Tuesday, October 29, 2013

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
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  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?

6 comments:

  1. I am wearing pants today, but that is the exception. I'm preparing for Spy Girl's "black" prompt and am considering doing a vlog.

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    1. I'm seeing vlogs take off more, now. The first ones I saw were Melanie's at Bag and a Beret. Look forward to seeing your 52 pick me up entry!

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  2. I have 6 pairs of identical denim trousers (not jeans, they are cut like khakis): 3 each in the two sizes I cycled between.
    1 pair black dress pants.
    3-4 pairs of leggings.
    4 pairs of shorts.

    So, depending on what counts as "pants" I have between 7 and 16 pairs. But I live on a boat and have a rather odd life, so I might be an outlier.

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    1. Thanks, Louise! "Twice as many pants as someone who lives on a boat" doesn't sound excessive. :D

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  3. I have as many as will fit into my pants drawer. That's kind of how my closet goes. I have a limited amount of space, a certain number of hangers, and drawers. When everything gets full, I go through, try things on, look at my blog to see what hasn't been worn. Try to figure out why it isn't and if it should be swapped, donated, gifted, or resold.

    I probably have between 10-12 pairs of actual jeans/trousers at any given time. My size has changed a lot so it's been on the lower end of numbers.

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  4. Would you believe that, including 2 pairs of pants I wear around the house, out of my full closet (all year) I only have 8 pairs of pants? I am just not a pants person!

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