Lularoes to the rescue.
Since I've been laid up for the last week, I've not been particularly worried about dressing well. In fact, before I had my follow-up appointment and they changed my bandages, there was so much bulk around my foot that dressing every day was ruled by what I could actually get over my foot.
However, I realized quickly that, in my efforts to update my wardrobe over the last year, I'd short-changed myself on loungewear. Other than pajama pants, I only have one pair of sloppy, draw-string jersey lounge pants, and an old pair of yoga pants I keep in the bottom drawer in my closet designated as my "occasional" or "special-needs" clothes like my long underwear. Fortunately, I finally gave my Lularoe leggings (I have two pairs) a shot and found that they're stretchy enough to pull on over the bandages and still keep their shape once they're on.
You see, with a Golden Retriever puppy who's "molting" (shedding his puppy fur as his adult fur starts to come in), every pair of pants I wear gets covered in dog fur pretty fast. Hard to wear them multiple days in a row without just feeling gross.
The first couple of days after surgery I didn't care much--my ugly gray draw-string pants were fine as I recovered from the surgery itself. (Even though it was only on a toe, any kind of surgery sends your body into a tailspin!) After that, though, I found that wearing my slouchy gray pants actually made me feel a little worse. I wanted to be comfortable, of course, but I also wanted to feel a little more like myself--a little more pulled together. The Lularoes were a great solution. I don't wear the Lularoes out of the house unless I have a really long tunic-style top over them (don't like being quite that revealing in public), but for home I could wear a tshirt and hoodie. I wouldn't win any fashion awards, nor was I trying to, but I felt better, slightly more perky in general wearing more normal clothes. Those gray draw-string pants are truly ugly. I've almost donated them a couple of times over the past year, and I rarely wear them under normal circumstances, but they worked great for surgery day and the first couple of days after, so once I'm totally unbandaged and can go back to my normal shoes and wardrobe, those gray pants will go back into the "special-needs" drawer with the black yoga pants for the next foot surgery (which I know I'll need to have done on the other foot at some point in the next couple of years).
I have found over the years that what I wear has a pretty significant effect on my psyche. I don't need to be in heels and pearls (especially not heels!). But I've had periods of time where I got in the habit of wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts a lot since I work from home. I realized, however, that when I do that, I tend to have a more pessimistic outlook, I become a little more sluggish, and I just don't like myself as well.
Of course, it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg thing. Is my outlook driving my clothing choices, or are my clothing choices driving my outlook? Clearly it's a mix of both. But it's also true that, when I realized what was going on and started dressing better ("better" meaning wearing jeans and nicer tshirts--we're still not talking LBDs and diamonds, here), I started feeling better. Maybe it's a "fake it till you make it" thing, but whatever--it works for me.
In this second week of healing, I'm pleased that the size of my bandages has reduced somewhat; although I still can't get most of my jeans over them, it's opened up some options in dressing a little. And I've figured out how to take a fast, somewhat awkward shower without getting my bandages wet (Glad Press n' Seal has unexpected uses!). I'm wearing my Lularoes--thankfully, they also don't collect dog hair the way the yoga pants and gray draw-string pants do--and tshirts that more or less match them, and feeling more pulled together and good about life. I still have to keep my foot elevated but I'm able to move around more and don't have to be flat-out on the couch anymore. Life is good.
What do you think? Do you find there's a connection between how you dress and the way you feel?