We all have those garments that simply make us feel great. Maybe it’s your go-to crop top that you wear out to bars, or that fuzzy sweater you can’t wait to break out every fall.
So, if someone asked to borrow a piece of clothing that you really adore, how would you respond? Is it okay to say no, or does that make you rude?
This is the very conundrum one 26-year-old woman is wrestling with. She loves a specific dress in her closet, which is not necessarily fancy or expensive.
“But it fits me well, and I just feel good in it. I bought it a few years ago, and I wear it on special occasions, like birthdays or nice dinners,” she recalled.
However, just last weekend, her boyfriend’s 24-year-old girlfriend approached her about the dress and asked to borrow it for an upcoming wedding. And honestly, she turned his girlfriend down because she already intends to wear it next month to an engagement party.
Perhaps more importantly, though, she just doesn’t like to lend out her clothing. She gets nervous about her garments becoming stretched out or getting stained. And quite frankly, she prefers to keep her own things, well, hers.
When she tried explaining herself, though, her brother’s girlfriend actually just laughed and accused her of being selfish; meanwhile, her brother’s expression made it seem like he thought she was overreacting.
Then, her brother’s girlfriend claimed it was “just a dress” and said it’d eventually be returned to her.
“I got embarrassed and mumbled something about it being important to me,” she added.
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Yet, his girlfriend proceeded to roll her eyes before saying it was “fine.” And to her, the rest of the night still felt incredibly awkward.
The situation has pushed her to question whether she truly was acting selfishly. On the one hand, she realizes her dress is just a piece of fabric at the end of the day. But on the other hand, she values it as her own dress, which she purchased with her own money.
“I feel bad, though, because his girlfriend seemed upset, and my brother hasn’t talked to me much since,” she vented.
Now, she’s been left wondering if refusing to lend out her dress was justified or really a jerky move.
Are you for or against letting people borrow your clothes? Does it depend on the person? Should she feel guilty, or did she have a right to set that boundary?
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By Katharina Buczek
Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing in... More about Katharina Buczek
