Yesterday I decided to go clothes shopping. I put on my favorite pale green corduroy pants. Then I went out to say hello to the goat boys. They gave me a happy birthday greeting that entailed nose kisses and goat hugs. I went back inside the house and changed. Which leads me to my first fashion tip of the day:
#1: Always have a second outfit at the ready.
Women’s magazines are getting on the “there’s a recession, let’s all be frugal” bandwagon. I recently read that the way to extend the life of your clothes is to wash them less. Maybe that works if you don’t get dirty. Impossible here. I also read a recommendation that you take clothes to the dry cleaners less frequently. Huh? When my clothes need washing, it’s obvious! You can’t exactly brush off muddy hoof marks. With that in mind, here is the next rule:
#2: Only buy clothes that you can throw in the washing machine. Avoid buying items that need dry cleaning, or each time you wear them (and that wearing might last only 10 minutes) you will hear the cash register go ka-ching! $5.00 please!
I bought a cozy, silky, beautiful robe yesterday. Not only is is machine washable, but it’s dog hair colored! How many of you buy clothes thinking, “oh, good, the dog hair won’t show”?
#3: Buy clothes that match your dog and cat hair.
I saw a very nice pair of pants yesterday, but even hanging on the rack, the material attracted lint. I could only imagine what it’d look like in a house with my world-class shedding dog, Lily.
#4: Avoid purchasing apparel that attracts lint.
Here are Lily and Scooter. They’ve just had a nice scratch.
Notice the dog hair on the carpet. I selected that gorgeous plum rug before I owned Lily. It’s not as easy to match decor to one’s pets as it is to change clothes.
#5: Keep a lint roller and vacuum cleaner on hand at all times.
That’s all for now – I have to go do laundry.
I have two cats and then I know what you’re talking about. I have several brushes clothes to take the animals and we are always looking cashmere clothing.
My kitchen floor is faux small tiles, carefully selected because the colors match those of the kitty kibble. By the way, happy birthday Terry!
Now that’s good down to earth advice that I can relate to :-)
I always check out the washing instructions before buying – last summer The Times did a feature on cothes to wear at festivals (the mud, tents and music variety). There was a lovely lovely dress, even looked cute with wellies or worn over jeans – I checked the price, not too bad, I thought I’d treat myself – oops – dry clean only! Mmmm – very suitable for sitting around in a muddy field in an English summer!
Luckily. around here you can go to the local shops wearing mud-splattered clothes. If you dress up clean and smart the post mistress will say “Going somewhere?”
Hope you had a great birthday!
Celia
It’s like seeing fashion photo shoots of women in riding breeches and high-heeled boots! Oh, and perfectly white shirts.
BTW, Celia, LOVE the new items at your shop.
Go see!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/magiccochin
Happy Birthday Terry!!!!
The washing process isn’t really what wears clothing out it’s the drying process or should I say the clothes dryer. Water acts like a lubricant in the washer but the heat and tumbling action of the dry is extremely hard on clothing. That lint in the vent is your clothes falling apart. Those of you old enough who had parents or grandparents that lined dried everthing did you noticed their towels lasted for ever? and your lucky if they last a year. Yep it’s the dryer.
The clothes I want to last only spend about 10 minutes in the dryer and then hung on hangers to air dry. I have polo type shirts that are 4 years old and are still in great shape and I wear to my office job regularly.
Just a small tip from someone who was raised by the Scrubby Dutch.
I’ve got two teenaged boys in the house. Yesterday I did 4 loads of laundry. The thought of hanging it all to dry and bringing it back in… and doing that in the cold and the winter…. oh, I would not have been a good pioneer woman!
I wouldn’t make a good pioneer women either ;-)
I can remember my grandmother hanging clothes outside in the dead of winter and they froze stiff on the line and many were still stiff when she brought them in.
Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t trade my dryer for a rope and a bag of clothespins either.
Oh yeah, the pet fur…
I have two tabby cats. One’s all brown/grey (that’s Zak), the other has white patches (that’s Zoe, his sister). When I’m wearing black (which is most days to work), you can rely on Zoe sitting on me, leaving her white fur everywhere. Whenever I am wearing a lighter colour, either Zak decides to sit on me, or both of them go and get properly covered in mud or sand and then leave all that dirt on me.
It’s like birds. When I had a white car, all the birds with the dark poo decided my car made a great target. Now I have a dark red car, the birds with the white poo love my car most.
Why??? :-)
Funny! I was in a prim and proper Brooks Brothers shop yesterday, looked down, and realized that I had muddy goat hoof prints on my jeans. At a certain point, it doesn’t matter what color your animals are – you’re always a mess!