A common idea for too-small clothes

A standard thing people do with too-small clothes is to pass them along to someone else they know.   Our family is often the recipient of other people's clothes; people tell us that they know we'll appreciate the clothes if we can wear them.  Below is a pair of Syracuse Lacrosse shorts with a rich lineage.

My son, is the latest proud owner, got them from one of his older sisters, who got it from her friend Claire, who got it from her friend Jocelyn, who got it from her high school boyfriend.  Perhaps the shorts belonged to someone else before him; we haven't traced the pants back any farther.

Aside from the personal history lesson, these shorts demonstrate an important, frugal aspect of used clothes ownership:  those used clothes that get passed along tend to be durable.  They've survived both washing and wearing, and they are likely to hold up better than new, cheap clothes.

In the past, I've written about using t-shirts to make quilts, or carry bags, or even rags.  Tomorrow, I'm going to offer one of my son's suggestions for dealing with too-small clothes.