If you have an older sibling, odds are you are familiar with the concept of hand-me-downs; older siblings pass down their clothes that don't fit or that they just don't want to their younger siblings. Since I have two older sisters, I was introduced to hand-me-downs very early in life.
I was scrolling through Facebook one day when I saw a post that I related to on a spiritual level. A younger sister was joking that walking into her sister's closet was like shopping in a boutique while her own closet was comparable to Goodwill. That girl's joke is my reality.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE hand-me-downs. Why pay for new clothes when you have two older, fashionable sisters to inherit cute clothes from? There's nothing better than a good ole older sister closet clean out. Their closet clean-outs = new wardrobe for me.
With all that being said, there are certain occurrences that come along with wearing your siblings' hand-me-downs. For example, the classic, "Oh, you're wearing my dress." For some reason, my sisters MUST point out each and every time I am wearing a piece of their old clothing. While I'm super appreciative of their old clothes, I would like for them to consider "their" clothes mine now.
Sometimes my sisters have a hard time letting go of their old clothes. Ya know, maybe they wore that dress on a special occasion five years ago or those tennis shoes were their FAVORITE back in the day. The worst is when my sisters decide they just can't give me that skirt because they "might wear it again one day." Yeah right.
Our storage attic is basically equivalent to a flea market. When I'm tired of the clothes in my closet, I know I can take a stroll through the attic and find some of my sisters' old clothes.
It usually goes something like this: I go in the attic and take some of their old clothes, they see me wearing their stuff and insist it's still theirs, I tell them it's not because it's been in the attic for a decade and they didn't even know the clothes were still in existence, and our mom comes in as the voice of reason - usually on my behalf.
My personal favorite is when someone asks me, "Where did you get your dress?" Well...um...my sister gave it to me. It's like saying you got a blouse from Cracker Barrel - it's unexpected. I'm sorry for the people who ask me that because you probably won't be finding my sisters' hand-me-downs from 5+ years ago in a store today.
Speaking of 5+ years ago, wearing my sisters' hand-me-downs is like making old trends come back in style. Who knows, maybe I'll break out my sisters' old gauchos soon.
Although my sisters' closets may look like the window display of a boutique, I wouldn't trade my position of the younger sibling because let's be real: there's not much better than free clothes.
So, thank you to all the older siblings for donating to the cause that is younger siblings.
