Today I asked myself this question: are lock-down clothes like maternity clothes? I mean do you feel like throwing them all away once the lock-down/pregnancy is over? Over here in Buenos Aires we wouldn't know because we are still in "cuarentena" as they call it here, although it is not far from becoming a "centena".
Not sure how it is/was for you but I don't dress up very much under lock-down, and although I do make an effort to be somewhat presentable every day, I find myself wearing the same things over and over again, and for several days in a row. And I don't seem to be the only one because our laundry basket is much less full than usual. Have we become sloppy or is it just that walking from the living room to the kitchen and back makes you less dirty than going downtown? Or is it because of the reduced levels of air pollution that clothes stay clean?
Our current sloppiness reminds me of a joke by Paul van Vliet, a Dutch comedian and Leiden University friend of my father (who also acted when he was a student, what's more: they both founded the "Leids Studenten Cabaret" in 1957 ). The shabby character Paul is impersonating for the joke wants to make the point that he is very clean, and to prove it he explains that he changes his socks everyday: he puts the right sock on the left foot and the left sock on the right foot. And to be sure he doesn't make mistakes, he keeps them on at night. Haha.
Below: Paul van Vliet and my father impersonating elderly gentlemen (in the 1960's), and the commemorative plate of the creation of the Student Cabaret on the student house where they lived in Leiden.
But back to the lock-down: In my case, not dressing up very much means that I mostly use older clothes that are just not good enough to go into the world with and that DEFINITELY will not be part of the 100 items Alex and I have allowed ourselves to take on our trip. So in fact, lock-down is helping me wear down old garments and empty my closet in preparation of our departure. And emptying it will be even faster if lock-down clothes are indeed like pregnancy clothes, meaning I will want to get rid of them asap. In my memory (Tobi is already 17!), the relative lack of maternity wear (who wants to buy many ugly clothes just for a few months?) made me use the same things over and over again, ad nauseam. So I would throw them away as soon as my normal clothes would fit again.
So.... are lock-down clothes like pregnancy clothes? Different and over-worn?
Those of you, my readers, who are no longer locked-up would know. Did you also have special lock-down clothes? or is it just me? And did you throw them away? I also Googled my questions but did not find much, except a funny video by a German girl about Lock-down 2020 fashion which seems to confirm our new habits and elegance:
Complete with lock-down foot-fashion...
and other accessories...
There was also the Instagram pillow challenge... Creativity has no limits....
And I hope I will creatively be able to make my way towards the 100 items for our trip, keeping in mind that they should cover all seasons and all occasions for over a year.
For those who are curious (we get this question often) the counting will be done by categories, for example "underwear" counts as 1 item and "toiletry bag" is also 1 item, i.e. toothbrush and toothpaste do not count as 2, although we have already agreed to have just one tube of toothpaste for both of us and one -solid- shampoo for greater efficiency, since the real limit in the airplane is actually the weight and not the number. This also means that if we lose a few pounds before we leave, we can bring an extra shirt!
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