the lights in our wash are not mine), we do enough of them that if I happen to miss a laundry cycle, it's not that big a missed opportunity. But I don't wash delicates all that often, so I strategize making sure I get them in before the next time I do delicates, and also which day.

I dress for other people sometimes. Most notably I dress for my goddaughter, because she is the person who most clearly appreciates particular kinds of pretty things and has joy in them that is not problematic or weird. Also for my mother for the same reasons.

[catlinye-maker.livejournal.com]

They're my favorites, so I wear them a lot (or why have them?) and then have a sad when they inevitably wear out. At the moment I have several shirts in the "denial" phase: "Those holes? They're barely noticeable!"

On the other hand, finally having to discard favorites is also an impetus to cull the pristine unfavored T-shirts and search for new favorites.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Do you find that works? I almost never find that things that were previously unfavored are favored once something else wears out. They remain "things I wear that are all right" (because if things are not all right I do not keep them around), but they never really join the ranks of "favorite" belatedly.

[catlinye-maker.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I was unclear - not to revise status but to cull completely (I usually take them to Goodwill or a local equivalent) and go out and get new nicer shirts.

People buy me T-shirts, and while I love the people, usually the t-shirts not so much. Those wind up in the bottom of the drawer and when the favorites wear out I will often go through the drawer and purge generally so there is more room for the new.

I have very limited space for clothing (DH and I live in an RV) so freeing up drawer space is a continuing effort.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Ah! Well, that does make sense.

[redbird]

I think there's some sort of curve: wear more when I first get it, because hey, cool thing! And maybe "cool thing I want to show people" if it's cool largely for the pattern/appearance. And then it gets to "save this for special occasions," because I like knowing I have, say, a purple sweatshirt with a dandelion printed on the front.

And then there's the stuff that I can't bear to toss, and is still physically functional, but can be worn only for some odd value of special occasion, like the bleach-stained blue shirt that I am hanging onto because they aren't making them anymore. But I can wear that at home, or to go to the grocery store, but I'm not going to wear it to a party, because it's obviously stained.

[jazzfish]

Special occasions, where 'special occasions' seem to come up about once every two laundry cycles.

[pameladean]

I wear the garment all the time until something happens -- a thread snagged by a cat's claw, a turmeric stain. Then I fix the problem and add rules -- try not to wear while sitting at the computer or cooking, just don't ever, ever put this thing on in the spring when you will wander out to see if the crocuses are up and end up getting all muddy doing yard work.

I actually really hate having "good" clothes that I only wear sometimes, but am always backed into that corner by failing to keep the cats' claws trimmed, failing to put on an apron when making curry, and so on. And though I am sad when things begin to wear out, there is a secret delight in the fact that now I can wear them around the house and in the yard without worrying, because they are too far gone to wear in public anyway. They almost always retain their charm for me even in a decrepit state.

I have at least managed to get into the habit, if necessary, of changing my upper garments completely before making dinner, if I have had lunch with my mom or whatever earlier in the day and therefore put on something I like.

P.

[boxofdelights]

I am also eventually likely to wear out, after all.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

When I got MS, and after watching various friends deal with cancer, using my favorites had a different meaning for me. I'm going to use/play with/eat my favorites *now*, not in some mythical future that may not happen. But that's just me.

[madmanatw.livejournal.com]

For me, for a favorite that is hard to replace, it's: wear a lot until it starts feeling like it's showing wear. Then wear on special occasions. Then once it gets holes but is still wearable, wear it a lot again but for things like sports and physical activities, where I don't care as much if it rips because it's already mostly dead.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

I said "save it for special occasions" but it really depends on whether I can get another one of whatever it is. If I can easily get another one, I will wear it more often. However, most of the things I think of as favorites are not easily replaceable.

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

Most of the time, I wear my favorite things more often, because they're my favorites, and why not enjoy them? But I have a few things that I expect will be difficult to impossible to replace once I wear them out, and I tend to ration those because I will be sad when I finally have to admit that they are too worn out.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

I don't have a system, but I do wear my favorite hot-weather shirt very rarely, because it is cursed.

Every single time I wear it, something unusual and stain-producing happens. The first few times, it was me being clumsy, so I vowed never to eat, clean, or cook while wearing it. The next time I put it on after taking this vow, I was crossing a crosswalk, which was full of a great many people, and a small child going in the opposite direction smeared my torso from the bust down with chocolate ice cream, a thing which has never happened to me before or since. The time after that, a bird, from midair, was not housebroken.

I'd like to wear it more often. It fits very well, and the design on it is amazing, and it was the shirt my department in college put out my senior year and has all sorts of good memories associated. But the thing is cursed and that's all there is to it.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

That's impressive.

My bird curse has not been active for years but seemed to be tied to my person rather than a particular garment.

[columbina.livejournal.com]

Wear it more often and immediately begin to look for sources whereby I can stockpile more. I tend to like clothing because it fits well/comfortably/is sturdy/well-designed (as opposed to, say, because of color or pattern), and when I find something that works, I stick with it for a LONG time.

(Clothing that I like for style reasons - like T-shirts which have sentimental value to me, such as my no-longer-available-in-any-way Rocky Horror Picture Show shirt - get worn heavily until they are just on the verge of collapse, and then get stored in a drawer as keepsakes.)

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Your first paragraph, me too. The better I like something (especially a purse) the more I look for a spare, or an upgrade.

In general:
If it's something practical and favorite because comfortable, I wear it constantly.
If it's something dressy, and favorite because of appearance, I save it for special.
It it's both, I wear it constantly. Comfort triumphs.

[cowfan.livejournal.com]

When I find something I really like that fits me well, if it's still available, I will go buy more copies, either in the same color or a variety of colors. I will wear it when I want to feel good, but not on any schedule. Since I can sew, another option is to try to make a pattern off it and make more. If it is totally worn out, I take it apart to make the pattern. I did this with a favorite nightgown, and I'm still wearing a copy. Also, I go to Savers on "Geezer Day" Tuesdays when clothes are 40% off for people 55 and over. At Christmas time, I found an exact copy of my favorite Christmas sweater, in better condition than mine, so I bought a second copy. Talk to me if you want to see about making a pattern to make a copy of something you love.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

It has gotten to the point where members of my family will say to me, "Okay, good, go get another one," when I am at the checkout stand with something I particularly like.

[finnyb.livejournal.com]

Both wear them more often and, those rare times when I can afford to do so, purchase and/or make multiples of favoured items (clothing, plushies, etc.) so as to have spares if necessary.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Of course, all my clothes look identical to everyone who isn't me, so nobody else would notice. But I save my favourite shirts to wear on happy days or days when I want cheering up. And when they wear out I am very sad, and I make them into dusters and use those dusters for special things.

I mostly don't save things for looking respectable the way Pamela was talking about, or if I do then mostly they're not favourites, they're "best". But my Bayeux Tapestry shirt is unique in being both, and also because I co-ordinate it I plan carefully the occasions on which I will wear it. I'm really looking forward to wearing it on the Saturday of Boskone, for instance.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I can think of several distinct shirts that you have, so they don't look exactly alike to everyone. Some of them are much darker blue than others, and the fabrics aren't all quite the same. That's leaving aside the Bayeux Tapestry shirt completely, of course.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Yes, the fabrics are different, and the softness, and the weight, and the shade. I see them as quite distinct, and as I said, I am much fonder of some than others.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Well, of course, I can see why.

[rosefox]

I always opt for "wear it more often", and I periodically weed out clothes-that-are-not-favorites to make room for more copies of my favorites. I just did a big closet-cleaning and am left with pretty much all favorites, which is a lovely place to be.

Within the category "favorites" I wear whatever feels right for a given day, taking into account where I'm going, what I'll be doing when I get there, what the weather's like, what my gender is doing, and what associations I want to carry around with me all day. (Everything wearable that I own has a story that goes with it, of where I got it and who I was at the time and what it meant to me then.) That's not a strict FIFO system by any means, but it does result in roughly equal wear among comparable items. (That is to say, I wear socks more often than gowns, but I treat all my socks equally, and all my gowns equally.)

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

WIth the comfortable, practical things that are also goodlooking, like fulled-wool sweater jackets and heavy-duty skirts, I always think that I should wear them less, but then I wear them all the time anyway. I need to find more sources for the kind of skirt I like. I really don't know what to do about the sweaters, which I wear out at the elbows (or the yard just starts to go - they stopped making the kind I really like in the early '80s).

-Nameseeker