Clothing and Insufficiency

Let me tell you that wearing only seven clothes for seven days was not a huge deal for me.  I liked not thinking about what I should wear and having very little laundry.  When I picked out my clothes from the rest of my closet this morning for the first time in a week, I almost felt disappointed that I needed to take the time to decide what I was going to wear. True story.  


When I was in college, we used to watch people (mainly girls) walk by and joke about what their major could be based on the their attire.  For example, a button-down blouse tucked in to a straight black skirt was most likely a business major, however, a long flowing earthy or jean skirt with a T-shirt and no make-up was probably a missions major.  Sounds awful and judgmental, but in truth we didn't mean any harm by it.  We were just 20-year-olds a bit full of ourselves with too much time on our hands between classes.


I'm letting you in on this little dark secret of my past to help you understand me when I say that I fall in between these two aforementioned categories.  I don't really want to look like a missions major (at least not most of the time), but I don't actually care enough to want to look as polished as a business major all of the time either.  Maybe this could be explained by the fact that I was actually a business major interested in missions who ended up becoming a bilingual education teacher after college.  I have the makings of a fashion identity crisis, people, somewhere in between not caring at all and extremely polished and put-together.


Despite (or maybe because of) my mostly nonchalant fashion perspective, I still had clothes lurking in my closet that I a) never wear b) don't like or c) shouldn't wear because it's too worn out.  It's so easy to tell my husband that shirt looks hideous, you need to get rid of it, yet not always so easy to motivate myself to do the same.  I'm envious of Bea at Zero Waste Home with her paired-down wardrobe.  I don't know that I could get mine quite that small, but I have done some purging this week (again) and have come up with a basic guideline:


7 tank tops (I live in Texas, people.)
7 short-sleeved tops
7 long-sleeved shirts
7 dress pants
2-3 sweaters
3-4 jackets
7 dresses
7 shorts/skirts/capris
5 work-out outfits
3 T-shirts
2 pairs pajamas per season


I actually have one or two more in a few of those areas, and I don't plan to get rid of the extra unless I don't wear them or they wear out.  The numbers are more-so a basic guideline to help me know when to say, "Enough."  When I think, "I have nothing to wear." I can take a hard look at what is actually in my closet and say, "No, I have enough," or, "Yes, I need to replace some things."


There is one little problem with this plan: I have had this basic wardrobe plan in the back of my mind for a while.  But then something happens walking through a store when I see CLEARANCE in red.  Especially when it's children's clothing.  The kids might need clothes so they're not running around half-dressed or naked.  (I have actually muttered in my head while walking through Target, "Curse you, Target and your inexpensive and cute but irresponsibly manufactured clothing," while avoiding said clearance racks.  More on this to come during spending week.)


This is a hard habit to break.  Because it's tied to fear.  Fear that if I don't buy the clothes now when they're on sale, I might not have enough to buy the clothes later when we need them.  Or, even worse and more of a reality for me, I might have to buy us clothes at full-price, and I will have completely failed in my responsibility as a mother to stretch our dollars for every penny they're worth.   You see, it's really all about me and my insufficiency and inadequacy as a mother.


Wow.


Which is why I need to hear the Father's voice saying, "I am your sufficiency."  And why I need to lay down my striving to be considered "enough" and allow Him to be "more than enough."


To put practicality to walking that out, I also feel like I need a boundary. Starting now, we're only buying clothes twice a year: October or November for fall and March or April for spring/summer with a couple of items for stockings/presents at Christmas.  Not to begin this with a whole list of caveats, but if a REAL need arises in between or the kids need a shirt for school or activities in between shopping I am not going to be the clothes Nazi. (Maybe I should recite that phrase over and over in my head.)