Pandemic clothes

Questions that used to inform how I dressed: What meets dress code? Do I need to have keys on me the whole time? Am I going to spend any significant time outside? If yes, what’s the weather? Will I be riding a bike today? What has pockets? Will I be running or jumping? (read: Do I need a sports bra?) Am I likely to get dirty?

Different eras in my life had different typical outfits depending on the typical answers to those questions. Preferred? Sometimes T-shirts and jeans mixed with fun dresses or loud pants and interesting earrings.

Questions that have informed my dress since March 2020: Will I see people outside of my house today? Will I see people online today? Will I be running or jumping?

While in the gift shop at Saguaro National Park (photos here and here), I was looking at earrings. I really enjoy earrings and I’ve not worn them much lately. I don’t have T-shirt-and-jeans earrings, and I learned on my first day back at work last year that anything more than simple posts doesn’t play well with taking a mask on and off.

Earrings got me thinking about necklaces which I also love but wear less frequently, as the length of my necklaces and the cut of my shirts and dresses don’t often match.

And all of that circled back around to thinking about clothes.

Unlike many, sweat pants haven’t been my pandemic uniform. I don’t feel good after too many consecutive days in elastic-waisted pants or shorts, so my go-to has mostly been jeans. The added bonus to that is it still feels good every now and then to just live in sweats for the day.

Some days I still wear dresses because they’re loose and comfortable and they’re not the same two pairs of shorts I’ve been in since May. But I miss my earrings and necklaces which I’ve worn only a small handful of times in a year and a half.

Pre-pandemic, we cleaned the house regularly but if we fell behind, we got caught up and the house got cleaned when there was company coming over. That shifted. At some point, we had to start cleaning the house even if there wasn’t company coming over. 

Perhaps it’s time to do the same with clothes. I wonder if or how my mood will change wearing nicer clothes more often. And earrings.

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