The Hell of Taffeta

My cat, Rupert, has ruined two evening gowns with his long claws and slips into my closets whenever he gets a chance. So I bought two huge hanging garment bags to put all of my evening gowns and fancy clothes in.

Now bear in mind as you read this, I am NOT supposed to do anything physically or mentally taxing. My husband went out to a film festival, and I promised him I would sort and hang the gowns while he was out.

The first thing was, it was amazing how many taffeta bridesmaids type dresses I had in my various closets! Where did they come from? Did they breed??? The pile was IMMENSE. Mostly from the 80s, I think. One beautiful one had fallen to the floor, and the bodice was covered with tiny snags.

Then, for about an hour, I wrestled with the first huge garment bag itself until I got it put together properly. Then...I tried to put it in my closet. It was GIGANTIC. I pulled off half the contents of the closet, piled them on the bed. There was still not enough space.

Pulled out more stuff, wrestled it hback in, and started hanging up the gowns. Most of them had been on cheap wire hangers, and when I bought the garment bags I bought good hangers, so I was also transfering them. The garment bag tipped this way and that, and suddenly the whole thing (inside) crashed to the floor!

After staring at it stupidly for a long time, I picked up the whole mess and dragged it out to my front hall, where I have an industrial grade clothes rack. I figured I should sort the gowns by season, and only hang up the ones I can sell now.

So, I put the whole thing back together, which took about half an hour, after scooping all of the gowns out onto the floor. Then I methodically hung the seasonal gowns in the bag, and it's absolutely stuffed. I still have a mountain of other non-seasonal taffeta dresses. I'm debating keeping them for the fall (sold like hotcakes last year) but...WHERE AM I GONNA PUT THE OTHER GARMENT BAG???

By that time I was beyond exhausted. When my husband came home, he was really upset that the bedroom was still a mess. It looked like I hadn't done anything! If only he knew...