So this is it, I am putting money where my mouth is or perhaps I should say I am saving money really though. This is the time of the year where I would go through all my clothes and make space for my winter items - then I usually have some sort of shopping fever and start making a list of everything I need and want to buy, then I go and buy my winter wardrobe.
This has always been the case year after year, although over the past few years I definitely made some progress and bought less and invested more in quality. You see I graduated in fashion design and for me to wear the same clothes twice was truly unthinkable (makes me laugh now!). But when veganism knocked at my door everything changed. I start thinking about where my clothes came from, and how they impacted animals. And how about the people who made them? Were they paid a fair wage and able to work in a comfortable environment? What about the energy, the water needed to provide my clothes?
Wow my head was spinning, too much to think about, too much to research and too much to change. Did I want to make that change? Wasn't it enough just to be vegan and not eating animals? So I started researching online and reading articles about sustainable fashion, alternative materials and fabrics, fair working conditions and the more I read, the more I discovered it became not ok to buy for me to buy for the sake of owning an item, but I needed to first check the labels, google the brand and its ethics. Before I knew it I didn't even want to buy certain things.
Don't get me wrong I love shopping and being able to buy what I fancy but I also like the idea that I don't need to own everything I see and that there is so much more than just wearing a dress, and what I spend can make a difference - it can improve the life of a worker, can save energy and have an impact on the environment, so there’s a lot of power behind a small choice! So I have decided not to buy anything for the whole winter and looking forward to seeing if I can make it last a whole year.
Not only will I save money that I can spend on other things, I hopefully can do my little bit to help the environment and take time to find new sustainable brands for when I eventually do need to buy clothes again. I have some much in my wardrobe and I don't need another pair of jeans for a good while though, so let's go and let's see where this journey will take me. At no point I am I here to preach or to tell you what to wear, I don't ever want to be that person but I want to share with you where I am at and how I got here. It would be great to hear your feedback and advice if you have been here before or are approaching it in different ways.
You can read more about my fashion choices here.
Valentina x