Like most people, I’ve always wondered where the other sock goes. You put a pair in the wash and get back just one. OK, what they do is, they gather together, multiply, and create new clothes, disguised as old, worn clothing. Then they infiltrate the out of season clothing you have stored away. When it’s time to drag out the next season’s stuff, it won’t fit into the space it occupied the year before. It’s a neat trick.

It’s the only explanation I can come up with. I’d put it off as long as I could, but it had to be done. We’re a day away from November, so it was really time to put the summer clothes away and dig out the cold weather stuff. This time I packed away every short sleeved item I own. I didn’t hold back a thing, not even a t-shirt. I usually keep a drawer of t-shirts in case of unseasonably warm weather, but not this time. So, I figured, I’d have plenty of space for the fall and winter stuff. When I took out the fall and winter things I set aside some things to be given away and trashed a few things that were really done. And when I put everything away, there was a pile leftover with nowhere to go. That’s when I came up with the sock theory.

Anyway, it’s done. You’d think with all this stuff, I’d be well dressed, but nothing could be further from the truth. Mostly, I wear jeans and a top and I’m good to go. Still, women seem to have more complicated needs when it comes to clothing than some men do. There are a lot of things that I might just wear once or twice in a season, but they need to be around just in case.

My husband doesn’t have to dedicate a day to dragging totes back and forth to the basement. He takes a different approach. His winter and summer wardrobes are the same. It’s a t-shirt and jeans for casual wear and a long sleeved shirt and jeans for slightly dressier occasions. If he needs to go all out, he wears Dockers. When the weather turns, he adds a jacket or sweatshirt. At his job, every so often they give the employees things with the company logo on it. Caps and short sleeved polo shirts mostly. You don’t have to wear them. They’re an extra. He’s acquired a few of the polo shirts and that’s what he wears to work every day. They’re identical. That’s fine with him. When something wears out, he replaces it with the same item. Exactly the same if possible. He doesn’t do change well. He currently doesn’t own a suit. If an occasion comes up that demands one, his solutioln is simple. He doesn’t go. He’ll have to break down and get one when our closest relatives’ kids start getting married, but until then, he’s staying out of Men’s World.