I Need A Change and Will Be Lucky To Get One!

I am a very lucky gal! Pantone has declared pink the color for 2014! I am coming up on the end of my year of living pinkly. It has been the one thing I've stuck with for any length of time and it has been easy. I was contemplating continuing the project but was concerned that I may not be able to find pink clothes to freshen up the old wardrobe. I thought pink was in last year. I found a lot of deals on pink stuff. Just so you know I wear everything pink except for pants and sometimes shoes. Bras, undies, bathing suits, cover-ups, sweaters, shirts, workout tops, socks, night gowns, robes and coats are all pink. It is very liberating! So my pink might get a little more purple this year. Who cares? I need a change!

The Pink Purge!

My closet has taken on a life of its own. It's like an overgrown garden, things sprouting out where they shouldn't be, garbage accumulating amongst my shoes. I have things I don't wear anymore, things I haven't worn in decades and things that are not pink! Just so you know, you cannot do a good job cleaning any room by leaving the stuff in the room and trying to pick through the things you want to get rid of and those that stay. You need to pull everything out and then put the stuff back in that you want to keep. I started at 2:30 yesterday afternoon and stopped at 9:30, one big trash bag and four big donation bags and I'm still not done! My closet is growing pinker and I threw out mostly non-pink items. I did keep anything white or black and anything metallic, including a gold braided belt. I figure at fifty anything celebratory should stay. Now that my mother is in the throes of Alzheimer's Disease I can't bear to throw out anything she gave me such the peignoir set she bought for my wedding night. I won't throw out the white leather fringe jacket we got on my first trip to San Francisco in the 80s, along with the black suede shorts I'll certainly never wear again. I have a pair of white sparkly sandals that she gave me on a visit to Florida. They hurt my feet but are both sparkly and a gift from her, so they go back into the closet. I have a bag of beautiful purses I kept after cleaning out her house a year ago. I threw out countless bags of stuff and donated a garage full of even more things. I stage her house so that it looked so beautiful it made me cry. I think she would've been proud and pleased. I am not a purse person but for some reason I couldn't give away all of her purses. She always seemed to have a different one every time she went out. I remember watching her transfer her stuff and thought it was crazy. Her collection was a work of art. Of the ones I kept, one is made from gum wrappers and another from seat belts, one is beautifully beaded. I searched the pockets for any sign of her, even a crumpled cigarette or matches but there is nothing. They are meticulously clean as was how she kept everything. I even put my least favorite of her handbags back in the closet. Why, you might ask? Because it's pink.

Packing Pink

Since I've started wearing only pink I've traveled a few times and have found packing to be a breeze. There is no trying to put together several outfits with belts, shoes, bras and God forbid, purses! This is why the steamer trunk must have been invented. Nope, I can bring one pair of shoes, one pink belt and a pair of sneakers. Everything, including my unmentionables are pink. I always look coordinated and can take less things which leaves room in the suitcase for purchases. There is only one drawback that I've seen thus far. Since I pretty much only wear 3 shades of pink and when traveling I settle on one shade, I do have difficulty finding anything in my suitcase. When everything is, say fuchsia, it is hard to see where a shirt ends and a sock begins. On my recent camping trip (yes, I only wore pink) I did discover but have not purchased some kind of soft compartmenters (for lack of a better word) to sort my stuff. My dear friend, Joanne, made the observation, "You've created a uniform for yourself." While it doesn't sound fun and attractive, it is, in fact, the truth. One thing that I discovered about long ago about uniforms, having worn one for 8 years of catholic school is that they promote creativity. The more you limit someone the more creative they will become.

Why Pink?

For as long as I can remember I've loved the color pink. When my husband, who is a planner, was getting ready to propose to me he asked me what I'd like in a ring. I replied, "Something pink!" He delivered. My dad gave me a pink tourmaline pendant which I wore on my wedding day. My mom warned me, "You'll grow out of this pink phase and you'll be stuck with a lot of pink jewelry." Well I am fifty and love the color pink more than ever. I figured that if I always feel great when I wear pink, if I get compliments when I wear pink, why not always wear pink? My pink journey began. I went through my closet and pulled out every pink thing I owned. I found stuff that I never wore. I had been wearing the same style of shirt in many colors and now in order to not get bored I found that I need to expand my style choices while staying with one color. I found while limiting myself, I actually opened up my world to new possibilities. I headed to Lord and Taylor during one of those 50% off the already 40% off price. I went through the racks looking for pink. I found and purchased styles I would never normally wear. It was fun and eye-opening. Even with limiting myself to pink, I don't wear all pinks. I don't like pale pink. I only like bubblegum, fuchsia and coral (a bit of cheating on the pink but who cares).