One navy blue scarf.

I am attending the memorial service for my friend tomorrow, so decided to buy something new to wear.
Something nicer than the ancient trackies or jeans and cheap men's t-shirts that I usually wear.

I hopped on a bus into the city and wandered through shop after shop after shop, looking at the millions of items on the racks, on the shelves, on reduced/bargain tables.

Three hours I spent doing this and eventually came home with.....wait for it.....one navy blue scarf.
Yes, you read that right. I shopped for three hours and bought one scarf.

I am totally clueless when it comes to buying clothes.
I just do not know what to buy.
I don't know what looks good, I don't know what suits me, I don't know what items to put together to get a "look".
And by "look", I mean something that looks good.
On me.
(Plus, I wasn't prepared to spend largish amounts of cash on something I wouldn't wear again).

This goes back to my childhood.
After my mum left, I just wore whatever clothing was available to me.
I have no idea where the clothes came from, they were just there.
I think most things were given to my Dad, for me, by well-meaning neighbours.
Dresses, blouses, shorts, long pants. Even underwear and shoes.
Maybe my Mum sent some things that had been outgrown by the family she was now living with.

I didn't know and I didn't care. I had clothes, that was enough.
I didn't care what I looked like then.

Later, when I left Port Pirie and went to live with Mum, I had a job and began to buy my own clothes.
Jeans and t-shirts. Men's jeans because they were so much cheaper and the smallest size fit me perfectly.
And they were comfortable.
A few skirts for the summer. Dozens of brand new knickers and socks. (No more second-hand knickers for me. Ever)

Once the kids began arriving, I lived in t-shirts and shorts, t-shirts and jeans, anything that was clean and comfortable. And this is what I still do now.
I haven't done any serious clothes shopping since arriving back in Adelaide in the 80's.
All I've done is replace things as they wear out. Mostly t-shirts and socks.
Jeans last forever.
And I still wear men's jeans, because they're wider in the waist than women's jeans, and I'm thick-waisted.
I see other women wearing nice things, and think to myself, I should buy something like that, but I never do. I look at them in the shops and think "what if it won't fit right or look right on me?"

So when an occasion comes along where I might have to dress up a little, or even where I might have to just look a little nicer than I usually do, I often don't go. I don't enjoy gatherings much anyway, so I'm happy enough to miss things like parties etc.

Which brings us to today. Three hours of searching the shops and coming home with one navy blue scarf.

I'll team it with my black work pants, black shoes, navy (newish) t-shirt and my navy padded jacket.
Not dressy, but casually presentable.
And I'll be comfortable.