We Are Coming Out Of The Closet

We are coming out of the closet today. And once you see the inside of our closets, you will know why!

Every woman on the planet knows what it is like to have clothes of varying sizes in her closet. You know the ones that you think to yourself, “One day, one day I will get back into those jeans.” And then there are the ones that you keep around for when you have had too much pie at Thanksgiving. We get it. We are no exception.

What we recently realized is that we have clothes in our closets that, no matter our current sizing, we would NEVER, EVER wear again. Actually, no one should be wearing them. Ever. Anywhere.

We were talking on the phone when we made the discovery. It didn’t take long for us to realize we were lucky we’d never been featured in the back of Glamour magazine with one of those Fashion Don’t black bars across our faces:

Ashley: I am going to get a couple things together to show you. But are you sure we want to expose our lack of fashion sense to the whole, entire world?

Lisa:Sure. Our readers already know we wear mostly yoga pants with clogs to carpool.

Ashley: I don’t know, but I’ll go get my camera.

Lisa: Me, too. Oh God, I think I’ve found at least one thing. Brace yourself, I am about to send you a picture of something.

Muppet Pelt Jacket

Ashley: Oh my. Wow. Is that… a jacket?

Lisa: Yes, it is a jacket. I used to wear it with jeans and a white blouse. Can you tell from the picture that it looks like it was made from Muppet fur?

Ashley: You wore that? In public?

Lisa: Yes, otherwise the Muppets would have died in vain.

Ashley: I’m not sure I can top that, but I think I found my first entry. I am going to send you a picture right now of a blazer (Does anyone even use that term anymore?). It is definitely a doozy.

Velvet Blazer

Lisa: Wait a minute, is that velvet?

Ashley: Indeed it is. And did you notice the fashionable double pocket?

Lisa: In what world does a hot pink, double pocketed, velvet blazer not beat a Muppet pelt jacket?

Ashley: Hey, at least the tag is still in it. I never actually wore it.

Lisa: Whatever you have to say to yourself to get you through the night….

great grandmother dress

Lisa: What about this dress? Do you think it’s awful enough?

Ashley: Um, yes. Yes, I do. Are those flowers on that thing? I definitely like the layered look of it best. Kind of a day to night deal, huh?

Lisa: I wore it to my brother-in-law’s wedding. The grandmother of the bride wouldn’t even have considered that if she saw it on the rack. What was I? 80?

Ashley: Maybe great grandmother of the bride….if she was also half blind. It almost looks like the material could be a chair cover.

Lisa: Yeah, if you hated the chair.

Ashley: I had a few of those types of dresses, too. Let me see if I can find my favorite. And keep in mind, I wore this a lot. And not in like 1992, but more like 2002.

oatmeal dress

Lisa: Is that oatmeal colored?

Ashley: Try gold baby. And I had no business attempting to wear a long dress like that. I am short for God’s sake. I think I even wore it to a Broadway show once.

Lisa: It really looks more oatmeal-ish to me. I love oatmeal…but not to wear.

Lisa: Okay, brace yourself for the next picture. You might want to sit down. These pants I am showing you were *my* go-to dress-up for shows pants. I wore them every time we went somewhere and I wanted to look good. I LOVED these pants. And I think that photo makes them look short. I don’t think I’m that short!

go-to pants

Ashley: I think The Cosby Show called and wants their wardrobe back! Those are awesome. And you are totally that short. I wonder if they would go with this sweater?

sparkle sweater

Lisa: My eyes, my eyes! You should really warn a person before you try to blind them with colors and sparkles like that.

Ashley: Right? Isn’t it just atrocious? You know what I think is crazy here? All of our horrible items make us look three times our age. What is wrong with us?

Lisa: You mean like this shirt? Back off Memaw, I saw it first!

Ashley: I’ve got one of those, too! Seriously, why would either of us ever even consider putting those on our bodies?

fugly shirts

Lisa: Let me show this little number. I hope the picture does it justice. It is now my turn to say that the tags are still in it (thank God).

brocade jacket

Ashley: Is that some gold lamé, I spy? Hahahahahaha! See, isn’t it nice to be able to say the tags are still in it?

Lisa: Yes. I regret mocking you for saying that about your velvet blazer now.

Ashley: I have to say, this one might be the worst of all. It’s a mu mu. And I am totally embarrassed to admit that I wore this as recently as last summer. LAST SUMMER, LISA!!!

mini mu mu winner

Lisa: Oh, it’s like a mini mu mu, my friend…a mini mu mu! I didn’t know those existed. You know what? It was really hot last summer. I think you get a pass for extreme heat.

Ashley: You are sweet to try to make me feel better. I know it’s horrible. Why did I ever wear this?

Lisa: Heat does things to our minds. And the kids are home from school. It’s a bad combination.

Ashley: I was just trying to stay cool…even if I didn’t look it!

So, it turns out it was easy to find 10 things in our closet that should never see the light of day again. Make us feel better…do you have an outfit or two that would get you arrested by the fashion police, too?


Comments

We Are Coming Out Of The Closet — 82 Comments

  1. You ladies are KILLING it this morning!!! OMG I’m laughing. Each one was more hideous then the next! How do you do it?? It’s hysterical because everyone can relate to this! You should really consider a link-up next time :-)

    • The worst part is that these are all things we’ve worn in the not so distant past (except for those few with the tags still attached..whew)WHAT WERE WE THINKING? These things are hideous!! GAH!! We can’t be the only ones, right…RIGHT? 😀

  2. Ok, I think I have finally stopped laughing enough to type here and tell you I couldn’t love you both more if I tried. And sadly, I totally owned a cherry, wine colored velvet blazer back in the day if it makes you both feel any better! :)

    • You love us because you would look so chic and fashionable standing next to us in our sad clothes, right Janine?! 😀 We should have a velvet blazer contest: Which is more flattering…hot pink or cherry wine?! 😀

  3. Oh LAWD! That was bad ladies! I clean out my closet pretty regularly so I might be hard pressed to find scary items. We have a donation truck to our house bi-monthly to help us cut down on “clutter” because living with John is like living with the character from American Psycho? You know what I am talking about? No. Think Julia Roberts husband from sleeping with the enemy in the scene where he is turning the cans in the pantry.

    • Bwahahahahahaha! We don’t clean out our closet as often as that (as you can tell) but it will disturb you to know we both HAVE cleaned out our closets several times in the past few years…and we STILL have these items in there. Makes you wonder the horror of what we gave away, doesn’t it?! 😀

    • That would be the best use of those go-to pants for sure, Amber. Isn’t it sad that I did NOT wear them with the intent to embarrass anyone. GAH!

    • Do it, Katie!! Do it! (Then post some pictures on the interwebs. Don’t leave us hanging out here in Glamour Magazine “Don’t” land all alone!):D

    • Then our work here is done, Kita! You will always be a chic fashionista standing next to us. That’s a guarantee! 😀

    • We are *really* hoping we are not the only ones, Michelle. But if we are, at least we have each other! 😀

    • They do need to go. They really do.
      Does ANYONE fit perfectly into pants? Is there like one unicorn of a person who never has to hem or let things out? There’s got to be one, right? I wonder how tall she is?

    • WOOT!! My muppet pelt jacket only wishes it has fringe at the waist! It’s too bad yours has been sent on its way. My muppet pelt jacket could have used a friend. 😀

  4. I agree that you two are way too young and beautiful to be wearing those! I think this might make a nice “Would You Rather” post where you make us choose which one’s wardrobe to wear on a hot date..

    • Bwahahaha! We could never do that “Would You Rather”, Tamara. We totally understand that most people would rather go naked in public than wear our hideous togs. We love our readers far too much to give you THAT Sophie’s choice of a dilemma. 😀

  5. OMG!! Hysterical. I was cracking up the whole time. I might have to dig in my closet and search for something hideous - although I’m a bit of a neat freak so I go through my closet a lot to throw things out.

    But…”CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!”

    xoxo,
    KG

    • WOOT!!! IT’S ON, BABY!! We will be so impressed if you have something that approaches the “greatness” of the muppet pelt jacket…or the velvet blazer…or the mini mumu…..WE ARE KEEPING OUR FINGERS CROSSED!! Squee!!

    • Our commenters are the funnest part of every post hands down!! (But they probably can’t beat us in the fashion department…unless they are octogenarians!)

    • Bwahahaha. TRUE!! If they want to go as the “before” picture in a fashion tutorial, they are set for life, Kate. 😀

  6. My eyes! My eyes! But that pink jacket/blazer? J Crew has some blazer/jackets now with that double pocket thingie going on so maybe you might want to keep that one LOL

    • They always say that “everything old is new again” in fashion. Who knew that would ever apply to the double pocket? Lawd!! 😀

  7. um, I LOVE the “go-to” pants and the “sparkle sweater” - seriously. Can I have them? I would totally wear them together (just for a photo) and post to Facebook for you.

    • Don’t even tempt us! We feel that the sparkle sweater and the go-to pants need to be paired and you sound like just the person to do it! Even we have not taken that step. 😀

  8. Oh Ladies, Ladies you need my friend Robyn and I. We are actually going to be part of a fund raiser, our session is “I have nothing to wear”, but because you live no where near us, you should check out a blog we did together. The first in the series was “Come out of the closet and show me your drawers. The thong debate” http://lifesorted.ca/come-out-of-the-closet-and-show-me-you-drawers/ You are too smart, young and gorgeous to be wearing your grandmothers clothes! But what a laugh you two are hilarious.

    • Oh, that is so cool! We could bring in a sizable amount with our grandmother clothing if we were only close enough! Can’t wait to read the great thong debate! 😀

    • And they are so gateful, John. They thank their lucky stars each day they have us to guide and nurture their fashion sensibilities!

  9. Those are AWESOME. I honestly don’t know what was my favorite… the Muppet jacket or the paisley and floral shirts… or the great grandma dresses! Thanks for the laugh!

    • We feel lucky we don’t have to choose, Alexa!! We have them all at our disposal! That’s a scary thought, right?! 😀

  10. My eyes! MY EYESSSSS!!!! ;P
    I just rid of a BUNCH of questionable attire a few weeks ago… I’m mad I didn’t photograph them now first! haha

    • Oh, no!!! Opportunity lost!! We still haven’t gotten rid of our treasures…THANK GOODNESS!! You never know!

  11. You ladies are making me crack up! I’ll have to go check my closet. We’ve moved a lot and I did a ton of closet purging with each move. I’m pretty sure my wardrobe only consists of yoga pants in various lengths and colors(the smurf blue ones are probably a good contender) and yoga tops and sweatshirts. Maybe a few sundresses.

    • We don’t mean to alarm you, Shell, but these are our closest POST PURGE. We mostly wear yoga pants, but every now and then you need to spiff it up with a good velvet blazer and go-to pants. You know…if you have a special night out! 😀

    • Oh, Gracielle!! We know you are a real fashionista. (We still want your personal shopper…and now you know why) Sorry you had to see this over your lunch break. It probably made you nauseated. 😀

  12. What - velvet blazers aren’t in style??? And mini mu mus??
    This was hilarious!! I think I will just stick to my yoga pants and workout wear just to make my life easier. I feel sure that I have some doozies in my closet!!!

    • I think the question is…when WERE they actually in style? Wait…maybe we don’t want to know the answer to that! You can’t go wrong with yoga pants and a t-shirt. (But we know it’s hard to take our fashion advice seriously when you’ve seen the inside of our closets!)

  13. Lisa’s go to pants are incredible! I actually adore vintage clothing, which is why I usually shop at the thrift store. Anything old and quirky, I love it!

    • Every garment has it’s perfect owner, doesn’t it?! We’ve got nothing but closets full of quirk, Ashlee. We are a thrift store’s dream! 😀

  14. Love the way you wrote this piece as a conversation with pictures! Makes me feel better about the square-toe boots I’m holding on to, in case they come back in style! I did, however, recently get rid of anything I ever bought at Chico’s. It’s amazing how you can think you’re happening one minute, then the next ask yourself, “Good God, what the hell was I thinking?”

    • We have to admit, Parri…more than one of the garments above was purchased at Chico’s!! Bwahahahahah!! Oh, how COULD you, Chico’s?

  15. I’m am itching to get into your closets and go all “What Not to Wear” on both of you. I hope you tossed those pieces of “clothing!” I am ruthless when it comes to getting rid of out of style things - the Salvation Army loves me!

    • We’ve seen how they just THROW YOUR TREASURED CLOTHES AWAY!! (It’s one of Lucy’s favorite shows) We could definitely benefit from your eye and ruthless way of handling style atrocities!!

    • We LOVE donating clothing to Goodwill or our favorite local charity The Matthews HELP Center…but we have to admit…none of the items above have made it to the donate pile yet. They are still in our closets! Double blazer pockets are coming back in style any time!! 😀

  16. Oh wow girls. Lisa, I totally dig your go to pants! And pink velvet. There are no words to describe except….. No Dose Girls No.

    • We got “No, Dose Girls, No’d” just like we do with Pinterest!! Bwahahahahahaha!! I may have to put on my go-to pants to celebrate while Ashley liberates her sparkle sweater from her closet!! Whoo hoo!!

    • You were thinking they were AWESOME. You really could have used that pink velvet blazer to go with them for those chilly nights!!

  17. Ha! I think we all have some of those items. I still have the bridesmaid dress I wore in my brother’s wedding 15 years ago. I’m guessing it’s probably a tad out of style now - even if I could still fit in it (which I most certainly cannot!).

    • At least with the bridesmaid dress, even if it’s awful, you didn’t get to pick it. We actually chose each of our closet atrocities. *sob*

  18. I think the Muppet jacket and the granny dress have to be the worst. I could actually see a hot pink velvet blazer, but not those two items. Though, we all have those items in our closet, don’t we?

    • I don’t know, Leslie. The muppet pelt jacket looked REALLY cute with a white shirt and jeans, I swear. I think I might not have photographed it from the most flattering angle-that’s all! 😀 Even I can’t defend the granny dress…but how could you try to defend the velvet blazer??!!! What are you thinking, Leslie?!?!

  19. Those paisley shirts are ridiculously amazing! And I think the red velvet blazer gets my most awful prize- why do fake pockets exist?? They are infuriating!

    • They are there PURELY for fashion!!! And really, what could be more fashionable than a fake, double pocket?!?! Bwahahahahahaha!

  20. I’m here with Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me” playing in my head as I look at these pictures. Mercy indeed! LOL

  21. I love it ladies…We truly love those clothes in the moment then we look back on them and wonder what we were thinking. Because we moved to a small apartment, I had to get rid of lots of clothes…now I am regretting it since I am losing weight.

  22. Wow, those were incredible. The material… the colors. Loved the muppets didn’t die in vain line. Now I’m gonna have to break out the skorts, tho my mom used to call them culottes, I word I love/hate. Now what about the shoes?

  23. Ok, I didn’t think I could love this any more until I saw the tag “callusjoanrivers” or whatever that was. Fantastic. PS - I actually want to come visit and we will all go out on the town one night in those outfits. And wigs. xo

  24. So y’all both made big donations to Goodwill this past week, right? ha ha ha! I have had some doozies still “hanging” around too but I clean out pretty often. You know, like every 5 years or so… ;0

  25. I am SDS (so dead serious) I could not post a picture of my closet or anything in it. I am totally cracking up at this post - you guys are brave, the descriptions are hilarious! I will say that I don’t get rid of much so maybe I’ll take a bunch of pics and have you guys caption them. Maybe you could do a readers series - we could all clean out our closets and send you 10 pics. We’d get to laugh and I’m sure you would get some great material (no pun intended!)

  26. [email protected] Mom on said:

    Oh, I have got some things in my closet and I don’t even know why I hang on to them. There may even be some shoulder pads in there. :)

  27. Some of those are pretty bad. We all have our share of fashion mistakes that at the time looked really good.

  28. oh. my. Yes, I’ve got things in my closet that make me cringe, and yet, I just leave them hanging there. What’s up with that? Do I honestly think that they are magically going to come back into style? But I confess, I dig those pants. I wouldn’t be caught dead in them, but I really dig them!

  29. Girls,
    I cannot even express how much I loved this post! We should all take an item out of the closet to honor how awesome these pieces are! I love that this is where I can come to be thoroughly entertained on so many different topics! I am looking to tackle my wardrobe doozies as well, let’s hope I can find the humor in it too.

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