Your Parent's Closet is the Thrift Store You Don't Even have to Gatekeep
While home a few weeks ago I came to a realisation amidst my daily ‘nothing is going with anything’ moment. Knowing well enough my childhood closet hasn’t exactly aged well. I figured there had to be at least a few artefacts from those “Glory Days”, collecting dust in the cracks of the tomb my parent’s call their closet. Plus I needed to scratch my kleptomaniacal itch. So, I went out on a shoplifting campaign in my parent’s bedroom. I walked in that closet like it was my own, and after scouring the usual uniforms, it found me in nearly the same fashion as the wand did Harry. A robust jacket made from a stubborn brown suede, worn in all the right places, like the fur on a rattlesnake. There was even a fork included in the right-hand pocket free of charge. No bigger than the palm of my hand, it functioned as a rebuttal to the nonexistent zipper tab or a last resorted remedy in moments of severe disparity. Always knew the old man was crafty. Thirty years of wear sat on my back that night, its weight draping me in a cloak of confidence.
For some reason my father decides not to wear size 11 shoes, so they remain the only article of clothing I've yet to find. Your parent’s clothes, just as mine, are waiting for the day you find them. Everything in that closet is refined from the numerous mistakes made in the past, and if I am to learn anything from my parents it is to learn from their fashion mistakes. They have spent years fiddling and tweaking with what deserves to be in their wardrobe, and it is only through these experimental days that someone finds exactly what style fits them. As extensive a closet you may have, it will not compare to the one down the hall. Search through the dusty racks with an open mind and don’t be afraid to take risks with what could be worn. Listen for the screams of clothes in need of wear, and look under, over, behind and between, anywhere away from that shirt you’ve seen them wear too many times. Go for the gold, if your parents can pull it off, certainly you should have no trouble.
Image Courtesy: Charles Ryan
Most of all, these threads are a physical representation of life before you. A time full of wonder and aspiration, where the ones who raised you were just trying to figure it out for themselves. Take pride in wearing what they did. Life has been lived in that 20 year old, stained and greased up Harley Davidson t-shirt. Not only are they something to be worn again as trends complete their circle, but they are something to feel proud of. Your parents got to where they are today while wearing what you have just thrown over your shoulders. That 10 year old gum wrapper you find in the pocket of your dad’s jacket, may have been from the piece he chewed on to hide his bad breath from you mom. These clothes hold the stories from where you have come, the least you could do is keep it in the family.
Strike Out,
Writer: Patrick Ryan
Copy Editor: Reanna Haase
Content Editor: Gabby Macogay
Orlando
Patrick Ryan is a content writer for Strike Magazine Orlando and most of his free time is occupied with thinking about or watching skating videos, staring for an unnecessary amount of time into his closest and constantly flipping records in his living room to keep the voices away. You can reach him at @patr6ck on Instagram or at patrickryan1003@gmail.com.