Published: October 16, 2009 10:40 am      

Cleaning closets can warm fall days

If walls could talk, my closet door would probably groan. This time of year, I start to feel a bit like a cartoon character — the one that’s futilely trying to cram too much stuff into too small a space, thereby causing the hinges to stretch and the closet to bow around the edges.

For many, autumn is a favorite of our four seasons in southern West Virginia, and I recognize the reasons. I love the leaves’ vibrant colors as they paint our landscapes and linger on trees about to nap for the winter. I enjoy dressing up for Halloween. Pumpkin bread and chestnuts are pluses, and I can even appreciate — a little, in brief doses — the crisp air that bites a bit.

But, fall makes me grumble for reasons that are purely selfish and even somewhat out of character.

I don’t like to be cold, at all. There’s nearly always one extra jacket in my Jeep, and my dislike of chill bumps and chattering teeth is so severe that Nanny gave me a blanket a few years back to put in the car, just in case I ever got stuck somewhere without one.

By definition, fall is the transitional season between the sunny yellow warmth of summer and the black-and-white harshness of winter. Autumn is glorious in its beauty and invigorating in its atmosphere, but unpredictable.

Getting ready for work leaves me completely confused as to what to wear and how many layers are really going to be necessary to stop my whining.

As we all know, autumn in southern West Virginia may mean today’s forecast is 38 degrees and rainy, but tomorrow’s could be 75 and sunny. And, thus, my closet begins to stretch, as I pull out pieces of the winter reserves, but remain afraid to completely pack away summer. More and more of the cold-weather favorites wind up alongside my sundresses and strappy tops.

By the time I start making daily trips to the small storage space where I stow out-of-season clothes, it’s time to pull out the plastic totes and get about the business of getting ready for winter. The fuzzy pink sweater I had to balance on one foot and reach precariously far into the tiny alcove to retrieve this morning was my proof.

My weekend plans will include a reorganizational effort to ensure the aforementioned closet door can close without forcing it shut with a shoulder and latching th knob quickly.

•••

Changing the seasons of my wardrobe is not an easy task. As hours tick by, I inevitably wind up with a bed full of clothes, a heaping laundry hamper, angry scratches from wrestling matches with unruly coat hangers and a pile of items I need to donate in hopes that someone else will give my old clothes new life.

The task I perform grudgingly twice a year makes me feel grateful and gluttonous at the same time. As I sift through the shoes, dresses, sweaters, skirts and jeans, it’s impossible to deny how many material things I have accumulated, how extensively I lean on my wardrobe to tell people the things I want them to know about me and just how much I take it all for granted.

There are dollar-store tops and sweatshirts for weekend chores in the same closet as suits suitable for interviewing dignitaries, but I have the luxury of having the pieces I need to fit my life in any season.

Meanwhile, across town or next door, there will be people who will face this fall looking for new beginnings and new occupations without the blessing of a closet that fits their goals.

For several seasons, I’ve packed up extra pieces and donated them to Women In Search of Empowerment, a nonprofit organization formed to promote dignity and self-sufficiency among disadvantaged women by providing them with professional attire and practical fashion advice.

The agency, operated by Connie Saunders, Gray Peretti and Wendy Philpott, aims to enhance women’s appearance in order to increase their confidence and self-esteem.

WISE’s Success in Image offers free business attire to low-income women seeking employment. Referral clients receive a consultation with a fashion pro, and they learn about personal style, makeup application, appropriate attire and interview techniques.

In short, they get a professional wardrobe to help them dress for the job they want and the confidence they need to make it happen.

One of Connie’s favorite messages is that a woman’s career hangs in her closet, and if first impressions are everything, she’s right.

•••

We all know the saying and sage advice that it’s better to give than to receive, and the giving feels even better if it means I won’t have to hurl myself against the closet door to make it close.

I probably still won’t like fall, with the spiders clamoring to get inside and warm air quick to escape, but the saving grace of my autumn clothing tradition will be that the pieces I donate might help someone else stay warm through the seasons when we all shiver.

For more information on WISE, call (304) 325-3369.

Tammie Toler is Princeton Times editor and general manager. Contact her at ttoler@ptoline.net.