What's old is loved

It started way before Super Bowl Sunday night when Kendrick Lamar rocked a pair of flares that we haven't seen since the likes of the 90s.  While on Sunday I might have led a mini round of applause for his choice in denim silhouette, I've spent the last year kicking myself whilst watching all the trends reappear that have come and gone from my closet.  Why didn't I keep the basic cardigan sweaters that I had bought in the early 2000s?  Or the low rise, wide leg jeans that I bought around that same time?  Or even crew socks???

I know the answer is that most of the things I purchased around that time - when I was either in college with no money or starting work with only a little more money - did not have any staying power.  They weren't garments made out of quality materials and would have languished 20 years in my closet slowly turning into a moldering mess.  The socks would have holes in the toes, the cardigans would pill or have moth eaten edges, and the jeans (with a healthy dose of stretch) would have been ripped at the knee.

From 2004, still have these jeans. Oh look those shoes are back

But now I am at the age where I do own pieces in my closet that have been with me for 20+ years and are still things that I wear and wash regularly.  Things have to be able to be washed / dried in my household - no one in my household has time for sorting colours or hang drying.  I have button up (down?) shirts that I purchased the first year I started work that I still wear regularly (amazing, isn't it?).  I have tall boots that have been resoled and are waiting to be worn with skinny jeans again (lol).  I even have a pair of bootcut jeans from college (see above).

I used to buy the fat Vogue issues from spring and fall (remember those? do they still even make those?) and I'm still interested in trends and fashion.  I'm curious as to how long barrel jeans will hang around and if we'll really all be rocking knee-length jorts this summer.  I love how "brown" was suddenly back last fall and am interested to see who rocks light blue or pale pink this spring.  However, I'm less and less interested in chasing after The Latest Thing with my wallet.  Because, let's be honest, even after purchasing that item, I'm never going to be the Cool Girl who Lives in Paris or Amsterdam.  I am the Texan girl who lives in the city with a heaving helping of country.  

My clothes (and honestly most things that I own) have to withstand dog hair, stall shavings, and maybe even mud / poop question mark.  I have to be able to tromp around the back woods, through brush and barbed wire, in my jeans.  It becomes clearer to me every single year that I roll through that there's freedom in embracing who you are and how you live.  To be clear, I'm not saying "don't dream."  If that Mulberry or LV handbag has been on your wishlist for years, don't stop believing.  But I know for myself, my favourite items that I return to day after day, year after year, are those things that I use and use often.  The price per wear has gone down to fractional pennies and I love them more for it.

Oh and Happy Valentine's Day y'all!