Buy New Clothes

Every now and then, you come to a point in your life when you're forced to choose between the clothes you've worn and clothes that society is encouraging you to purchase. The fashionable type of clothes all the cool kids on the block are wearing. The ridiculously overpriced type of clothes. And I'm not saying that the decisions I've made recently haven't impacted this current stance in my life, because for granted, I'm sure that me avoiding shopping malls and fashion magazine rummages probably have. I'm saying that I probably ended up here because I chose to be here, and I'm forced to choose between "broken clothes" and buying new clothes because it's that time of the year again (that and the mere fact that I am finding more and more pieces of my wardrobe that are either torn or missing buttons).

But there's the thing. How do you let go of something that's made you who you are? Even if that black Michael Kors down jacket is falling apart in so many ways, or those pointy, beige flats are completely point-less and fading, it's so hard for me to even think about what my life will be like without them. What jacket am I going to wear when I'm walking with people in the wintertime who I know, for a fact, will probably push me unto the stack of snow that would keep my butt from getting wet? What shoes am I going to wear that are flat, and pointy, and beige and will match my outfit? I'm getting emotional just thinking about it and firmly believe that Mr. Jacket and Mrs. Flats are simply...irreplaceable.

I'm a grownup now. At least, that's what the "real world" keeps telling me. I make money. I get to buy...shtuff. I get to buy...NEW CLOTHES to replace the old. And it's tough. It's tough finding the right fit. It's tough giving that silk blouse on the mannequin a shot. Sure you can go out on a date with it in the dressing room. Sure you can spend an entire night with it, in front of a mirror, debating whether or not you are going to be able to work with it with all the other clothes you have in your closet. Sure it's going to be hard. But it's there, and you're there, and you can only stand in front of the cashier for so long before the crabby lady behind you starts yelling obnoxiously. But what I want to know is, am I ready to make that change? Or better yet, has the change already occurred and I'm just having the hardest of times, accepting it?

New clothes can't be so bad right? I've seen other kids wearing it...they look so happy. I've witnessed innumerable consumers swipe their cards carelessly and spending whatever needed to be spent to make themselves happy. I wonder if this would make me happy. More importantly, I wonder how long that happiness will last. Will it fall apart and break, just like the clothes before them? There's only one way to find out...

"Will you be paying with cash or credit?"
"Credit, please."