Ghosts of fashion past

I don't have an addictive personality, but if there is one thing that I can't say no to it's clothes. Few things make me as happy as the perfect outfit.

I know, shocker, a woman who likes to go shopping. In other breaking news, researchers have found that water is wet.

I bring up my love of shopping because I thought it would be fun to do one post about the clothes that I have loved, and some which I have loved and lost. As someone who works with historical objects, I can tell you this is not as frivolous as it seems. Fashion often tells much more about an old photograph than the person inside of it. When I look back at my own photos from the past ten years, I see clothes that represent my budget, confidence, modesty standards, and values in that time period of my life.

Of course, this is true for everyone, even people who deny fashion completely. I had a good friend, a fellow philosophy major in undergrad, who wore the exact same outfit everyday. His entire wardrobe consisted of multiple pairs of khaki pants and white t-shirts and one striped sweater that he would wear when it was cold. This was his way of making a statement about a living a simple and cerebral existence. He believed that individuality came from original ideas not distinctive clothes and his monotonous ensemble, perhaps ironically, reflected those deeply held beliefs.

Most of the time of course, clothes simply keep us from being naked. But sometimes clothes genuinely make a person feel more comfortable, happier, attractive, or capable. Or at least I used to tell myself that when I was trying to find meaning in hawking clothing lines in my 20's.

Here are some of my favorite outfits of the last few years. One thing I noticed in compiling this list is my penchant for dresses, lots and lots of dresses. For me, nothing tops a great dress.

My all-time favorite color

Ignore the mustache and sombrero

Little black dress

Long black dress, sparkly shoes

Two of my favorite colors together, orange and blue

Daring necklines in 2012

Librarian fashion

My favorite dress this week - 2014

Except maybe a great hat:

Like almost everyone, I was a bit edgier in my younger years. I was certainly more adventurous with my hair and favored more masculine accents. Probably because I was ensconced in the male-dominated snowboarding industry.

Chunkier jewelry and shorter hair - 2004

Menswear inspired vest - 2008

Bangs and gaudy earrings in 2005

My fashion wish is that someday, when I'm gone, my granddaughters will fight over my perfectly preserved closet of clothes from every decade. I don't expect them to wear my wedding dress or anything, but I love the idea of passing clothes down through the generations. In the meantime, I'll just keep having fun putting my ensembles together.