When do you dispose of a piece of clothing?  And do people only recycle 14% because the rest is unusable or are they just not educated to do so?

It got me to thinking: When is a piece of clothing truly at the end of its life?

• When it is dangerous:  A clothing item may have been damaged in a fire.  There could be a chemical spill from an accident or a science class experiment gone awry and it cannot safely be washed, it is eaten away, or is dangerous to handle.  Then yes, please dispose of it properly.
• When it is unwearable.  No, I think many damaged items can go onto another life.  A dress with a ragged skirt, depending on the quality, may be able to live on as a top, or a replacement bodice for another dress.  A damaged tie may live on as a fabric piece in a project. Quilting, anyone?  Am I really pushing it here?
• Mold.  This kind of goes under the dangerous category.  Some people have tried to salvage things that have black mold on it.  It is dangerous.
• Too worn out.  I have seen athletic shoes so “well worn” that they could walk by themselves.  They become threadbare and not usable after so many years.  However, could they be used in a theatrical production where a local theater group needs a character to be disheveled, a college student who doesn’t shower, or homeless?  Do they need a pair of shoes to beat up even more for the character?  Ok, maybe it is a stretch here too.
• Bad Memories.  Some people throw out cufflinks, or a dress that reminds them of an ex or an ex owned or gave them even if they are perfectly new.  Don’t do it!  Donate it!

I think i need some therapy after that.  Maybe I am a packrat, but I seem to really argue about not throwing things away!   Does anyone out there have any suggestions about when it is okay to throw something out, and when, despite naysayers, something can be reused or recycled?  Comment with your opinions!

When I saw this tie from Arrow, that darn song kept running through my head. Make it stop! All of the “vintage” films of this song don’t seem to work, so here is a more recent performance of Dodie Stevens singing the song that can’t get out of my head. Now it is in yours. Ha Ha

If you would like to sing along:

Now I’ve got a guy and his name is Dooley
He’s my guy and I love him truly
He’s not good lookin’, heaven knows
But I’m wild about his crazy clothes

He wears tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
Tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band

Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh

He takes me deep-sea fishing in a submarine
We got to drive-in movies in a limousine
He’s got a whirly-birdy and a 12-foot yacht
Ah, but thats-a not all he’s got

He’s got tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
Tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band

Now Dooley had a feelin’ we were goin’ to war
So he went out and enlisted in a fightin’ corps
But he landed in the brig for raisin’ such a storm
When they tried to put ‘em in a uniform

He wanted tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
He wanted tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band

Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh

Now one day Dooley started feelin’ sick
And he decided that he better make his will out quick
He said
“Just before the angels come to carry me
I want it down in writin’ how to bury me.”

A’wearin tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
Give me tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band

Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh

And a big Panama with a purple hat band!!

Save that for a cocktail party. You are sure to dazzle someone with your knowledge!

Harriet, of TastyVintage presented the following quotation from “The Art of Window Dressing” on the public forum at Vintagefashionguild.org that we found rather interesting…

“A certain draper in a large provincial town had for very many years alays changed the neckwear window on Mondays, and it was not until recently that, on account of his window dresser being called away, he had occasion to leave his display in over Monday.

He then discovered that he sold more better-class neckwear on that particular Monday than of any other day of the display. Monday is now the best day for neckwear, and the window display is never changed that day.” Have mondays been “mondays” throughout time and they could use a new accessory to lift their mood, just like it is said more stereotypically of women? Are men more “refreshed” on mondays? Were more men “in town” on mondays reporting to the office before the rest of the week took them away to meetings uptown or in another city? What are your opinions?You may not live near a place like that, but do you find yourself in a buying mood out of necessity or fancy any particular time than others? I think it would be an interesting discussion.

You see, the composition of glass bear bottles was different than today. When the glass broke and was smoothed by the natural erosion of the sand and sea over the course of time, the glass remained black. The composition was only used for a short time, due to different materials made scarce by the War. The material decomposed a lot more rapidly.

So, therefore, a World War II private could have made his choice of light versus dark while on his shore time. He could have told a few tales, and tossed it into the sea for good luck. Then, on the way down, it could have broken on the rocks. Then, about 28 years later, a member of the first club devoted to collecting, The Eastern Coast Breweriana Association (ECBA), could have scooped up the treasure in the club’s 1970 charter year. In fact, they were the first such club ever.

Twenty years after that, perhaps one of the members lost their interest and sold part of their collection at a yard sale. During that time, it was the height of the era of filling glass bowls with seed balls, sea glass, and potpourri, and displaying them on your coffee table. Fully 28 years later than that fateful yard sale, you read this blog post. You think nothing of it until Sunday dinner at Grandma’s house. You spy the sea glass in a glass beaker on her coffee table and suddenly remember this blog post. You ask Grandma if you can have a piece. After telling this tale, you all have a toast to the person who threw the bottle into the sea in the first place.

Which reminds me…

There is a contest that I hear about. It is actually a mobile survey on beer. It is limited to 1500 participants, so you have a 1 in 1500 chance in winning. The winner receives a $300 Amazon gift card. To enter and take the survey, just text the word “beer” to 247365. For contest rules CLICK HERE. You only have until midnight, March 14th, to enter.

What will you do with your gift card (Hint: They sell everything discussed in this posting, except a World War II private. You can always buy a book about them, however.)