Alright, I admit it- I am a clothes horse. I love clothes. I love to buy them, wear them, look at them and think about them. To go to sleep at night I put together outfits in my mind. When I was young we would go to Atlanta in the summer to get my school clothes for the coming year. Now I try to go to New York City a couple of times a year to get new clothes for the season (and see plays of course.) (and eat.)
Anyway, I love clothes. I like to look at fashion magazines and even pour over catalogs. When I was single and working at the bank, I would go out every Saturday and spend pretty much my whole pay check on clothes. I now have a walk in closet that is packed with clothes, they are hung on every possible surface and my husband thinks they are out of control. But I wear them. I am not a hoarder, I give away tons of clothes every season as I buy new, more up-to-date items. You won’t find much in my closet that still has tags on it. The minute I get something new, I think of a place to wear it. Nothing is really happening until I have gotten a new outfit for it!!!
Well, never would I have thought that school would be my undoing when it comes to clothes. I like to dress up, I would have been happy living in an era when people dressed for dinner every night. I have nothing that is junky and I had very little you could call work out wear. A few years ago I had Jon help me get a pair of running shoes and I bought a few workout items. I have always worked out, but at home, usually in pajamas, before getting in the shower. But I decided to do it right a few years ago so I bought workout wear and joined the gym.
The first class I took in my summer return to college was yoga. So I headed to the store and bought new clothes for school- yoga clothes. I then had to go to my music appreciation class like that. It was embarrassing to me to be in work out clothes away from the gym every day, but I endured it. Other classes in the following semesters had dress requirements- jazz, voice, etc. Then we have workshops where we have to dress certain ways and I haven’t even gotten to auditions. So while I knew that clothes (costumes) would be a part of my theatre education, I never thought they would be so important in my day to day classes.
But this semester takes the cake! I have Movement where I have to wear workout garb, then fifteen minutes later I have Acting which has a different clothing requirement for different days, workout gear, audition dress, long skirts for scene work. Then I have Ballet where the dress code is pretty strict. On the other days I have Stagecraft where I have to wear old clothes that can get dirt and paint on them. And closed toe shoes, everyone wants closed toe shoes. Throw in that the “quaint” brick walkways and roads are murder on high heels and most of my shoes were out of the question.
So I leave home each day now with several outfits in tow. I keep tennis shoes, rain boots, ballet and jazz shoes in the car. I also have a sweater and a paint splattered smock there. I leave each morning going through my wardrobe requirements in my mind along with what homework is due. I spend way too much time in tacky workout wear, something I would have previously never left the house or gym in. I know that these kids do not care what I am wearing, they wear sweats, etc on a regular basis, but it honestly puts my teeth on edge to run around in jazz pants and hoodies. I am learning to let it go, just breathe and let it go. But I am also glad when I can come home and dress for dinner! (We are going out to eat a lot these days!)
