Welcome To My Closet
Imagine walking into a small room. A light switch on your left is flipped, and your eyes are bombarded with colors of every shade!
Skirts and tank tops hang on the left, next to a hanging organizer that holds Nike shorts, hats that I never wear (because I hate wearing hats), and tank tops that I’ve grown tired of, all of which are shoved carelessly into random pockets. I know that I’ll regret this unorganized decision later when I’m scrambling on a deadline to find something to wear. There’s an ugly orchestra uniform hanging, cleverly hidden behind a rack of bags, most of which I never use. Of these bags, there are two dollar tote bags of The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men that I bought from Barnes and Nobles, old Vera Bradley bags, and the only bag I actually use, a bright pink one cross body bag from who-knows-where that my mom presented to me a couple months back. On the floor, there’s a little dresser that holds towels, pillowcases, and bedsheets.
Look directly ahead, and you’ll notice that there are lots of similar looking jeans of all different sizes that have accumulated from 8th grade. Skimming your eyes from left to right, you’ll notice that these pants gradually get more and more patterned. Polka dots, hounds tooth, and BAM – flashes of red, first bright like ROY G BIV and then darker, of oxblood color. Then, you’ll see dresses that are probably too short to actually be dresses, that I’ll probably just wear over jeans, and with a cardigan. Notice that there’s little variety to my dresses; I just really like sleeveless scoop necked stuff. Then, you’ll see jackets of all sorts. Northface, Abercrombie, and Urban Outfitters, galore! If you happen to peek into my closet on a Sunday night, you might see a rack of clothes that I’ve picked out for the week, as I like to do this.
Glance right, and you’ll see a big row of sweaters and shirts of all sorts of colors, all sorts of styles. Buttoned, graphic, tee shirts, you name it, it will probably be in my closet, somewhere. And there shall be fancy-schmancy dresses that I’ve worn maybe once, either from big events like 9th grade PDC or just from poor fashion choices that haunt me from freshman year.
Look up and to your right, and you’ll see a stack of random blankets that I’ve accumulated over the years. A pink and purple flowery one that I got as a birthday present in third grade is one of my favorites. I don’t even remember who gave it to me, and my mom tells me its really bad quality, but it has such a comfy and familiar feel, sort of like my Kenya t-shirt.
On the ground sits a big blue suitcase that I use for debate travel, a mini fan that I took to debate camp. There’s a container full of belts and scarves that I seldom wear; I stick to 1 basic belt and scarf. My summer clothes sit neglected in a storage box, filled to the brim with light, wispy fabric and bright, airy colors destined to be worn in the summer. There’s a white box that sits innocently on the floor. Lift the lid, and you will find stacks and stacks of paper (“flows”) that I have accumulated over the years from debate camp, debate tournaments, and practice debates at school. I like to peak in there once in a while and note how much my handwriting has improved. My shorthand writing has gotten much more efficient, and there’s more ink on the paper, as I have gradually become less dependent on my dear computer.
Ultimately, the best thing in my closet would be my boxes. No, not your ordinary box that holds clothes of some sort like I previously mentioned, but rather, the box of nostalgia.
These shoe boxes are full of scraps of paper and mementos from years past. I peek into them as I write this post, and this is what I see:
- 5$ straw glasses
- A badge from Dragoncon
- Receipts from my favorite restaurants
- Friendship bracelets, long worn and broken
- Photo booth pictures
- Tags from my favorite clothes
- Those super strong wristbands that you wear when you go ice skating
- Plane tickets
- Maps of college campuses
- Room keys from camp
- A deflated beach ball from who knows where
- Movie ticket stubs
- My old, ripped up Iphone case
- Chopsticks from one of my favorite sushi restaurants
- Letters from when I actually wrote to my family when I went away to summer camp in third grade
- My journal from 1st and 2nd grade
- Tokens from arcades
- My first college letter for when I truly thought Texas Christian University was offering me a scholarship
- Notes that I wrote to my friends from 7th-9th grade
That’s right, I’ve kept all of these random items. Why not just throw these things away? They are just useless clutter that take up space in your closet.
Well, I guess you could say I’m a bit of a sentimental freak. I keep almost anything that I encounter. In the drawers of my desk, I have stored old, used up pens, pencil nubs, candy wrappers, spanish vocabulary notecards from 7th grade, and every receipt EVER since 9th grade. I keep all my old disgusting nail polishes and broken earphones, every metal bottle cap I find on the street or in the dumpsters (just kidding about that last part). I don’t know why, but I just do.
My closet is kind of special. It is a defining, physical aspect of my life that shapes who I am. Each bag of old clothes ready for Goodwill demonstrates the person I used to be, contrasted with who I have evolved into today.
Catherine Zhang 
This is a very good post! I read this one from your list of 7 top posts becuase I remember my wife (tfaswift) she liked this one and told me about it. Its very cute.
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Aw, thanks! I was trying to exercise my ability to describe an environment, and I guess that worked out pretty well! Glad you enjoyed it. Your wife is awesome, by the way. She is so nice and supportive of me.
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:-)
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you inspired me:
WELCOME TO MY CLOSET (well *my* closet)
Imagine walking into a small room. A light switch on your left is flipped, and your eyes are bombarded with colors of (almost) every shade! I lie, mainly neutrals.
White bunnies hang out the left, next to a hanging organizer that holds pound-heavy bags of rabbit feed, brown bunnies i never take care of (because seriously, they are so ugly), and old bunnies that i’ve grown tired of, all of which are shoved into random cages. I know that I’ll regret this unorganized decision later when I’m scrambling to find which old bunny is best to sell for a profit. On the floor, there’s a little dresser that holds towels, pillowcases, and bedsheets — for my good bunnies that I like.
Look directly ahead, and you’ll notice that there are lots of similar looking bunnies of all different sizes that have accumulated from 8th grade. Big bunnies, teeny tiny bunnies, skinny bunnies, tall bunnies. There’s a pattern though, skimming your eyes from left to right, you’ll notice that these pants gradually get more and more bigger. Baby bunny, baby ugly bunny, a bit bigger baby bunny and BAM – flashes of huge patches of bunny fur — ITS OBESE BUNNY! Then, you’ll see dresses that are probably too ugly to be actual bunnies (I have a disformed bunny in my closet that resembles a porcupine) that I’ll probably just give to someone for their birthday. Notice that there’s little variety to my “good” bunnies; I just really like white furry albino bunnies.
Glance right, and you’ll see fancy-schmancy bunnies that I bought recently. Look up and to your right, and you’ll see a stack of random bunny fur blankets that I’ve accumulated over the years. A pink and purple flowery one that I got as a birthday present in third grade is one of my favorites. I don’t even remember who gave it to me, and my mom tells me its really bad quality, but it has such a comfy and familiar feel, sort of like my Zimbabwe t-shirt. My mom just doesn’t understand the quality of bunny fur. It is AHMAZING.
On the ground sits a big blue suitcase that I bought last summer. I actually bought it customized (shipping took forever though). The suitcase has 6 cages in it, so 6 of my favorite bunnies can travel with me (they are basically my only friends). Oh. Black bunnies. Black bunnies and also grey bunnies (I just feel they are very dark and deep bunnies) sit neglected in a storage box, filled to the brim with light, wispy fabric and bright, airy colors destined to be never brought about in the summer.
Ultimately, the best thing in my closet would be my bunnies. Actually, bunnies are the only thing in my closet. No, not your ordinary closet right?
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA your comment literally made me lol. i love this :D
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What an interesting post. What inspired you to write about your closet? I’m kind of a mix between ruthlessly getting rid of things that I haven’t used in a while, and holding onto other things forever. I’ve got an envelope of old letters and birthday cards going back over 20 years. I have a rose given to me by my husband when we first started dating 6 years ago, which I dried and saved. On the other hand, I’ve given away some very nice items of clothing, accessories etc, if I just don’t wear them. And I don’t like having too many ornaments standing around gathering dust. But I hang onto receipts FOREVER. LOL. How can ancient receipts have more value than nice clothes?? Oh well. Somehow it makes sense to my mind! :-)
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Thanks! To be honest, the first night I started the blog I was up half the night trying to think of creative writing prompts and topics. And this was one of them. Every couple of weeks I’d go on a debate tournament, keep the receipts and plane tickets, and put them in my special box when I came home. I really wanted to write about it, but decided that my closet was a more broad topic of discussion. Haha! I suppose the rose and letters have lots of sentimental value, bringing back a ton of memories and nostalgia everytime you look at them :) For me, I don’t like to have too much clutter in my room but it’s almost painful to throw things away. Even random, useless things. HOW DO YOU LET GO OF NICE CLOTHES? I’m not at the age where I can give clothes away for any other reason besides outgrowing it, so I’m not quite sure why I would, :) Thanks for reading!
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LOL, that’s hilarious. “How do I let go of nice clothes”. Yes, many women would probably ask the same question. I guess I have quite a lot of clothes, and if I just don’t wear something, no matter how nice it is, I think about other women who might really love it and get lots of use out of it, especially if they don’t have anything very nice. So then I give it away. I feel better afterwards. It’s ever so nice to see someone’s face when they get something nice. But I do like clothes, and the stuff which I wear – I take really good care of it! :-)
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That makes sense! Haha, I better just try to buy clothes that I know I’ll wear in the future? I LIKE CLOTHES TOO! (as you can tell from the topic of this post)
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I think *all* women like clothes! LOL. I’ve never met one who didn’t. I guess that’s just the way we are! :-)
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