the underwear drawer

take my money, please

I have a strange problem, in that I really would like to spend some money, but I don't know what to buy. It's kind of like that feeling you get when you have the munchies but you can't figure out what you want to eat. Specifically, I want to go clothes shopping, but all the clothes that I see in stores are either ugly or identical to an item of clothing I already have in my closet. Not that it would be that bad to have two black long-sleeved polo shirts, but it would be a little silly.

It's not that I'm some kind of shopaholic or anything like that, but I do enjoy adding a new item to my closet now and then. (Also, the wonders of direct deposit have made me feel as though money is magically appearing in my bank account, ripe for the spending, somehow erasing from my mind the memory of just how hard I had to work for those few bucks.) Especially now that the weather has been getting so much cooler, I'm itching to do what I can't stop referring to as "Back to School Shopping." I like the clothes I get to wear in the fall. The corduroys, the long sleeves, the light sweaters, the scarves. Clothes that require as much ventilation or sweat-hiding capacity as in the summer, and that aren't as multilayered and bunchy as in the winter.

The problem with my sartorial sense these days is that it's basically gone completely down the toilet because of my work. If the me of four years ago could see the me of today, the MoFYA would call the MoT a slob. Either that, or an old lady. I'm starting to look like an L.L. Bean catologue, for chrissake. If I'm not wearing scrubs, I'm wearing clothes that feel as much like scrubs as possible. Anything fitted starts to feel like its squeezing the life out of you at the end of a 16 hour day, so I just let the schlumpy outfits rule. I haven't worn a pair of cute shoes since my honeymoon. Any garmet that doesn't fit neatly under my white coat is dead to me. Goodbye, pretty cowl-neck sweaters.

My sister already thinks that I'm turning into my mom because I eschew shopping at Urban Outfitters in favor of Ann Taylor nowadays. But come on now, I'm 25 years old, I cannot wear a T-shirt to work that reads, "Jesus is my Homeboy," now can I? (No, seriously, that's a real question--can I? I am in Pediatrics, after all. Could this make me more "down" with the kids, and enhance my ability to "rap" with them? Should I maybe consider wearing this shirt as well?)

The problem isn't just me, though, the problem is the ugly, ugly clothes that they're selling these days. If anyone cares to create a cute but functional fall outfit, I'd be happy to buy it.