Over 18 Months Of Slower Fashion Consumption
The time has flown in since the summer of 2020. The world has been through it. You have been through it. I have been through it, and we're doing our best to press on.
Let me preface this post by saying that I am still doing my own learning and unlearning. And there are MANY incredible environmental activists, advocates and educators that you should be doing your learning from.
But I want you to know, my decisions and realisations don't need to be yours. My choices, my thoughts, my rhetoric, don't have to be yours and you'll find no condemnation if we don't align, but this is what I have come to terms with for me.
Phew, wow, serious. I hardly do serious blog posts, but I guess we're going there, so lets strap ourselves in.
As a Black woman, summer 2020 was tumultuous in so many ways, but it was also a time of learning and for the first time as an adult I found myself face to face with the realities of fast fashion and no longer able to shelve it.
As a fat person, though smaller, I'd often been frustrated by the idea that fat people are meant to be equally responsible for the plight of fast fashion when we barely have enough places to buy from. There is an absolute and undeniable truth in this, because even sustainable fashion is often excluding and inaccessible, but honestly during that summer it finally occurred to me to ask myself...
Why are you focusing on access to fashion instead of asking yourself if you're overconsuming?
My conscious self and unconscious self were suddenly pursing lips and side eye-ing each other.
It was time to sit down and really get real with myself.
What was the answer to the question?
Do/did I, in all honesty, overconsume?
And to a degree, we all do, even the most ethical, eco friendly, sustainable jedi masters, can over consume because we live in a world that has been so structured to centre consumption and capitalism, inevitably we all, at some point, end up tied in with that.
I know that sounds super bleak, but change is still possible.
Coming together as a community to make radical social and environmental change is possible for our and the next generations, but it involves some decentring and it self reflection.
Which brings me back to the self reflection I've been doing and the discoveries that I made as to why I was overconsuming when it came to fashion and the smol, smol, changes I've made to address that.
If you have ever lived through financial, social, housing and food insecurity and have in some ways carved out a little stability for yourself than you will know the fear of losing some of that stability as well as often over compensating for past experiences where you held no control.
Not always have access to the basic and essential needs we have as children, young people and adults can help drive us into cycles in which we consume in a panicked and not always rational way.
I can say hand on heart that there were fashion buys founded in impulse, hoarding, fear, uncertainty and rainy day vibes. But as I unpack the insecurity and instability trauma I experienced, I now recognise that I am safe enough not to turn to my trauma to inform the decisions I make now.
And that includes fashion and buying clothes. So now before I buy ANY new item I ask myself "do you actually need it", and then I ask, where will you source this and does it need to be brand new?
These small questions have led to big changes and yes there is absolutely an element of privilege involved in being able to ask ourselves those questions, but if you can, do.
Fashion and style is absolutely a vehicle for self expression and we should all be able to do this with joy and freedom, but in all honesty I never had a defined sense of what my self expression was.
I had periods of it being linked to body positivity and what I "thought" I should be able to wear. Periods of being confused, minimal, colourful, emo (high teen Michelle) and just...all over the shop.
And now as 30 something year old woman I realise I have absolutely no clue what my style is but I don't need to overconsume to find it.
I don't need to have every new trendy item off of the "in" online retailer. And I cant use the exploration of self expression as a excuse to buy and buy with absolutely no end in sight.
So now when styling or trying to express myself I ask myself, what do I already own that brings me joy, what t-shirt or dress brings back memories that fill me up emotionally, whether its that John Mayer concert T or one of the dresses I wore on my first handful of dates with my Husband. There are things you own that already know and love you - they deserve your attention.
Ya'll the hard truth is that fast (and sometimes slow) fashion is holds intense racism in its roots.
When its people of colour who endanger themselves, who work themselves sick for what you pay for a cup of coffee, are unable to unionise and advocate for themselves, how can we ignore this?
Garment workers are labouring in unfair and unethical work environments for the sake of some new trend? Some new style? And we want to keep turning away from them like they're not real living, breathing, crying, laughing, dreaming humans?
So another thing I do ask myself, if I make this purchase can I track it. Does this brand disclose their supply chain, if thats what they use, or can they name their garment workers. And are they being paid fairly and treated ethically. If I can answer those questions then I save my money until I can find an option where they do.
Yes this isn't always possible, yes this is very nuanced, but all we can do is try our very best to keep thinking, who is on the other end of the decision I'm about to make.
My finances have been affected and it would be to simple to its been for better or worse. It just has.
Sometimes I save, sometimes I don't. Sometimes according to my financial position something is affordable and sometimes its absolutely not.
Affordability is different for all of us and while I don't carry massive privilege in that degree I have to acknowledge I have some. As we all do, in varying degrees.
In terms of my finances I've committed to saving towards something. If I see an item in my wardrobe needs replacing and I have done all means of trying to mend, alter, tailor, then I will save towards find an option that will have some greater longevity OR if I need it with some more immediacy and don't have the time to save, I'll find a second hand option that is reasonably affordable and sturdy.
So here we are, "AT ENNNDDD OFFF THEEEE ROAADDDD" (now she starts making jokes again), and I'm proud of the journey I've been on and while it hasn't been all rainbows and bad jokes, it has been...
