Okay, it's obviously no longer Spring! I was working on this post, thinking I had some issues with the Marie Kondo method, but I can't for the life of me remember what those issues were.
The coronavirus period has become a blur of lunchtime wine, cheesy television obsessions (Selling Sunset, I am ashamed to admit, and Ozark, which is so bloody good and I am not ashamed about that) and annoying teenage children leaving wet towels and smelly socks everywhere.
Having strained my few remaining brain cells I think the point of this post was that you shouldn't get rid of clothes too quickly. None of the clothes shown below "sparked joy" when I tried to Kondo my wardrobe, so I put them in rubbish bags destined for the charity shop.
Some weeks later after a bout of suspected coronavirus I had lost a few pounds, just enough to feel motivated to lose a few more. As my biggest problem (boobs) deflated, I suddenly remembered a few blouses which could possibly fit again. Hence the three tops below mined from the bin bag.
All of the bottoms below had been discarded for reasons of muffin top, right, left and centre, but suddenly seemed to fit well enough to give them a second chance.
It's not only Marie Kondo who urges you to live in the moment and make your purging decisions based on how you feel about an item right now. Much of the wardrobe advice out there is based on the size and age you are today - i.e. if it doesn't fit in this moment you must get rid of it. This gave me great comfort while I was stuffing those charity bags, because it made me feel that my clothes should fit me, and that I should not have to make an effort to fit into the clothes.
Unfortunately this all ignored the fact that my weight had crept into the obese column on the NHS website for some time now. I felt awful all the time, and in winter I didn't leave my house all that much. It wasn't until that tiny bit of weight loss that I realised what had been keeping me in sweatpants and at home.
I was too heavy to be happy. Sixty seven kilograms just was not for me. For the first time ever I also registered high blood pressure and cholesterol at a routine blood test.
At one metre and sixty two centimetres there is a weight that works for me. Anywhere from about 58 to 60 kg is okay. I have huge shoulders and big bones, so at 58 kg my 53-year old ass looks good but my face is a bit too thin, while at 60 kg my face is nice but my bum is a bit more jiggly.
Marie Kondo's advice doesn't take any of that into account. None of these clothes were sparking joy because they didn't fit right, and they reminded me of how much I had given up on myself.
With all the financial insecurity Covid has brought, it's been nice to fit into all the lovely clothes that were already in my bin bag in my wardrobe.
I hope you and your families are all well and healthy during this awful time. Be careful out there. Thank you for reading xxx
Dianne
