It is entirely possible to wear a grey hoodie and black yoga pants too many days of the week. Initially, one might not think this is possible. But, after three and a half weeks of not working, such attire has become a uniform of sorts. And uniforms inevitably start to have an unfun feeling to them. The grey hoodie and black yoga pants have become the uniform of absenteeism, illness, and feeling down and out. The grey hoodie and black yoga pants have gone from fun after work/weekend lounge clothes to a uniform I no longer want. I now find myself at a loss when I arrive home in the evening as I am already in my “evening lounge clothes.”
My weekly laundry is now down to one easy load full of yoga pants, t-shirts, and other related exercise and lounge wear along with the usual socks and underwear. Yesterday I had an appointment that required “real clothes” and I had to unearth my favorite black and blue Ralph Lauren dress with a long black flowy jacket. I put on the dress and jacket with the pearl necklace my sister gave me for my birthday years ago, black pantyhose and long black boots. It’s amazing what clothes do to the spirit. Just putting on this outfit restored some of my sense of usefulness.
Shiny orange running shorts and a print t-shirt, soft from repeated washings, with a chihuahua dog on the front that states, “No more stinkin’ tacos!” make up the new evening lounge wear. Given that the temperature outside has started to plummet, there is little chance that this getup can become the new uniform of being down and out.
A Year in the Life of PTSD 
Good post. Sometimes we forget how much the little changes can change are mind states.
Thanks for the read and the comment. Most appreciated!
You’re welcome.
It took me years and years to finally replace my mother’s messages about good grooming and fashion, and be able to lounge around in sweats. Now, sweats are my work clothes (at least until my part-time job begins in November). Wearing jeans feels like dressing up. I’ve been thinking a lot in the last few years about what MY fashion is. I prefer pants over dresses, but I enjoy wearing dresses occasionally. I prefer flats to heels, and just bought two more pairs of loafers. I love clogs. I love bright-colored socks. Sweaters over jackets, but I really love a layered look. I love corduroy.
What we wear can help reveal our personalities or how we are hiding from ourselves.
Comfort is far more important to me now than fashion. I’m glad that at my new job, I can wear jeans, and when I need to wear their uniform, it includes pants rather than a skirt.
What is your fashion? It sounds like you connect clothes with doing something rather than being. Be yourself and let your clothes reflect that….(smile)
Cinda
There is this organization website that is quite the hit among stay at home moms which I have sent to some friends (who are not stay at home moms, but for one reason or another look around their houses and say things like “how the hell did my junk room take over my kitchen and living room?” One of her first pieces of advice is along the lines of “put on your shoes” — it boils down to dressing like you are going to lounge at home all day means that it was we mentally do as well. Sometimes, all we can do is get dressed like we are going to do something. But maybe that means that the next day, we will get dressed and do one thing more. (I have learned that I can not come home for work and get out of my work clothes right away because nothing gets done…)