The first clothing item I've bought since Labor Day

 ...and I was trying to figure out why. Like, why haven't I cared to buy clothes? A lot of it was because it's really annoying to buy the fall clothes when it's a million degrees outside. 

I had a giftcard for Aerie from a return (what a scam that is!) and I was looking for a sweater. I only actually own a couple of them. While I have a red sweater, this cherry color "spoke" to me because it was darker. 

I will say it's definitely more cropped than we see in the picture. I ordered a small since Aerie usually runs big. To be honest, some of my biggest hits come from Aerie. 

^^^This says that's an extra small and the model is 5'9". I can't believe that based on length.

I'm thinking I can wear it with black pants (which, I need new ones), my flared leggings (also the best thing I've bought this year), or...jeans. I bought a new pair of jeans back in August and haven't worn them yet. I literally think the last time I wore jeans was last December. (I'm the weirdest person I know, I suppose.)

However, I did find myself on this unintended shopping ban for a few reasons: I'm tired of buying clothes that get 2-3 good wears and then they lose shape or shrink or fall apart. I have two items with holes in them and it's slightly devastating when something you like is no longer wearable. 

So I didn't want to spend on fast fashion or at trendy places.

Second, I refuse to buy more dresses for school. I am.planning on probably not teaching after this year. I don't want a closet full of work clothes that I won't wear day-to-day after this school year. I don't want to, essentially spend my salary on clothes I won't wear constantly. I got rid of an entire wardrobe after Wells was born. I built it back up when I went back to work in 2020. I am still wearing some of those items but they're starting to wear out after 4+ years. Also, when I went back to work after having Sutton, all of a sudden certain things didn't fit the way I wanted them to anymore. There's been items in my closet that I wore a few years ago that I haven't worn post-Sutton and I'm still hanging onto them. (Basically I've spend a lot of time listening to closet-curation podcasts lately.)

That being said: I am still dressing like a teacher and not like a high school student. Many people who teach dress like students. It's super disheartening. You will not catch me wearing leggings and a sweatshirt or jeans and a t-shirt to school. Oh my gosh it would be easier and more comfortable! I have a visceral reaction to that though because I've been at this for too long. I can't do it. I've been grandfathered into the old way of thinking about things. I still wear tights and dresses in the winter and dresses and not sneakers (okay, sometimes nice sneakers) in the warm months. (This year, we were able to pay $25 in advance and wear jeans whenever we want.)

Lots of random thoughts there, but I realized a few weeks ago that I basically went into this fall/winter season with no new clothes. I've worn and re-worn and mixed and re-mixed everything in my closet in the last 3 months. It's kind of insane but I've never done this before and I ended up here completely unintentionally! 

Questions:

1. Where are you buying pants? I have no idea where to look. I feel like there's very few pants out there that aren't super trendy.

2. Do you remember Kendi's remix posts from many years ago? I miss those days. She was definitely my inspiration when I got dressed in Alaska every day.