Pantsion Plan

  I have a question, dear readers!

  How many pairs of pants (trousers, for you European folks) do you own?

  I know the answer varies widely depending on whether you prefer skirts to trousers, your line of work and its dress code, wardrobe size, and so on. I'd love to hear about it. Do you have a favorite pair of pants? Pants just for home? I'm asking both because I thought it would be fun to hear about, and as a sanity check because my pants are outgrowing the drawer I keep them in.

  This is the pants drawer. It is in a free craigslist bureau that is unremarkable save it is exactly the dimensions of a Toyota Prius with the back seats folded down, minus 3/4 of an inch on the top and sides.

  The pants get folded into sixths and fit inside in four columns, six deep for trousers and five deep for jeans, and I have two cool hangers that hold four pairs apiece. The thing is, I now have 29 pairs of pants -12 jeans and 17 slacks/trousers, and if you count the pair of khakis I'm altering, it becomes a round 30.

  So that's 30 pairs of pants and one pair of legs. Almost all of them have been featured on Couturgatory in its brief time on the Internet. They all fit; I wear them and I like them. But there are 30 of them. And the question rebounding in my skull like a BB rattling in a tin can is: Is this normal?

  Just trying to keep an eye on the arbitrary line between enthusiastic clotheshorse in a compact living space and bananamonkey crazyperson. I mean, again, there's a lot of play here, but most people would probably tell me north of 30 say, cats that maybe I should take it easy.

  I have lived in pants the majority of my life. This summer, while trying to post outfits to the blog that didn't consist of ratty denim shorts and a geeky graphic tee, I wore more skirts and dresses than I have since I was six. I liked it! But now that I have many lovely skirts and dresses, I wonder if my pants collection should still be growing. How do you manage your pants collection?

  At this point I've also realized that pants is a delightful word to say. Pants pants pants pants. Emancipantson Proclamation. The Safety Pants. Pantsalot. Pantsy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Elepants. :D
-----
  The seasonal changeover continues apace! Winter, that time of year in which there are fewer items in the closet, but it's more crowded because of garment volume. (:

  Summer skirts and sundresses are going away...

  ... into the shelf box previously occupied by sweater dresses and cold weather skirts:

  With few exceptions, my cold weather clothes are grey and black. I tend to spend my winters huddled in wool coats and scarves looking miserable, but I will do my best to inject some color and visual interest.

  What will you be wearing in the coming months?