With no sisters, I've always had one closet, and one closet only. Limited options means a limited wardrobe, and when you're a girl, sometimes that can be the end of the world. When I came to college, my closet might have been the size of shoe box, but living on the same floor as about twenty other girls, my closet expanded.
It's like that scene from "Hannah Montana" where Hannah shows Lilly her closet for the first time. We can't deny it, we all got a little teary eyed because it was just so beautiful. While we might not have a rotating clothes rack, or fifteen shelves of shoes, we now have several more options than we ever had before.
Shopping is no longer a private affair. If there isn't at least one other person in love with the item, it's not worth investing. Don't let it take up valuable shoebox closet space if it won't be of use to more than just yourself. See, college is teaching us more than just how to survive on Ramen noodles mom and dad! It's teaching us to think of others, not just ourselves, too!
Meeting a girl your size is like a dream come true. When you meet your clothes size twin, you better hold on to her for dear life. You are destined to become best friends, because with the friendship comes another closet, and with another closet comes a safe haven for those fashion emergencies.
We all hit those wardrobe slumps. Nothing looks good, you're tired of your clothes, and you wonder why you even picked up that sweater in the store in the first place. When these moments hit you like a ton of bricks it's nice to know you can put an end to your emergency with a knock on your neighbor's door and a good looksie into their closet.
Besides underwear, everything else is pretty much fair game. The best part is, you don't even need to worry about washing it, because let's face it, the person you borrowed it from probably wasn't going to wash it anyways because no one wants to pay to do laundry. However, when and if you do stain it or get a hole in someone else's clothes, try to be considerate. After all, if you haven't found out by now, clothes are college girl's children, so treat them as such.
When date nights and dances roll around, it's dress swap time. Dress swaps are a God-sent miracle. Amid all the other school related things we have to catch up on, we tend to think about what we're going to wear that Friday night, on that Friday night. It can be disastrous, but with the help of a good friend's closet, you can breathe again, because the end of the world wasn't as close as you thought.
I hate to say it, but your cute little LBD will probably see more fraternity formals than you ever will, and it will probably become more Instagram famous than you, but at least a part of you made an appearance at all the fun social gatherings. When this does happen, you must remember, it's just the price you pay for participating in the college mega closet game.
College is a time of learning and growth. It is a time of independence, and segueing into adulthood. However, most importantly, college is about reiterating that lesson we learned as toddlers: how to share. I understand it might be hard to learn to let go, but the moment you decide to open your closet doors to others, the happier you'll be when you realize you'd rather leave your room naked than to be caught dead in one of your own outfits.
