Hello and welcome to this week's stream of consciousness!
I promise you I will never tell you to commit to only buying 5 things a year because the thing is, there is never a one size that fits all.
One of the things I truly believe more than anything is that we are all so very different, and we have completely different authenticities. Whats good for me, might not be good for you and vice versa. There are some universal laws around sustainability that can apply to all of us, but everyone’s interpretation of these will be, and should be unique to them!
Where I think the conversation really goes wrong is that a lot of the time, sustainability narratives are centered around guilt. If we all stopped buying from fast fashion brands, if we all just stopped buying new clothes, if we all committed to only buying this number of things and so on…
I think this alienates people, because frankly it’s heavy. Don’t get me wrong, the impact of clothing and fashion on the planet is heavy, and it’s not an easy subject, but it is also nuanced. If we have a majority who are not interested in tuning into the conversation, we have already lost.
We all have different desires, and different needs. One of my closest friends still wears the exact same clothes she had when I met her over 9 years ago, whilst I don’t. Do I feel guilty? No. I work in a completely different industry and I feel completely differently about clothes and fashion. I simply have a different set of authentic “rules” when it comes to how I shop and what I buy.
A few newsletters ago, I wrote about the importance of figuring out your personal style. If you can work out what your authentic wants and needs are, you’re going to be making better, more focused fashion decisions, which won’t go to waste.
I previously wrote here about how to buy well. We are surrounded by poor quality products everywhere we go, learn to decipher what is a good item because your dollars shape the directions that brands will take. Your priority might be natural fibers, maybe it’s only buying second hand, perhaps you want to make more of your own clothes. We all value different things.
Whether you need 5-10 outfits which you repeat every week, or you are more spontaneous and need freedom in how you make your purchases, fundamentally I want you to feel completely true to yourself! When we are doing what is most authentic to us, we are doing the right thing.
Is this a permission slip to completely disregard the sustainability issue? No, it’s a challenge to get clear on what matters to you and to figure out how you’re going to be more transparent and authentic about the purchases you do make.