Cleaning my coat closet

[puzzle_me]

A few weeks ago, I dropped a piece of sushi on my down jacket. It left a little bit of a stain - but worse, it made my jacket smell like fish. I decided it was high time to launder it.

This forced me to survey the contents of my coat closet, something I haven't done all that thoroughly in a number of years. One of the curses of having a house, that you live in by yourself, is that it's easy to just accumulate stuff. There's more room than you actually reasonably need for yourself, and there's no one else around to pressure you to throw away or give away the crap you're not using or wearing anymore. I actually did end up wearing my old down jacket for part of the time that my nice down jacket was being laundered - but the zipper is broken and the lining is ripped. Why the hell was I keeping this? In case I have a friend who is visiting from a warm climate who needs a jacket? Why am I keeping a beat up old coat for something entirely hypothetical? Plus, I realized I'd sooner buy them something at Saver's with a working zipper for their visit if they actually needed a coat. I also surveyed my other coats, and realized there are quite a few I'm not using, or are too beat up to justify keeping around. (Lest you wonder if I'm really hard on coats, there was one in my closet that I've had since *high school*. My sister brought it back for me when she went to Nepal, and even though I haven't worn it in years because the pockets have long since ripped to shreds I was keeping it for sentimental reasons.)

So, in all, I am purging five coats and jackets. In addition to not wanting to be a packrat, I feel like it's kind of an atrocity to keep all these coats I'm not using when there are people who may not have a coat to keep them warm. Not all of them are beat up - some of them are just similar in weight to coats I like better. If you are someone who needs a coat, and are a similar size to me, please speak up (either comment or contact me privately if you'd rather), and you can come over and claim one.

In addition to coats, these are other things I had in my closet:

- five scarves (I've used all but one of them in the last year)
- three fedora style hats - even though I haven't worn any of them in years, I couldn't quite bring myself to throw any of them out
- two winter hats that are designed to look like penguins (keeping them both)
- seven other winter hats - I've actually worn all of these in the last year, but in an effort to cut down on stuff I am going to part with at least a few of them
- four baseball caps - two of them are from Hawk Ridge, one of them is advertising a potent opioid my company manufactures, and the fourth has my company logo on it. Anyone want a baseball cap advertising a potent opioid?
- five pairs of gloves/mittens (I'm getting rid of the scratchy wool pair I never use)
- one pair of gore tex socks - Cabela's used to make these, but no longer. It's a pity, these are awesome to wear over smartwool and under neoprene boots for cold-water kayaking
- one pair of waterproof pants
- one pair of legwarmers
- two umbrellas (one a golf umbrella, one a compact umbrella, both with my company logo on it)

Comments

[springbok1.livejournal.com]

The baseball cap is black, with the name of the product embroidered in orange on the front, and the chemical name of the active drug embroidered in smaller green letters underneath. Are you going to yoga tomorrow? I can try to remember to bring it if you are. One thing I didn't put on the list is that also in my closet were an orange balaclava and an orange scarf I'd picked up somewhere for Molly, so I can bring that with too.

I am not planning to give away any of the fedoras, but as I'm not using them (and have no imminent costuming needs for any of them), I'd be willing to give you one on a long-term loan. Basically, like furniture in our family, don't give it away without offering it back first. And if I do have a sudden, pressing need for it I'd grab it back. I have a black one and a charcoal grey one.