Congratulations. It’s the middle of March, 2021. We have successfully transitioned out of 2020 and I am congratulating you because you are here, living this new year. Here we are. We are alive. Let’s agree the world is haggard at best right now. She’s got a festering hangover and one fake eyelash hanging off by a thin thread of glue. Nevertheless we find ourselves, together with our world, living it up in 2021. I am a positive thinker who has been programmed to run on a survivalist mentality for many years. This makes me both chirpy and motivated while retaining a healthy dose of existential doom. I feel that both these qualities will bode well with me in the rest of the year. So excited.
In this post I would like to focus on the positive motivation rather than the existential doom, because I do feel it is the option that gets us further. Don’t you? Yes? Fantastic. In that spirit, 2021 will be a continuation of my slow fashion journey and I am elated that you are here to join me. We have come a long way in the last year in our slow fashion journey and I could not be more pleased to be joined by all of you again this year! I have compiled a list to help us stick to the music. Here are four practical ways to include slow fashion in your 2021. Thanks from my heart for reading and being my companion in the slow fashion movement!
Want to keep merrily chugging along on your mindful fashion year? Me too! Here are four practical steps to get us walking in the right direction:
NUMBER ONE
Say no to impulse buys by avoiding clearance sales.
They seem so tempting but the risk is high that you will get carried away and make impulse buys*. Sales tend to get our hearts racing and being overcome with adrenaline (and the rush of a ‘’deal’’) might lead to a random selection of inexpensive items that will clutter your closet if you don’t think hard about them! Exceptions are:
*buying something you have had your eye on for a long time that you know you will really love and wear
*buying basics for the next season (ie. You need a new timeless classic like a black long-sleeved undershirt or some warm socks, scarf, etc.)
*impulse buys are purchases you make on a whim that accumulate within the finite bounds of your closet and house until they suffocate you in your nightmares. Webster’s Dictionary definition.
NUMBER TWO
Go through your closet.
Look deep into your closet. Let it hypnotize you with its magical void. Now roll up your sleeves and get personal. You are going to go through the contents of your closet. This tip shouldn’t be interpreted as clean out your closet. This tip is for the beginning of the beginning of thinking about cleaning out your closet. This is meant to be laying some groundwork for that good ‘ol subconscious to do some behind-the scenes work for you, like a backstage stagehand who hasn’t gotten a raise in 20 years. Our goal here is to hold each piece in your hands. Connect to it. Recognize it. Undoubtedly, memories will come up: where it came from, when you bought it, if you’ve worn it and how it made you feel. Great job. Now put it aside and move to the next. If you don’t want to physically remove it from your closet (like the clothes on the hangers) just leave it hanging and touch it and give it 5 seconds of your conscious brain time. You can go section by section over the course of months (if you don’t know where on god’s green earth to start, start small, like socks and undies) or do it all in one fell swoop, like on a weekend. Once you have connected with your items, put them back into your closet. You don’t have to make any decisions yet. (Although if you want to, go for it!) The contents of a wardrobe are emotional, and making decisions about them can be hard. Let your dutiful behind-the-scenes stage hand take over from here. Your subconscious brain will process what you’ve seen - the horrors and the wonders - and when you have digested what you own, you will be so much closer to making those tough decisions (when you feel ready) about what to keep and what should go. This also helps with tip number one. If you know what is in your closet, you will be less likely to impulse buy because you already know how that’s going to turn out for your future self.
NUMBER THREE
Educate yourself.
Take an online course, read a book, buy a slow living magazine: Learn a bit about the fashion industry by taking an online course, reading a book, or even buying a slow living magazine to leaf through if you don’t want to commit to a course. Read about the innovative technologies being used to make clothing(like recycling materials), read about the fashion industry by buying a book or fanzine, or buy a slow/mindful living magazine to leaf through while drinking your morning coffee. There is so much educational content circulating out there right now! It’s so fantastic. Activists and brainy movers and shakers all over the world are pooling together to teach us what they know. I will admit that since the pandemic started, I have found the heavy stuff hard to digest. I only have the capacity to digest so much about how the world feels at a loss of control in so many areas. But I keep plugging along, listening to podcasts from people who inspire me and when I feel I can emotionally process it I will also dive into some facts and numbers. I shan’t give up! A constant lesson I seem to learn is that baby steps equal great distance in the end.
(Future Learn is a great platform that has interesting free courses on many subjects including eco fashion and environmental and workers rights issues)
NUMBER FOUR
Find a slow fashion, sustainable, or zero waste company to follow.
Their content and mission will keep you inspired and you’ll get to cheer them on as they make steps toward a better fashion world. Choose one on your preferred social media platform, or enter their brick and mortor if they have one and become part of the movement by listening, exchanging ideas, and encouraging your fellow slow fashioners. On Instagram might I suggest: villa immergrün, adhesifclothing, swedishstockings, fashion revolution, chicksforclimate, and remakeourworld.
With these four practical steps I feel like we can make the best of our year 2021. Our focus on them can be rotatable, meaning we don’t necessarily have to think of all four at once. For a few days we can take a look inside our wardrobe and see what’s there. Maybe a few weeks after that we can read a book or blog on slow and sustainable fashion. Possibly three or four months later we can avoid impulse buying as sales arise. You catch the Tokyo drift. These recommendations are meant to encourage, motivate, and support our wee steps forward into slow fashion. In January and February I did a weekly series on them titled the ‘’Slow Fashion Mindset into 2021’’ on Instagram, but they are really meant to be rotated the entire year over. Evolve them, if you like! Expand on them or modify them to suit your own needs and wishes. You are the master of your own journey. WOW that felt cheesy to write. I regret it but I’m not going to delete it. Because it’s true. So we’ll just let it be cheesy and true, right guys?!
Small steps, a bit of education and community feel, a healthy dose of non-judgement on ourselves (we are doing a good job) and accepting responsibility for our own journey can take us far this year. I feel ready. Won’t you join me?
