what not to wear

Wedding stories coming soon, but I wanted to tell you about my lovely new gym gear I got on Sunday! For such a bargain too! Whilst wandering the King's Road with hubby, I came across a Sweaty Betty that was shutting down! I ended up getting two tops and two new pairs of pants for running and yoga - how about that! Me, the Poster Child of Ancient Gym Wear!

I don't know about you guys, but I have a lot of things in my wardrobe that easily fit into the "what not to wear" category! Stuff that has been worn to death and beyond, but that I can't seem to be able to throw in the bin. When I was losing weight I was only too happy to shed the stuff that was tatty and didn't fit any more, but now I'm horribly sentimental about my clothes, mostly stuff I bought when I first got to goal four years ago. Each time I look at them, or wear them, I feel connected again to the time when those clothes were new. For example:

Supre 3/4 running capris and green racer back tank top

I bought these from the Swanston Street Supre in Melbourne for a weekend of doing yoga with Mary in Sydney, in January 2007. That's the best part of four years ago! I had the most amazing time on that weekend, and when I got back to Melbourne these were the clothes I would wear to Bikram yoga. I took them with me on my US & Canada trip and wore them each time I went for a run or to a yoga class. I remember wandering around the streets of Kitsilano in Vancouver, a yoga mat rolled up under my arm, the sun on my face, wandering in and out of stores or stopping at the Na'am for an orange and strawberry juice. And then I wore them to yoga classes here in London, and on runs. So basically, these two items of clothing collectively have seen over three years of SWEAT! Ewwww! The top is very faded now. And the other day, I was doing some yoga at home and was in the middle of my favourite forward bend, supta karmasana, and realised that the inside of the capris are starting to get a bit thin and there is the beginning of several holes on the inside leg! Oh dear.

Size 10 jeans

These were the dream jeans. The invincible jeans. The "I can take on the world" jeans. Four years on, there are stains on them that just have never come out despite the best stain removers Britain has on offer, the bottoms are raggy, and if I'm honest they aren't the most comfortable pair of jeans I own! Their time might be up.

The lucky dress

Oh, who remembers this one? I bought this from Quick Brown Fox in Melbourne in June 2006 and it was a symbolic ray of sunshine for me at that time. Every time I put it on I felt like a million dollars. Every time I wasn't sure what to wear, I put this on and every time it was a winner. It could take me to coffee before work, to work, to lunch, to a meeting with the bank manager, to cocktails, to dinner and out to a club afterwards. Four years on, it still fits like a dream, but lift up the collar and look at the underside and you'll see the colour the dress used to be. It has faded. It's a tiny bit shabby looking now. But it has been so loved and the thought of ever parting with it makes me want to cry!

Grey striped Sussan cardigan and Witchery black crossover pattern singlet/vest

Bought in August 2006, this was a winning pair that went with jeans for brunch at my favourite Melbourne cafe, or with black pants for work. I have worn both of these to death. I remember wearing them a lot on my trip to New Zealand in 2006. Oh wait, here I am:

Four years on, the singlet is faded and has a tiny tear, and the grey striped cardigan has seen better days!! Even my sister in law, who wears stuff from the 80s, thought it might be time to retire it!!

So while a wardrobe clean out is definitely going to happen before autumn well and truly hits us here, and everything mentioned above will either go in the bin or be lovingly folded away for posterity, it's been nice revisiting some of the memories of my now threadbare togs. Memories are wonderful. But if you constantly (and physically) hold on to the old stuff in life and aren't brave enough to make the break from it, you'll never have any room for the new and exciting stuff that might possibly suit you better. If nothing changes, well....nothing changes. And I know that as well as anyone.

Plus, my flat is tiny and I'm running out of wardrobe space!! ;)

What about you? Have you got some clothes in your wardrobe that are threadbare and skanky, but you can't bear to chuck them away? Or any new exciting purchases recently?