So many times when I look in my closet I feel like I am face to face with myself. The very first thing I know, is I have my mother's genetics :) Actually, it's a primal genetic thing first, mother gene second. Here is how it goes, according to Melissa! When we were still primitive humans, the man's job was to hunt and gather. The woman's job, was to gather clothes in case she is required to go on a "hunt" with her husband, it snows, rains, the sun is out, leaves fall during autumn, a tornado touches ground, or any other kind of weather that would necessitate a reason to change clothes. Since the weather can change often in a day, this often requires that a woman has to change clothes more than once in a day. Also, the woman was the head of the "fashion statement" of the family and was meant to make her hubby proud. He says, " Look there! MY "woman" dressed to kill! "
The purpose of this Blog is my attempt at rationalizing why I have so many clothes, and the odd behavior that surrounds the accumulation and retention of these clothes. It's also a way I can bond with women of all ages in a commonality. It's not just "menopause" and hence the Red Hat Club ladies (I think they will allow younger women in). But it's our genetic imprint and "right", as Women of the Ages and our mother's daughters (whichever one works for you), that we have so many fabulous clothes in our closets (and our mate's closet and the closets in the other bedrooms). Let me be very clear here. I have nothing against menopause except those damn hot flashes that make everyone else even more uncomfortable watching me sweat as I am uncomfortable sweating. I was at the Annual Garden Party on Maui yesterday, Sept 12, 2010, and there were the Red Hats. For me, just looking at the amount of clothing they are wearing (usually purple and usually it covers too much of the body) and the thought of having a hat on my head (holding in the heat) caused me to have a severe hot flash. Never mind that the hats were Red. Red does stand out in a crowd. Which brings me to what happens to women when we "saunter" into menopause. For some of us, who were "Flashy" when we were young , that personality comes back out, loud and clear, when we are in the MZone. There is no doubt that red hats and strutting our stuff was much sexier in our 20's and 30's. What happens NOW is we have "re-discovered" ourselves and we flat out do NOT care that we have put on 10, 20, 40+ lbs since then. Damn it, we are going to strut our stuff and we don't care who doesn't like it, they don't have to look. Meanwhile, the girls in their 20's and 30's are looking at us and saying, "Oh my God, don't let me look like that when I'm 55." Etc Etc Etc....... YOU can fill in the blanks! I know, I know. Some of us think we're pretty foxy for our age.. And we are, damn it :)
Please forgive me if you are a Red Hat Club member. My Mom loved hats but it appears that THAT was not in my genetic coding (I guess some early humans must not have worn hats.) I now propose the Red Shoes Club which is the Club for those of us who are in DENIAL of the fact that we are getting older, wear clothes that are too young for our age, wear clothes that are way too snug for our "not as young" figures (too many bulges) and flat out will NOT wear a Red Hat. The Red Shoes Club only allows cute to sexy shoes (In keeping with the theme to be in denial of getting older). Now that I am putting this in print, I realize that this could automatically disqualify some gals from being a member as they might not be able to wear cute or sexy red shoes. Having said this, I can immediately say that many of us absolutely cannot wear hats or red! Therefore, the Red Hat Club automatically disqualifies a whole group of us, including me. And so, then, it is very possible that I have proposed the Red Shoes Club because I feel left out or rejected by the Red Hat Club, in addition to, and not limited to the fact, that I am one of the women who are in denial about getting older :)
Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot my train of thought.....................
What was I saying?
On the eve-ish of my 56th Birthday, once again over the hill (any year ending in "0", "1" or "6"), and after negotiating 3 years of menopause and hot flashes that could cook an egg on my forehead, I have decided that for fun, pleasure, and self-psycho-analysis, I would start Blogging about my favorite subject (Clothes) and try to make "lite" of one of my least favorite subjects (menopause). Our closets can reveal much about us. Remember the book, Our Bodies Ourselves? It's time we took another look at Our Closets Ourselves, The Inside Track to who we really are! The first thing our Closets will reveal is "We have met the enemy (of our pocketbook) and she is us!" Other things that could possibly be revealed (don't look too close if you don't want to know) are things such as: what color we like most (does white mean I think I am an angel), our needs and those needs that obviously went unmet (can of worms), fond memories, giggles from some of THOSE memories, reminders of what and who we have loved in our lives,
reminders of who we were (by looking at our 30++ year old clothes that we have not been able to part with), OMG we're Sarah Palin, OMG I'm my Mother (Thank you God I loved my Mother), OMG I can't believe I would ever wear something like that (hussy!), or Visa Versa (frump!), emotional disorders (do you need a shrink to stop buying clothes?), that you possess multiple personalities (more shapes and colors than Campbell's has beans), that you might possibly have an obsession or psychosis, that you have been deceiving yourself all along about your clothes fetish by trying to hide the overflow in other closets in the house OR you put them in plastic storage bins sealed by duck tape labeled "Open Sesame" and put in the storage shed to find 10 years later :), and on and on. Please feel free to add to the list. I KNOW I'm not covering it all.
You name it, I think our closets will reveal all if we have patience. I think it's time to get it ALL out in the open, chips on the table, so we are not carrying around so much baggage (Ohhhhh, don't get me going about too much baggage! More on this very important subject in my future blogs). So let's get on the program, ladies, and take a "good look in your own closet"!!! Be ready for the next blog and discussion.
Aloha from Maui
Melissa McCoy
http://www.mccoytravel.com
