My Magical Closet: Fall 2025 Newsletter

My Magical Closet: Fall 2025 Newsletter

Among the categories of things that might become expensive during these tariffying times is clothing.

Lucky for me, I have a magical closet. I’m not talking about magical in the sense of the wardrobe in C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that might lead you into a land of wonder and adventure.

And my closet has its flaws.

My closet has no light, so sometimes I have to use a flashlight or the little LED lantern I got from the Arbor Day Foundation to find what I need.

I have to use a stool to get to the upper rack in the back.

My closet also isn’t big enough to hold my entire wardrobe, so I have to switch out some clothes from my closet to the one in our home office twice a year. In the fall for instance, I take the short sleeved camp shirts and light cotton pants to the front closet and carry the heavy cord pants, tee-necked tops, and flannel shirts to the one in the master bedroom.

Still, my closet is magical as I hope you’ll soon see.

My closet is well organized with shirts and blouses hanging on the top rod in back over the bottom rack holding pants in the back in basic solid colors. The wide rod in front holds third layers, for instance, jackets with a shelf above the rod that contains rolled up sweaters.

“Nope, not feeling the magic,” you might say.

Some of it comes from colors. All sections are arranged in the order of the spectrum starting with purple on the right, and working their way through indigo, blue, red, green, yellow, and orange, all from dark to light, into warm neutrals, brown, tan, and beige and to cool neutrals like black, gray and finally white on the left.

“Nope, still not feeling the magic,” you say.

Well, here it comes. Over the thirty-some years I’ve used this closet, I’ve accumulated a wardrobe filled with basic, timeless styles like jeans and pull-on pants, plus turtle neck and other pull-on shirts, short-sleeved camp shirts and long-sleeved Oxford shirts. Believe me when I say that these types of clothes never go out of style.

“Okay,” you say. “I wouldn’t call that magic. It’s more like practical.”

And here comes the magic. Many of the shirts are floral patterns that have many different colors in them. The magic happens when I decide to mix things up. Or more likely, I discover that I no longer can button the pair of jeans I usually wear with a particular shirt, so I have to go hunting for something else to wear.

And voila there it is, there it is. I find a subtle touch of purple in a floral print shirt I’ve had for years that goes with the purplish pair of cropped pants I’ve also had for years that I still zip and button but never worn with that shirt. Sheer magic.

I suppose some of you naysayers might challenge my assertion that my closet has magic by pointing out that I can always buy new pants cheap at Walmart, for instance. My closet is much closer and the clothes don’t cost me anything. Or you might say, well maybe you can find something cheap at the closest thrift store. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the time to sort through endless racks of disorganized clothing like you’ll find in those places. And trying on pants in privacy often isn’t an option either.

So, I suggest that the next time you can’t find anything to wear, you look in your closet. Chances are good that you’ll find magic there.

<> <> <>

Are you missing National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, my writing friends? Well, weep no more. For there’s now a very similar activity called Novel November. I’ve checked it out and it looks good. Click on prowritingaid.com/novel-november to see for yourself.

P. S. You might find my Novel Basics book useful when you brainstorm your ideas beforehand and write your novel in November. You’ll find my book in eBook form at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BS4CJHKS