This box may look small, but inside lurked a fashion revival.

The 1990′s revival of the 1970′s to be exact. Yes, I embraced bell bottoms and wide-leg pants in all of their hippie glory!

Here’s a sampling of the goodies I found:

• Four pairs of denim bell bottoms (the awesome pair on the right with all the buttons belonged to my sister)

• One pair of black-and-white, wide-leg pants
• One pair of cotton bell bottoms (also my sister’s)

• Two vests – one denim; one patchwork with fringes (which I don’t think I ever wore. Really.)

• One colorful shirt I bought at a thrift store

Why did I save this stuff for 17 years or so? Two reasons.

I thought they would make great Halloween costumes. And they did. One year. When they still fit.

I was also holding onto them for my daughter(s) for when the trend returns. When I was in high school, I thought it was so cool when my friends wore clothes their moms wore back when they were young. It’s only now that I realize that in order to do that, those moms were violating the cardinal rule of clothing retention: If you haven’t worn it in a year, it needs to go (but NOT into a box in the garage).

The problem with holding onto stuff for your children is that if you don’t have any, like me, you have to hold onto the stuff for a long time before they’re even old enough to decide if they want to wear your funky, button-down bell bottoms.

I would have to store those bell bottoms for at least 20 more years to get to that point. That’s not happening. So into a bag everything went. Destination: Goodwill.

If my daughter(s) ever express interest in wearing funky old clothes, I can always take them thrift-store shopping. Who knows? Maybe some my clothes will still be around.

And how random is this: In the box, I also found the crown I wore on the day of my First Communion and my candle.

Perhaps finding those two items is a sign that I should reconnect with my religion. That remains to be seen, but in the meantime, they are going into my box of memorabilia.

Tags: bell bottoms, childhood clutter, clothing clutter, clutter, declutter, donate clothing, emotional clutter, Garage Organizing, Goodwill, memorabilia, memory clutter