Giveaway results

[jducoeur]

Mistress Caitlin's Closets Unlocked was this weekend, and my thanks to everyone who came -- it was, frankly, an astounding success. As far as I can tell, everyone wound up taking *something*, even the ladies who came in pretty skeptical, and a number of friends were able to get a bunch of really useful items. I wish everyone well with it: you honor Jane with this, and she'd be very happy to know that she's still helping out her friends.

Being a fly on the wall was really quite a bit of fun for me. Saturday especially, as I was sitting upstairs and getting to hear the repeated chorus of, "Oh my *god*" as ladies entered the garage and finally understood the sheer scope of the thing. (It's an exaggeration to say that we had as much as a department store -- but we had more than many consignment shops and boutiques.) And it was delightful getting to say hi to a lot of friends, and see them having fun with the toys. I only wish I could have been a fly on the wall downstairs, which I gather was delightful chaos. (Stories and thoughts are more than welcome.)

The timing worked out well. Most of the closest friends came earlier on Saturday, and many took a *lot* of stuff, which is great. Sunday was mostly OES folks, who took most of the gowns and other fancies. In the end, we wound up with only two gowns left, and very little of the rest of the clothing -- better than Susan and I could have hoped, much less expect. On the order of 95% of the clothing was gone by the end of the weekend. The remaining couple of gowns will go to Eastern Star Grand Chapter this weekend (SCAdians should think of a cross between Coronation and Birka), and the rest of the leftover clothing will go to appropriate charities.

This leaves us with the racks and hangers. There are still around 10 leftover clothing racks, and a big pile of pretty nice hangers, left in Susan's garage. She'd really like them to go away, so she and Mark can put their cars back in the garage. She and I are each keeping one or two, but the rest really need to go away. So please write to me if you'd like to claim one or two, and make arrangements with her to pick them up. It's pretty much first-come-first-serve at this point -- we just want them to go away. (And anyone who wants hangers, just talk to her and come by: I gather that there are lots.)

Comments

[tashabear.livejournal.com]

I would like one or two of the racks; I'll know better how many I want once I see them. I don't know Susan, so if you could broker an introduction I'd be grateful.

I'm glad this worked out so well for you. I ended up donating most of Wolfie's pants and kept the t-shirts, as they fit me (we gave up segregating the t-shirts long ago). I don't know what I would have done if I'd had a challenge like yours to overcome.

[jducoeur]

Yeah, I kept a non-trivial chunk of the t-shirts -- probably around 30-40 of them, I'd guess. But that was just the geek shirts that both fit and suited me, so it was still a tiny fraction. (Plus a very small number of t's and polos that were in some fashion specifically *hers*, mostly custom pieces. No idea what I'm going to do with those in the long run, but for now I'm just holding on to them.)

And yes, I'll put you in touch with Susan.

[tashabear.livejournal.com]

*smile* Wolfie's suit is still hanging where it was when he went into the hospital. It's been waiting to go to the dry cleaner's for almost two years now. Lord knows if it'll ever get there; it'll likely just rot off the hanger, like Miss Haversham's wedding gown. Silly what I can't bring myself to touch, when I have no problem claiming ownership of other things.

And thank you. :-)

[jducoeur]

Understood. I have more than a few such, but I'm trying to limit it to the things that genuinely have sentimental value, lest the house turn into a museum...

[rosinavs.livejournal.com]

If there are T-shirts that you would like to be used for some purpose, but are custom and therefore not really wearable by other people, consider allowing folks to use them for the base of duct-tape doubles. This is how I used a couple of pieces of my father's - the "Dad of student at name of school I attended" T-shirts. I have his wool coat and some of his Steeler fan gear, and that's enough for me to remember him by.

[jducoeur]

Thanks for the suggestion, but that's *really* not going to happen in this case. These are the items that have genuine sentimental value, and I can't see doing that to them...

[rosinavs.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure whether all of them were that sentimental or not. In my case it was somewhat, but not enough to keep me from using them.

[rosinavs.livejournal.com]

I've also heard of old T-shirts made into a quilt before. Don't know whether that applies here.

[jducoeur]

Okay -- I don't seem to have your email address to hand, so could you drop me a note? This handle at Gmail. And I'll need a decision of 1 or 2 -- I need to start counting, so I know when to cut it off.

[mermaidlady]

I'd like to claim a rack or two.

[jducoeur]

Okay, cool -- you definitely get dibs.

[mermaidlady]

Thank you. And our costumes thank you.

[calygrey.livejournal.com]

I would like one rack, and some hangars, if I may.

[jducoeur]

Okay, you're in...

[calygrey.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[richenza.livejournal.com]

It ended up being really fun. I came for work clothes, as I've had very little time to shop for myself, post-Little-Dude. I remembered really liking Caitlin's work style, when I ran into her in her grown-up clothes. :) I felt kind of weird about the whole thing, to begin with, as I think did many. It ended up having a festival-like atmosphere, though, in the garage especially. The lot of us running around in our underwear, switching clothes, and critiquing choices.

It felt a little bit like the "Filene's running of the brides" to me - which I realize many people might take negatively, but that isn't what I mean. We got Tanya's wedding dress at the running of the brides. While the size 4 girls will cut you, all the plus-size girls banded together and were really helpful and had great camaraderie. That's what this reminded me of... a lot of "my shoulders are too broad for this, but I think you should try it." or "hmmm, not my color - anyone with a cool complexion in a size 12 want to try?"

I'm wearing a pair of Caitlin's heels right now, actually.

I still needed work blouses after picking up several lovely blazers of hers, so I went to a store on Sunday. Boy, shopping is a lot harder when the target pool hasn't already been pre-sorted for all the tasteful things.

[jducoeur]

Heh -- yeah, the most gratifying part of the day was the constant refrain of, "Wow -- she had *really* good taste".

And yes, that's kind of the impression I was getting from downstairs. I'm really glad: it's exactly the kind of celebration of her life and works that I've been trying to foster. Shopping is an insufficiently appreciated art, but she was a true master of it...

[aneirin-awenyd.livejournal.com]

Yes, she had REALLY good taste. (I seriously just typoed "has" and considered leaving it, because her good taste *is* living on indefinitely in my wardrobe.) I just...felt...her personality and her presence throughout the whole experience, almost as if I could hear her chuckling just a little bit from behind my shoulder and saying "That one looks quite good on you! Go ahead, take it!"

I (very regretfully!) did not know Jane as well as many others did, but I always greatly enjoyed our times together. I think it's interesting that I always have thought of her as Jane and not Caitlin even though I *should* think of her *only* as Caitlin. But anyway...

Thank you, thank you, Justin (and many thanks also to Susan). It was such a wonderful thing to see you, hug you, reconnect with you. I am at a point in my life where I needed new duds and benefited tremendously from both the opportunity to ensure continued use of Jane's clothing AND from the legacy of her impeccable fashion sense.

My closet is now significantly more brightly colored (primarily in shades of cranberry, rose, plum, and lavender.) Today I am wearing her lovely, soft rose-colored cable-knit sweater and classy perfect blue jeans.

Some of my favorite moments from Saturday:

Hearing multiple people within a few minutes of each other say, "I feel guilty for taking so much!" AND (in contrast) "I can't believe how much is still here!"

Filling a bag with multiple sweaters and looking back at the room on the way out and having it look like not a dent was made in the piles.

Seeing dervishspin in the garage wearing an utterly stunning yellow gown.

Hearing oohs and aahs from ladies in the garage, over and over and over. Lots of "you should definitely have that" and "that looks stunning on you" and "here, try this" and "come see this."

Also the great sense that there really was something for everyone who had hoped to find something.

And the feeling that those present were celebrating Jane and having fun on her behalf.

I love that I will be reminded of her often. I always admired her and aspired to learn from her, especially her seemingly effortless sense of social grace.

[jducoeur]

Thank you -- this is all dear to hear...

[rosinavs.livejournal.com]

I always thought of her more as Jane than as Caitlin, too, in spite of knowing her mostly through the SCA.

[jducoeur]

Nothing wrong with that, but it's actually due to historical subtleties. I got assigned my SCA name all of two weeks into my freshman year of college, so *everybody* knows me as "Justin" and I'm most comfortable with that name. But it took her a couple of years and a few tries to settle on a name, so she was pretty well-known as "Jane" before she chose "Caitlin", and many people already knew her that way.

Hence, it was very common to refer to us as "Jane and Justin" -- and truth to tell, we often did so ourselves...

[aneirin-awenyd.livejournal.com]

Oh, good to hear - I thought it was just a strange alliterative twist of my brain that thought of you as Jane and Justin.

The stunning yellow gown...

[pryder]

I remember seeing her in that when she tried it on. I think she will find wearing that gown an interesting experience, because she will turn heads in a major way (and a good one), between the non-subtle color and the fact that it fit as if it had been made for her. I suspect that level of attention is not something she's accustomed to; we're talking every eye in the room when she walks in.

[fenicedautun.livejournal.com]

My mother and I made the same comparison. And thank you for making my post for me :)

(and it was great to see you, we should try to see each other again sometime)

[elizabear.livejournal.com]

I'd like a rack, please. And maybe some hangars.

I'm so glad most of the stuff went to people this weekend. My first entry to the garage wasn't "Oh my GOD", it was "Oh, Jane!" with a wry sigh and damp eyes. I think part of the collection building was purely her EPS (excessive planning syndrome), a trait we joked about for years. She loved shopping, and wanted to make sure she had everything she could possibly need on-hand. Who knows when she might need to pull something out of the closet on no notice! She would nab things she liked when she spotted them, whether or not she had an immediate need for them, hence the number of things with tags still attached.

[jducoeur]

Yep, certainly so. And you're in for a rack.

[jedilora.livejournal.com]

If there are any left, I think me and Jesse could use a rack.

[jducoeur]

I don't think I have your email address. Can you drop me an email -- this handle at gmail -- and we'll set it up...

[rosinavs.livejournal.com]

I can't remember what the taller racks that held the long gowns were like, but if there is one left I'd like one. Otherwise, we already got all the racks we thought we'd need.

[jducoeur]

Sorry -- the long gowns were on improvised racks, not the ones we're giving away...

[rosinavs.livejournal.com]

That's what I figured. No problem, other than needing taller racks for the garb, we're all set.

[rosinavs.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot in my last comment, I wore one of the dresses I got to our Sushiversary dinner. I got lots of compliments, and it went well with the shawl I knitted for the wedding.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I wore one of the shirts today to work. It was very comfy, and I thought of you both often.

[keshwyn]

I wore one of the jackets to a birthday party yesterday. In addition to being dry (after I got soaked shooting archery in the rain) it garnered the first comment out of the hostess that wasn't a welcome: "My, what a GOREGOUS jacket!"

Somewhere, a lady with excellent taste smiled...

[serakit.livejournal.com]

I wore one pretty dress today and got two compliments on it-- around here, even one compliment on a normal outfit is unusual; they tend to save their compliments for costumery. Compliments from more than one person in the same day is almost unheard of.

And it's made even more special by Susan having told me when I picked out the dress that it was the bridesmaid dress in your wedding which Jane liked so much she got one for herself too.

[littlest-viking.livejournal.com]

The best moment for me was when Susan opened the door to the garage - it was like any and every magic door in any fantasy book. I can still feel the sense of wonder. Not that there was anything fantastical, but it was entirely unexpected, and entirely removed from what reality should have been, and it was filled with friends and friendly folk, and it felt stepping from a kind stranger's house into a place of belonging.

Jane was really good at creating that feeling of belonging :) Thanks to you both.

[ladymacgregor.livejournal.com]

(Susan here) Thank you for this! I'm so glad you got that moment.

I admit, that is *exactly* the effect I was trying to foster. I really enjoyed introducing everyone into "the garage", because I *did* feel like it was kind of magic - I was letting everyone into The Best Store In The World, because all your friends were there, all the clothing was beautiful, and everything was free.

I almost wanted a Disneyesque swell of music when I opened the door, or like when Willy Wonka opens the door to The Chocolate Room . . . but that might have been overdoing it . . .

[jducoeur]

Thank you: Willy Wonka is one of my personal role models, so I appreciate this approach...