Decluttering: End of the Closet Purge Project

These represented my final project completed, and one (heirloom) dresser emptied!

A little backstory.  I guess I've talked about my closet purge project for awhile now.  The need for it started back when I was a friendless high school freshman.  My mom would give me $5 for lunch.  It was a fair amount of money to get a balanced, nutritious meal.  However, I would take $4 of that and save it up.  I would spend $1 of that on a cup o' noodles and a can of Hawaiian Punch.  It's amazing I made it out of high school as relatively healthy as I did.  Yikes.

I spent that remaining $4 on something cute at the thrift store.  I'd save it up and go on a Friday, sometimes.  The thrift store was my happy place, where all the clothes were my friends.  I later made friends who either understood my thrifting obsession or even "got it" and showed me tips and tricks!

This all translated into an overloaded closet, bedroom, and eventually boxes in the garage (when I lived at home).  My canopy bed served as an extra closet rack.  My poor closet with the 40 year-old wooden rod crashed down in the middle of the night.  I bought an extra (cute) wardrobe at Ikea to house more clothing.  It was a disease that could not be stopped.

All these clothes bought me joy.  Some weren't even my style, but were what I wanted to "be" like.  Some I bought because they were funny, others because they were cool or rare or vintage.  Most I never wore more than once.  If you think of how much money I spent over the span of twenty years (1996-2016), I could have taken some cool trips!

My poor mom!  How did she put up with this.  Only a mother could!

In 2010, when I started to move out, my mom jumped for joy at the thought of finally getting back a good portion of her garage!  I had to figure out what to do with all the crap clothes.  Storage for awhile.  Going through some for awhile.  Keeping some at my parents' for awhile (until they retired up north and said they weren't going to move my crap) (fair enough).

2011-2013 was going through all this stuff in earnest.  And the more I went through, the more I realized how little I actually wore and enjoyed. 

2014-2015 was my purge in earnest, and the discovery of "capsule wardrobes," less consumerism, and the like.

The last year or so has been my purge project in addition to our goal of downsizing.  We are hoping to move into a smaller house.  We currently have a large tract home (renting) and want to move into a smaller home that is more efficient, with less material possessions.  So, with that earnest goal in mind, the past year has been spent preparing for life in a house that was built before people had disposable fashion.  They made their own clothes and repaired items, and had quality, not quantity.

In addition to this goal and the "capsule wardrobe" movement, Kondo wrote her awesome book about Tidying Up.  I scanned it and loved what I saw.  It made perfect sense.  I'm loving the whole waste not want not, downsizing, mentality.  It frees you up for more important things.

I also found it helped to find someone who needed help moving, but had way too much stuff...  That will inspire you to get rid of your own stuff so you don't have to move it when the time comes.  In addition, what really helped for me was taking pictures of "cute" things I was getting rid of but didn't really jive with my style.  Then you have the picture.  Release the item!

Once I got rid of this, then some more bags, then that, and then another bag....  I figured why stop there?  And I made it my goal to get rid of a dresser.  That was a fun project that culminated with the two drawers you see, above.  I used to have a drawer each for:  stockings/tights, undies/bras, socks, slips, workout gear, woolens...  I combined those so they took up half the space, and this meant that finally I could get rid of my tall dresser.

The dresser is something my grandpa made by hand.  He was a hobbyist carpenter, back from a time when people had lots of talents, and he had many gifts.  I didn't get rid of it.  My mom is "holding" the dresser until either of us can find room for it.  It currently resides in her garage and my dad will probably use it for storage of some sort. 

It feels great being that much lighter, having that much less stuff.  And surprisingly, or not very, getting dressed in the morning is super easy.  I only have stuff I use!

Daily Outfit: Keeping it Simpler

That's me in the corner...

I thought I'd put some outfit posts on this here blog.  Sometimes, I'm wearing something and I think "hey, that turned out pretty well!" but then I get too busy to take a picture, even in my beloved work locker room that you need badge access to.  I hope to have some more Daily Outfits here and there.

Oh, sorry for the hiatus, by the way!  I just have been busy doing other things, and heck, it's my blog and I can do what I want, right?  :-)

The outfit above is a hodgepodge but it matches.  Which is unusual for me but I'm getting there.  Making outfits has been a bit easier since I made the closet purge.  Lots and lots of bags went to Thrift Town...  Some to Crossroads resale.  Then more to Thrift Town.  And, there is a chance I will need to get rid of more--right now, my clothing stretches across two (well, 1.5 due to giving my husband his fair half) closets...  If I have to get down to .5 closets, something has to give, and some other shelving options will probably also be considered.

Oh!  I digress...

With my slightly pared down closet, it's easier to see what I have to work with, and what I like is easier to access (just get rid of the static and get rid of things you don't love!).  Without further ado, this is in the picture:

• Pendleton Merino wool tan-colored cardigan, bought on sale for $40 (marked down by $100)
• Forever 21 cotton red gingham collarless tunic (sale, have had for at least six years)
• Eddie Bauer twill grey trousers (sale, marked down to around $15)
• Red socks (origin forgotten but they match the gingham)
• Atwell leather tan shoes with scallop edges (sale from Gilt, probably around $50)

I don't know if you can necessarily say that my outfit is expensive.  If you want to add my wedding band (plain gold) and two heirloom pieces, all gotten for free but worth some money, maybe it would be more.  But I hope that my outfits can show you that you can look OK (I don't look great, and that's not my goal as a doc control specialist who has to hoist dusty old cardboard boxes some days) for a fairly manageable amount of money.

Hipsters and Bohemians

Lens flare, pipe, beard, glasses, deep-v, weird hair...  Catnip for hipsters.

I just read a pretty good article about the "Fall of the Hipster."  What do you think?

For ages and ages, there have been bohemians.  As the article says, we may have called them punks, hippies, beatniks, flappers, or any iteration of the word "bohemian."  But, they are the cutting edge of the new guard (avant garde), and where they lean, the rest of society, including the squares and basics, follow (even if it's a few years later).

This explains why, after the "squares" of the 60's admonished the damn stinky hippies, ten years later they were wearing bell bottoms and sandals (with no nylons!) gotten from JC Penney.  The article shows a similar thing happening now, as ten years ago hipsters were ridiculed for their tight jeans and ironic shirts, but now, every suburbanite teen has the same uniform, gotten at Target.  And every Brentwood mom is wearing bohemian boots and a scarf, because it's what everyone else is doing ("I'm trendy").

The other interesting part of this article is how the fashion industry is constantly struggling to remain relevant.  So, they try to see what's on the cutting edge, and they lucked out with hipsterdom.  Hipsters have been dressing more or less the same for the past ten years.  It helps, as the article says, that the look is based on what's in the thrift store, because bohemians usually are running on a lower amount of funds than the average bear, and generally shop at thrift stores.

But what about the new hipster?  The article says this is more of a "Portlandia" hipster than a "Vice" hipster.  It's kinder, gentler, softer, and more conscientious.  It is a hipster who worries about where their food comes from, worries about what we are doing to the environment, worries about America's actions and their effects on the rest of the world, and most importantly to clothing retailers, worries about where their clothing comes from.

The new hipster doesn't mind dressing in full-on normcore.  As long as the clothing is AUTHENTIC, it doesn't matter.  Give us some Levi's, a plain sweater, and a pale blue button-down oxford.  Some well-made, maybe ARTISAN-made, shoes as well.  Sure, we may look like our grandparents, but it is COOL now that mainstream and basic has co-opted the hipster aesthetic.  The substance behind this is intriguing, and I hope that the new trend is responsibility all-around.  I'm excited to see what us 30-somethings will accomplish. 

Welcome to Googletown

I read this great article in the New York Times today.  It's about the constant back and forth debate over how the Bay Area is gentrified with all its industry, including the tech boom.  But the article focuses mostly on the town of Mountain View, which has always been a lovely bedroom community since the government put Moffett Field on it, and then NASA arrived a few decades later.  My dad used to work there.

Then, industry arrived, including tech and pharma.  Years ago, I worked near Shoreline Ampitheatre.  It was glorious because you could overhear concerts and I had a great spot to view the annual fireworks.  It was also hilarious because our building was the only one on our street not owned by Google, and this meant watching "Googlites" not know how to cross the street, wear pajamas to work, and have "meetings" on a bicycle contraption where 8 people pedal at once while facing each other.  That situation changed in short order, and a year after arriving, we were booted out and Google took over our building.  In the ensuing seven years, housing prices in the area have skyrocketed, to say the least.  The same goes for most of the rest of the Bay Area.  And, we see the same in Facebook's town (Menlo Park), and Apple's town (Cupertino). 

Is this a good thing?  The comments in the article from people in places like Nebraska and Pennsylvania say "gee, you IDIOT.  I WISH I had your town's problem!  Bring the industry to us."  Well, be careful what you wish for.  I don't think that such industries as tech would go elsewhere.  There is TOO MUCH money to be had in the Bay Area, and money attracts more money.  Nevermind the gorgeous weather.  Oh, and the many, many world class universities, such as Cal and Stanford at the top of the heap.  Tech is not going to be picking up and moving elsewhere anytime soon.  It may all bust at some point (as booms are wont to do), but I don't think Zuckerberg is thinking "gee, I'm tired of California.  I should move to Pennsylvania..."

Is this a good thing?  Well, why are WE here to begin with?  And isn't change good?  Well, I am here because I was born here.  My parents were, too.  In fact, both sides of my family have been in California for nearly 100 years.  So, I guess you could say I feel comfortable here.  Also, the job opportunities are excellent.  Look at a job site and put your search in the Bay Area.  Then move the search to Phoenix, Portland, Denver, etc.  Sure, people live there, and live there happily.  But the amount of industry in the Bay cannot be beat (even, I would argue, in the New York Metro).

So it follows that if you want a shack in Palo Alto, you'd better be prepared to pay at least a million smackers, and at that price, and in this market, have a huge down payment (or all cash).  Because of the housing boom (a whole other post I could devote to this), people cannot afford to live in certain places, and they are being priced out.  So they move to a place like Fremont, and price out Fremontonians (one of whom I am), and Fremontonians move to Union City or Hayward and price out the original residents of those cities.  It's life, it's capitalism, it's economics, and it happens.

The bigger question is, is this a good thing?  Why are we still here?  It must be.  But every day it takes me nearly an hour to travel a few miles, since I have one of the worst commutes in the country going from the East Bay to the Silicon Valley.  One of the commenters complained that he is having trouble surviving on 70K.  Many commenters from back east snapped at him for that one.  What they don't understand is since housing is many times the price of what it is back east, salaries have to be as well.  Teachers who earn 50-60K per year cannot afford to even rent apartments in some areas.  These are professional people with post-graduate degrees.  And this, my friends, disgusts me.  I "get" that it's capitalism and it's the "price we pay" for living in the Bay.  But it wasn't always so, and it won't always be that way.

In the mean time, in the land of plenty, we scrimp and save so that maybe in a few years we can afford to compete with cash offers for a 900 SF shack.  Life could be worse, and I'll just go to the beach in February to lick my wounds.  Dem's da breaks.

And when the next crash happens (I've been through several real estate booms and crashes in my lifetime), and all the interlopers move back to their respective hometowns, I'll be there to buy their house with the money I saved.

Lifestyle Inflation: Darnright American, or Downright Idiotic?

I never did get how he could dive through what must amount to solid metal.

"You've traded stability and security for stuff and status."

Pretty no-nonsense advice from a blog article I found here. 

It's the modern American way to live beyond your means, to carry as much debt as you think you can (the estimate is never right), and to have the newest and best items you can "afford" (put on charge).  How else will people know you're a success?  I'm not sure, but I think matching furniture will help.

I feel that this way of life is phasing out as more people realize that going into debt to get flashy stuff is not the business.

Maybe people thought there was something secure in having stuff?  I don't know.  But most people who are up to their eyeballs in debt can tell you that they don't exactly feel secure.

This bit of similar wisdom can be found in one of my favorite SNL skits.  Just don't buy stuff.  Don't buy stuff you have to go into debt for.  Don't buy stuff you can't afford!

I ran into this when I planned my wedding.  I did not want to go into debt for one day's party.  Cash was king, and we were saving for a house down payment (still saving...).  To us, a house was more important than being princess for a day.  Now, if you have zillions of dollars and won't go into debt if you have a fancy wedding, have at it.  It's not really my thing, but if you have the money, who am I to stop you?  It's a free country.

Going into debt for it, though, or for a couch, or for anything...  No bueno.

Our wedding turned out pretty neat, actually.  We paid for the little ceremony at the county registrar in San Jose, which got us ten minutes in the chapel that had COLUMNS (yes!).  The officiant wore a purple robe with shorts and tennies on underneath.  It was awesome.  We then went to a nice lunch (along with our parents and siblings, who also attended the ceremony) at our favorite restaurant, The Vine.  A few weeks later, we had a house party with cupcakes and food from our other favorite local restaurants, and invited around 40 people.  People get really weird about weddings, and we did have to explain many times that we were keeping it small.  I am not so sure any Bridezilla has to explain why she needs to have seat covers that match the aisle runner.

It's just the way our culture works.  Big white weddings are expected of us.  They're TRADITION.  Even though big weddings, and going into debt for them, is only a recent development in the scheme of things.  In fact, look at vintage wedding pictures to see that the wedding dress wasn't even really a "thing" like it is now.  But, a whole industry has built up around weddings, just like with anything, and they will gladly facilitate you parting with your money, even if you have to put it on credit.

Down the line, will you be grateful that you put that $20,000 (or more) toward the one party that one weekend, even as you continue to rent and be further from your dream of homeownership?  The same goes for anything else you put on credit.

Obviously sometimes in life, we need to put stuff on credit, or finance things.  Just make sure it's not something that's going to decrease dramatically in value.  Don't be that guy, foreclosing on his house, and bragging that he spent $10,000 on that antique couch.  Having a bunch of expensive stuff doesn't guarantee you won't go bankrupt...  Sometimes it just expedites the process.

Besides, don't we all want to figure out if you can really dive into a bunch of coins?  I'm thinking not, but it would be fun to have the opportunity to find out.

Those Darn Millennials and Their Refusal to Buy Stuff

Gotta love stock photos!

I read a really interesting-sounding article that turned out to be not as interesting as it sounded, but still thought-provoking.

Click through and read the short article.  Go ahead, I'll wait.  Don't worry, it's not one of those New Yorker articles that goes about twenty paragraphs too long.

Back?  Okay, can I just say one thing now?

Can we just STOP talking about MILLENNIALS.  Oh my gosh.  Young people have always been young people.  Some grew up during extraordinarily hard times, and met the challenge (The Greatest Generation).  Some grew up during extraordinarily prosperous times, and those are our parents (Boomers).  All were young people, finding their way in the world.  All were admonished by the older generation, who would invariably shake its collective fist at the young'uns and say, "Those darn young people!  Why, in my day, blah blah blah..."  The current crop is no different, on both counts.  My favorite example is a Time magazine cover lamenting the new Millennials as self-obsessed nincompoops.  Someone then took the time to gather Time cover photos of EVERY SINGLE GENERATION of the last several decades, all lamenting young people.  Yeesh, give it a rest!  Let's all band together and make each other's lives easier.  Same goes for you, feminists and non-feminists, and the Mommy Wars!  Enough already!

Anyway, sorry about that.  I'm calm now, and looking at this stock image of a happy consumer happily toting around three purses has made me all the calmer.

The article says that youths don't require things just for ownership, as previous generations.  They like to have something that does something, something that they can share (#instagramhashtag, anyone?), something that they can use as a way to express who they are, or who they want to become.  I agree with that, but I think that this is the case for ALL consumers, to some extent.  Or, if you want to poll youths through history, that is probably the case for all youths since the dawn of consumerism.

I am more interested to hear what makes Millennials so different than youths before them, if that's the case.  I think there are a lot of things at play here, and it is far too complicated to be summed up in a blog or article.  Here are my thoughts on some reasons us youths may be slightly more averse than average about consumerism:

• We have seen the previous generation or generations just become swamped by their possessions, which brought them no joy, but did bring them a sense of dread that they now had to do something with all this junk.  Extreme cases saw us have to help go through elderly relatives' homes and sort through all the possessions.  Even more extreme cases saw us watch as folks from the older generation went bankrupt to afford whatever status symbol was designated to them.  All these events have turned us off of acquiring things just to acquire them.
• We spent our formative years (depending on age, that meant high school, college, grad-school, or some combination thereof) trying to find our way as young adults while we faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  For many of us (myself included), this involved a stint of unemployment.  It made money tight, and recreational shopping and consumerism something looked at with a healthy dose of skepticism.
• Many of us youths (myself included) don't have broadcast television.  Now, we do have a TV at our house, and a fair amount of time is spent watching it.  However, since basically everything we watch is on-demand (YouTube and other video sharing sites, Netflix streaming, HBO Go...), we have much more control over what we watch, vs. just channel surfing.  This also, more importantly, means that we don't get commercials!  Now, advertisers are still trying their darndest to make us watch commercials before watching the content we clicked on.  But for the most part, such commercials are largely ignored, and this lack of advertisers being able to tell us what we "need" to buy has left us with less consumerist drive.

Now, these are just my opinions.  What do you think?  Any reasons I left out?