Wednesday 2 November 2011

"People Seldom Notice Old Clothes If You Wear A Big Smile”

(the title is a quote by Lee Mildon)

Sometimes I have to envy my son. Every season, he gets a near complete wardrobe change – with just a few items kept over from last year/season. Admittedly, we are only talking Primarni’s finest, but even a new wardrobe from Primark would be welcomed by me.

What is with this? What is with this guilt I feel that stops me buying that winter coat (only £45) when I don’t own another. If I don’t get it, I’m going to be pretty damn cold when the predicted very cold winter arrives. It isn’t even as if I can just layer up with lots of jumpers – I took the tough decision to throw out my 7 year old tatty jumpers when we moved (along with my 3 year old winter coat) to force me to buy new ones when they were needed.

Fair enough, Callum is growing and so when I saw this morning that the trousers I had put Callum in had turned into peddle pushers (and they weren’t the first pair I’d noticed do that), after I put the last pair of PJs in the wash bin, wondering what he was going to wear that night, pulled out the last long sleeve jumper from his drawer, I decided to accept defeat and head to the shops. When buying new trousers I checked the label of the old ones – 18-24 months (he is 3!!). No wonder his trousers were resembling shorts more than winter trousers!

So, it had to be done – Callum did need new clothes. The wardrobe change wasn’t just for the fun of it.

The quality isn’t great but it is good enough for one season and all he would do is stain them with mud, grass, chocolate etc and get holes in them so why spend money on them – and if I paid for the quality, he’d be wearing the same outfit every day for the next 3-4 months. I got 4, no recounted, 5 pairs of trousers, 2 t-shirts, a gillet type thing (?), 3 jumpers and a pair of PJs for £49.

So there it is – that is that winter coat I need. The truth is, adult clothes cost a lot more than kids clothes even in the cheap shops! That’s why I can’t justify it.

I’d like to say that its because I get this warm glow from ensuring my child is clothed (along with fed, watered, safe etc) – and yes of course there is an element of that – like there is nothing better than giving someone the most perfect present – better than receiving one yourself. But I want new clothes too goddamit!

I hear all my friends going out and buying new clothes and they all look so glamourous so why can’t I bring myself to do it???

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