The Price of Necessity

[betenoire]

Originally Posted by Waldo

Finally (oops, guess it wasn't just two things after all, was it?) - years ago I dated a woman who'd lived for a time in Africa doing peace corp work. At the time I had a real shoe thing. I bought shoes ALL THE TIME. I probably had going on 40 pair or so. She had three pair. A pair of sneakers, a pair of Chaco sandals and a pair of boots. It really bothered her that I had so many shoes. She asked why and I said "well, you need shoes". To which she answered... "Do you?. There are countless people the world over who not only don't have shoes and they get along just fine. And the shoes that we consider a necessity are really just luxury. We need something to protect our feet, sure - but could we not just strap some rubber to our feet and call it good?"

I so get this.

Now that I'm an adult (up until age 25 I bought stuff all the time - but there's a whole thread's worth of discussion concerning what that was all about) I very rarely buy new clothes for myself - to the point where I had to get frog-marched to Old Navy to pick up jeans for myself a few months ago (both of my pairs of jeans had worn thin at the thigh and I was talking about patching them). I can count on two hands the new articles of clothing I have purchased in the last 12 months. (A pair of black capris, a pair of jeans, a new sundress, 2 shirts, a winter coat, a new pair of sneakers for work, a pair of converse chuck taylors) And, really, most of that stuff was purchased with gift cards that I got for Christmas or my Birthday. (the chucks, the sundress, and the winter coat I bought for myself - that's it.)

I just don't see new clothes as a necessity all the time. I really don't. I own exactly 7 pairs of shoes. Two pairs of flipflops, a pair of Mary Janes, my giant scary black platforms, my work sneakers, my red faux snakeskin heels, a pair of charcoal grey chucks. That's it. And sometimes I even feel like THAT is excessive.

When you're still growing you need clothes all the time, I get that. But as an adult? Most (not all, I get that there are exceptions to that) people have bodies that don't make drastic changes from the time they are 25 onward. I have clothes that fit me 10 years ago that still fit me now - and since I take care of them they are still in good condition. Since I don't shop "trendy" and have very specific "rockabilly" tastes in clothing - I don't have to worry about how silly I'll look 4 years from now wearing some god-awful shirt that people thought was cool in 2010.

I do admit, however, that I own like 30 pairs of underware. It's a sickness.