Things I wore before they were cool (or moldy) UPDATED

A long time ago, I got a pair of boots in Wicker Park. Second year of college? 2002-ish? What was notable about these boots was that they look - or, I should say, looked - like the boots of the moment, the moment being 2013. I was so ahead of the curve on that one! While I don't remember exactly what they cost, I do know that they were not anywhere near $600. I'd assume well under $100. I remember the struggle of breaking them in on icy Chicago sidewalks. That, I suppose, was the investment.

I remember even more vividly removing them from my closet this evening, in the hopes of wearing them tonight to celebrate my (and, I suppose, their) ancientness. Only to discover... mold. So very much mold. All over them. Not related to the age of the boots - I'd been wearing them during the winter, and they'd been just fine - but to my recent (I'd thought noble, or at least seasonal) decision to store them in the closet.

I'm no scientist, but I nevertheless infer that there is some kind of mold problem in the closet. And by closet I mean the closet - the only clothes-closet in the apartment, so the concern is less the loss of the boots than the possibility (near-certainty) of a mold... situation covering absolutely everything. And yes, blogging about it is a way to delay the inevitable, namely removing everything from the closet and finding all of our clothes have turned into an inedible and potentially toxic Roquefort.

UPDATE

To whom it may concern (i.e. close relatives), the mold is likely the result of towels that ended up on the bottom of the closet after going through the laundry, and might not have been entirely dry because are towels ever after the dryer? As for why so many towels, the immediate family members concerned know the not-so-exciting answer. (Family heirlooms, kind of. Long story.)