Midwesterners and their clothes.

Midwesterners are kind of hilarious about their clothes.

Compliment someone from on their Midwest on their shirt and see what happens.

Chances are you'll get one of three responses:

"Thanks! I got it for $2!"

(note: a Midwesterner will never brag about how expensive something they are wearing is, but they WILL brag about how little they paid for it.)

"Thanks! I got it in Maine!"

(note: Midwesterners gladly will tell you about the origin of their clothing if it is somewhere interesting and/or inexpensive, ie, Target.)

(When they go on vacation, my parents like to wear their shirts that say "South Dakota" or "Minnesota Twins" or whatever in hopes of sparking conversation with a stranger who is either also from the Midwest or has an affinity for the Midwest.)

"Thanks! My sister gave it to me!"

(note: Midwesterners are quick to give credit where credit is due, especially when it comes to clothing choices.)

Here's what you will NEVER hear:

"Thanks."

As a Midwesterner, I too am guilty of this. Something just feels wrong about simply taking the compliment. It's ingrained in our DNA to elaborate. Just thinking about this fictional interaction ending right at "thanks" is making me a little uncomfortable.

If complimenting someone on a dress or a skirt, you may hear "Thanks! It has pockets." This is not unique to the Midwest - you will garner this response from anyone in a skirt or a dress that has previously suffered through pocket-less or pathetically pocketed garments. There's nothing like making a move to put something in your pants pocket only to discover THERE IS NO PANTS POCKET.

Or if the pocket is there, it may not be deep enough to fit anything larger than a Chapstick. If that.

My three-year-old's clothing has deeper and more plentiful pockets than my clothing.

It did when he was a TINY BABY, too.

WHAT DOES A TINY BABY NEED TO CARRY AROUND THAT I DON'T.

Anyway.

Back to Midwesterners.

My clothing is almost exclusively from two types of places: consignment/secondhand stores and small businesses. Compliment me on whatever I'm wearing, and I'll tell you which one. 

At this exact moment in time, here's the rundown:

shirt: secondhand

skirt: secondhand

shoes: small business

bracelet: small business

ring: I made

earrings: I made

necklace: I made

Honestly, it's going to be pretty much the same on any given day. Just switch the order around.

This is part through conscious effort, part through me being cheap. Over the last four years, I've been pregnant three times, resulting in one three-year-old and another baby due in just a couple of months. 

This means four plus years of no consistent clothing size. 

If you're buying new stuff all the time to try and maintain some sort of functioning closet, that adds up FAST. 

It adds up even faster if you need clothes for different situations, such as workwear.

I am obviously not buying all new stuff. During my first pregnancy, I bought a couple of brand-new pairs of maternity jeans from Target, so they were like $25 apiece. I was ANNOYED spending THAT MUCH MONEY on items of clothing that I really didn't want in the first place but knew I needed... but worst of all, knew I wasn't going to use in the long-haul. 

During this pregnancy, I was annoyed again at the prospect of purchasing maternity shorts and swimwear (as my previous pregnancy seasons didn't line up with this one). But then it hit me - swimsuits are stretchy for a REASON. I just bought a cheap one from Amazon in a size bigger than usual, which should serve me well in the coming years. I got maternity shorts from a consignment site called ThredUP.

Overall, I kind of think maternity clothes are a scam. Jeans, maybe not. There's no way I'm going to find a pair of regular jeans that fits me, no matter what size I choose. I do have some ultra-stretchy shorts that will work, though, and the aforementioned swimsuit. I also have plenty of elastic-waisted skirts and dresses that will see me through to the end and beyond. Almost no special maternity clothes necessary.

This is thanks in no small part to oversized/flowy clothing being more in style for the past handful of years. If I had been pregnant during the late 90s to mid 2000s with the short shirts and the low-rise jeans, I most certainly wouldn't be able to rely on anything I already had. Thankfully (for many reasons), the tide has turned.

That was kind of a long aside, but I have switched to purchasing more secondhand not just because of my fluctuating clothing needs, but because it's not only better for the environment, but because I can find clothing I like more at a better price than I can in your run-of-the-mill mall store.

I also do my best to shop at small businesses because they are just that: small businesses. When you buy from a small business, you're helping someone fulfill their dream. You're buying from a real person. When you buy from Amazon, you're just helping Jeff Bezos buy another yacht or steal some more souls or whatever it is he does. (I am totally guilty of using Amazon more than I should, but I'm doing my best to cut back.) Small businesses keep our downtowns alive.

This post didn't really end up where I had intended when I started it, but the sentiment remains true: Midwesterners will tell you all sorts of stuff about their clothes - namely how good we are at NOT spending money.