Hanged

About 2 years or less ago JD and I were discussing how his T-shirts were getting stretched out by hanging on wire hangers and plastic hangers and a miscellaneous collection that for the most part just pissed me off and looked cheap. We had a variety of hangers but mostly our clothes were hung on wire hangers. Mommy Dearest would've shat her panties. Also, important to the story, I don't fold anything that will eventually have to be ironed in order to be worn, so since JD's main wardrobe is jeans and t-shirts, I iron and hang everything as it comes out of the dyer. I don't like to iron everyday, I like to get it done once and move on. (We can talk about my need for therapy later.) Anyway, one day while in Home Depot I spotted wooden hangers and wondered if those might preserve both the t-shirt quality and my ironing. I purchased many and took them home excited to try my idea. 

A week or so went by and I felt that the hangers were doing their job as I was keeping my eye on two or three troublesome tees. They were staying in place and the way the wooden hanger was made, kept them in a better position to preserve the neck line as well as the shoulders. Another thing was all the shirts hung at the same level and actually looked cool. You were also able to finally see everything you had without moving the shirts through an assembly line because they hung too close together. It looked like something out of a magazine or some closet store ad or The Container store pics. I was hooked or in this case, hanged. I decided I was going to transfer the entire closet. 

You should be coughing a little. This was not a cheap transformation. This was a major expense. Each hanger works out to be about fifty cents. But I tell you, when the job was complete and I walked into my closet it made my heart happy! I already color coded and hung each item the same way, by category, all ironed and neat but when they were on the wooden hangers, hanging at the exact same level, very little could top such beauty. Mommy Dearest would've been proud!

Fast forward to about six months ago. My friend decided she needed to do the same to her closet to, get this, "help sell the house" that was about to go on the market. Her husband points out, "as if!" but he complied with her wishes and she also transformed her closet. Then she moved, here. This was first of June. Her closet here is all wooden hangers, looking pretty, etc. 

So, last night, her family and another family from out of town visiting, were at our house for a cook-out, fire-pit, summer night of fun. As it came time to light up the fire pit to have our dessert of smores, it occurred to me, as JD asked if we have anything to roast the marshmallows on, that we have no wire hangers. We have nothing of the kind. "NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!" I had sworn them off forever. The discussion went on of what to do, my friend's house was obviously of no good. Then the out-of-town guest asked, "Don't any of you people ever go to the cleaners?" I love it when the obvious is spoken. Now remember that in my house the wardrobe requirement for JD's job is jeans, tees, and flip flops. So, no actually, we don't go to a cleaners. I am the cleaners. But my friend is reminded of a handful of dress-shirts that her husband used to wear everyday and were professionally dry-cleaned and that were still on the beloved and coveted wire hangers. I say used to wear because he now has the same kind of job where his wardrobe consists of jeans, tees and shoe of choice. So these particular shirts were picked up, packed, moved, unpacked, hung in the closet and promptly forgotten about. Also, I must mention in defense of my friend who spent unnecessary money to make the closet look good in order to "help sell the house," her husband now appreciates the preservedness of his tees on the wooden hangers. 

Saved. The kids could have their smores. So could the adults for that matter. The evening not lost.

The moral of the story? Other than roasting something over a fire or unlocking a car door from the 1960's, I cannot think of a good use for wire hangers. So if you decide to transform your closet and rid yourself of all wire hangers,  this is a little note to keep a few of the wire hangers in the back of your closet for those "just in cases" so as not to get hanged at a dinner party.