No Letting Go of this "Green"

Do you have one in your closet?

Hmm… what could she be talking about? Light bulb? Check. Over-worn pair of Keds? Yep. Sweatpants from twenty years ago that my spouse can’t believe I still have, let alone wear? Crap, how did she know that?

Perhaps the better question is “Do you have one (tucked away) in your (spare) closet?”

In any case, I do. And even with a yard sale taking place tomorrow, my final skating costume will stay buried—and safely with me—as long as the clutter gods shall allow.

Of course, there’s no real reason to keep it. I barely skate anymore, it’s light years from being able to fit me, and even if my daughter does someday skate competitively… I kind of doubt an early 80's fashion plate is going to be her wardrobe of choice.

But while it remains in fine shape— all the “kelly” in the kelly green still intact, elastic still stretching where its supposed to, splash of bugle beads still splash-worthy—there’s no real reason to sell it, either. It’s not doing any harm there in the spare closet, tucked in the garment bag between a bridesmaid dress and my husband’s interview suit. Besides, who shops for (let alone actually purchases) skating costumes at a garage sale?

If you’ve ever watched a show like Clean Sweep or Clean House, you know those folks would either try to talk me out of keeping it, or do something nice like put it under glass and hang it on the wall. Sounds good to me. A little low on my list of things-to-do for now, but it still sounds good.

Do you have any old skating costumes you can’t bear to part with? What are your “alternate plans” for them?

For the Clip of the Day I put “Figure skating May 1981” into the You Tube browser—May ’81 being the last time I wore the kelly green costume in public—and came up with this gem of a short program, courtesy of ’81 World champ Denise Biellmann. No resemblance between her costume and mine, however… save for the fact that both feature sleeves and a skirt!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jnAV2bVBcY