My Pin Jacket

It seems that all of my friends of a certain age, my certain age, have decided they want to clean out their lives and a good place seems to be to start with is their homes.  The minimalist look is “in” for the certain age.  And an added benefit is that you don't have to worry about leaving a mess for the children when you kick the bucket.

My problem is that I'm a Yankee at heart and so it’s really hard for me to throw out the simplest, stupidest things.  I even wrestled with throwing out a pair of paper 3-D glasses when I haven't the faintest clue where they came from, and a plastic Cinderella shoe that I believe housed a watch, although not mine.  When it comes to those items that I believe are worth something to someone, it’s even more problematic for me to let go. 

Up to this point, I've taken items to Goodwill (someone can use them) and to the consignment shop (so I can get some credit in order to update my wardrobe) and I've given away clothes that are either too big or too small to friends who liked them.  I also put together a basket of jewelry and kept it in the hallway along with paper bags full of books and invited anyone who came to help themselves.  But now I am down to those items that have really meant something to me over the course of a lifetime.  How can I get rid of that pale sea foam dress that I wore in Aruba when I had my huge Afro and felt like an island princess and where I met Peter.  (A size 8 that I'll never get into again.)  Or, how about my white full-length wool cape that I wore one December in Europe when my husband and I were having work-related whirlwind parties in Brussels, Oslo and Copenhagen.  I felt like an ice princess then.  (I haven't tried it on in so long I don't even know if it fits.)  It’s even worse when I think about my black one piece, backless, halter topped pants that I wore for the holidays after Mike had been born in November.  I wonder where they went.  It still bothers me.

But things are coming together.  My good friend, Jutta, just relocated to Charlotte to be close to her daughter until she is married.  In cleaning out her apartment, she was ruthless.  It was all I could do not to reach into the garbage bags to retrieve what she was throwing out (someone could use them!)  One of the items was a 60s couture dress that was a cast-off from a rich aunt..  (My friend said she'd never fit in it again.)  I couldn't resist.  I thought about my niece down in Miami who loves vintage clothing.  I told her I was taking it for Caroline.  She added two more. 

That started a mini ball rolling.  I took the dresses home and started to make up a box to mail.  Then I thought about that sea foam dress that Caroline had seen hanging on the wall in my rec room and said she loved.  I added that.  Then I included my brown suede leather and blue calf's leather high heels that I bought in Italy in the late 70s.  (They sound icky but they're dynamite.)  Then I threw in the Italian cranberry red leather heels.  I stopped at the raspberry pink suede strappy sandals.  They still fit but when would I wear high heels again?  Maybe someday.  Or maybe they'll go in the next box.  Finally, I included a white beaded evening purse from the 20s.  I felt good about the box.  She would love and enjoy these things as much as I and my friend had. 

I mentioned my jewelry earlier.  I have an enormous amount that was accumulated, first, through my mother's forays to the tag sales, and then, my forays to the tag sales and then, some from aunts passed down to me.  The odd thing is the only thing I wear now is a gold oval bracelet I've had for 36 years, a pair of gold earrings and occasionally a gold necklace and 3 little gold pinkie rings. 

So what to do with my boxes and boxes of jewelry?  I decided to keep working on the costume jewelry.  I had given away a lot of stuff I didn't care about in my basket but now the memories were starting to click in.  I would work with the pins first.  I carried around the thought for several weeks and then one morning, I woke up at 4:30 (another benefit of a certain age) and decided I would put the pins on my old jean jacket where I could see them and then I might even select one of them to wear.

I started with the pins my daughter had.  She was into rainbows and hearts and stars back in the early 70s.  So I chose the left lapel for them, placing one beneath the other. On the left breast portion, I put all my funky pins, including the pack of matches that was a gift from East Germany, the mirrored rear view of a 20s car, a kite with its tails swinging, a wire woman from somewhere in Africa and a mime.

On the other lapel I put my Smith button and three pins of my mother’s.  One was the badge she wore when she worked in Solar Manufacturing in New Jersey during the war and which received the first Navy “E” in the area? in the country?  I can’t remember but whenever she mentioned working there, it was always accompanied with, “It was the first Navy E…”    The second pin is a small fish whose scales are various shades of muted blues and greens and the only piece of jewelry she wore the last months of her life.  And finally, an inexpensive little silver elephant with its trunk up.  (Good luck.) 

On the right breast portion, I put all the animal and bird pins I have.  (That was a stage in the late 70s.)  On one sleeve, I put my weird shapes and intricate designs and on the other, I put my good pieces.  The back was everything else.  It was perfect.  Everything was available in an instant! 

Then, I decided, it was a work of art!  Now, this could not hide in my bedroom.  Where would it go?   Right now it’s hanging on the hall wall waiting for me to divine the right spot. 

Somewhere in this process, I realized this pin jacket was a story of my life!  So many memories every time I looked at it.  And I had cleaned up a whole mess of boxes.  What a wonderful feeling. 

Now I have some more great ideas.  I'm definitely going to take the time to put all those pictures on discs and make CDs to send to the posers and I'm thinking about framing all my sons t-shirts that he can't seem to part with but still remain in my cellar. I'll start looking on e-bay to see if any of my hard bound books are worth anything and sell them.

As I write this, I realize all these great ideas are very time consuming.  Since working all day leaves me exhausted, and therefore, worthless in the evening except to socialize or lay on the couch, reading and watching T.V., it's going to take a while before that minimalist look is actually implemented.

But I'll keep working on it.  Now what should I do about the dollhouse and furniture?  (No grand kids yet.)  What about the crock pots or the mortar and pestles?  What about the boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations and the vases and the linens.  How many tea towels does one woman need? 

I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  I'll have to live a little longer than I had originally considered.