Huh.

I've just spent the last hour and a half tearing apart my closet, and I've come to a couple of conclusions:

1) Since the last time I dressed up regularly, I have gained a size or two. Not enough to mean the clothes totally don't fit so I can get rid of them. Oh no - the Clothing Deities are much too crafty for that. I've gained just enough weight so that I can get into them, but they are clearly ever so slightly too small. There are two ways to deal with this:
a) diet more and exercise more, which usually becomes simply "don't eat until you're skinny" in my crazy former-ballet-dancer brain, or
b) get rid of the stuff that doesn't fit and replace it with stuff that does, because I'm 30 now and not likely to be the same size I was when I was 23 again. Which given a) is probably a good thing.

I've never been in a situation where I'm tempted to keep clothes because "if I lose a few pounds, they'll fit again!" Suddenly I understand that particular feminine inconsistency, and I hate it. Therefore, I think I may go with option b.

2) Of the going-out clothes that do still fit me, most are sleeveless - as is appropriate to California, I suppose. However, it does mean that I would desperately like something to cover my shoulders on this California-chilly February afternoon. Something that is pretty, matches my chocolate-brown dress, folds up small and keeps me warm in either the over-air-conditioned buildings or the winter breeze. Something not a coat, or sweater. Perhaps rectangular, or maybe even square. Heck, triangular would work too, considering the back of the dress has a triangle point. Something like a shawl, maybe?

Color me an idiot, but the thought of matching a shawl to a particular dress so they would, well, match just never occurred to me. Please excuse me while I go bang my head against the desk for awhile, then dig through my stash for an appropriate color of lace yarn. Not that I'm in any sort of hurry to get this done; the next time I have to dress up for anything will probably be next Christmas, after all.