I purchased a set of new hangers twice in the past few months.  What does this mean?  Does it mean that my hanger needs are increasing? Does it mean that I am retiring old hangers? Does it mean that I enamored with a certain type of hanger?

Yes, it means all of the above.  A better question is, why are hangers even hitting the radar on my things to be concerned with in the world? Why do special hangers even remotely matter?

I turned down JC Penney hangers the other day.  Cheyenne and I purchased a few items and the sales attendant asked me if I wanted the hangers and I said, “No thank you, I have quite enough hangers.”  After we left the store I wondered to myself when exactly it was when my view of hangers changed to the extent that I went beyond basic functionality to fashion agenda.   I wondered, have I lost my way? I buy special hangers, but I turn down free ones.

Upon reflection I realized that it all started when I wanted less bulky hangers.  Store hangers are often quite bulky and they took up more room in my closet than the thin metal hangers that the dry cleaner gives you.  But those hangers are not the best for tops that have a propensity to slide off the hangers.  To accomplish a smaller hanger footprint and grip at the same time, I went to those thin velvety hangers that you buy in sets at the tune of about fifty cents to a dollar a hanger.  My first set of those hangers a couple of years ago met my need and allowed me to hang even more from my already traumatized closet clothes rod.

These days, the only place to go in my closet for space is down.  Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a walk-in closet and more space.  I already have one and a half closets packed to capacity with my clothing.  Mike would argue that he doesn’t really have half a closet, but for the sake of discussion lets just stick with that as an approximation.  But the point is this – if there is no more closet space and all my clothes are presently accounted for why do I need more of my velvety hangers?

I do have some new clothes – that goes without saying.  I do pick up things here and there.  Increasingly, I have found myself hard-pressed to buy clothes with abandon as I simply have no place to store them.  And to be fair, Cheyenne and Mike have new clothes – particularly Cheyenne.  Mike’s new clothes entries tend to be limited to new Bison t-shirts or sweatshirts at the rate of four or five a year.  Cheyenne, on the other hand, is a little fashionista. Every day is another opportunity for her to make a statement about her personal style.  As for me, my decisions are mostly framed by what matches, what fits, and what is clean.

But back to the hangers and my hangup about the hangers, why did I buy more of these velvety hangers when I have nary a place to put another thing in my closets?  Are the new hangers evidence that I have lost my way in regard to sensible consumerism?  Have I fallen off the wagon of stuff sensibility?  I thing I have.

I think it is time to take a hiatus from hangers and stuff.  It is also probably time to go through my closets and send some things off to local charities.  At this point, I should be able to get to retirement without another hanger purchase.