BEING CONTENT IN THE MIDDLE OF “FAST” & “SLOW”
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The middle is not a sexy place to be, really. That messy phase after you’ve made the decision you’re not shopping fast fashion anymore, and you’re only buying ethical.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I’m smack-dab in the middle of this phase—and that I’m also a huge advocate of wearing what you have for as many years as you can.
I’ve come from a maximalist fashion state, where I kept buying and buying because I didn’t know what my style was—and I didn’t know how to build a versatile wardrobe.
When most people make the decision to become a “slow fashion ethical minimalist,” the instant instinct is to purge everything unethical from your closet. To get rid of it all so you can cleanse your conscience. It was my first instinct, too. The thing we have to remember, and I’ve said this again and again—is that being kinder to the environment and to garment makers is not something that happens in one step.
We’re not going to solve the world’s problems by throwing out a bunch of perfectly good clothes. So I made the decision to keep everything I had, and slowly, slowly assess if I no longer needed it, if it didn’t fit my style, or if it was so worn out it needed to be transformed.
Enter the INSTAGRAM SELF-DOUBT. We constantly get the impression that every ethical blogger has 100% new and sustainable clothing. I’m here to tell you that it’s not the case! And that’s not a bad thing!
First, no one can afford to buy an entire ethical closet in one fell swoop. We’d all go broke!
Second, we tend to post about ethical garments because we want to make it easier for everyone to find responsibly made alternatives—and we want to support small businesses.
That’ll often give the impression of socially-conscious perfection, but people like Morgan from @thegarmentlife is super real about times when she isn’t the perfect vision of responsibility. It’s so refreshing to see the support and honesty coming out through instagram.
The first thing to do once you make the decision to shop ethical is get to know the clothes you already have, as well as you can.
Since we know we can’t afford a ton of new clothes, the best possible way to slowly get used to a capsule is loving what you have!
As you do this, you’ll start to get more and more creative, you’ll learn what you reach for most, and you’ll really discover the holes in your wardrobe after 4 months.
So you want to shop ethical? Totally, I hear you, I’m with you! But first and foremost, we love what we own. That’s my philosophy, and that’s why you’ll often see me still wearing oldies but goodies from wardrobes past.
Start to follow ethical brands that you vibe with – because that’ll help when you eventually need to stock up.
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL FIND ON MY CHANNEL:
1. Sharing & wearing my favourite ethical pieces (and talking about why I love them)
2. Ethical or vintage pieces will always be tagged!
3. Non-ethical (old items from my wardrobe) won’t be tagged, buuuutttt…. 4. If you love a piece from my old fast-fashion days, pop a comment and ask where you can find an ethical alternative! I LOVE hunting down where you can find something just as beautiful that’s responsibly made. I’ll send you my recommendations!
5. I try to re-wear my old pieces as much as possible—check them out and join in at the hashtag #WearReWear
Thanks for following, reading and for all your amazing interest in this awkward and empowering journey we’re all on <3
XO
PETRAALEXANDRA