Since I moved to Berlin 3 years ago, I’ve weaned off any shopaholic habits as the city generally has a very casual and dress-down culture. I really enjoyed not spending on unnecessary shopping and having a basic wardrobe. I pledged to this campaign to consciously keep track of whether this is really the case but also to motivate myself to do more than the basic of not buying. I’m currently using this to document my journey on instagram so I could, hopefully, make my friends aware as well.
I have always been interested in anything sustainability related - fashion included. I even took an online course about it and am shocked by the impact that the fashion industry has on the environment. Having always been into fast fashion - for the low cost and fashionable designs - I always found it strange that a piece of clothing could sometimes cost less than a meal. I now know that that price is made possible because of many environmental and human rights trade-offs that are not factored in.
How to slowfashion
have already been quite comfortable with shopping less. However, as I explore the upcycling space, I am keen to work more with used fabric and keep them in circular use instead of throwing them away. Because a big part of fashion’s toxicity to the environment is also the waste that it generates. So, I am trying to slow fashion’s contribution to landfills by experimenting with the excess textiles in my home and turn them into other useful items.
My motivation for something new is to wear something new when I go out - not exactly to just own a new piece of clothing in my wardrobe. Because I have a collection of clothes accumulated over the years, I actually find that something I haven’t worn for a long time feels new to me and I would wear some of my older clothes because they feel new to me.
I also have a habit of sandbagging newly purchase clothes - I would sometimes buy new clothes because they are of great material and on sale. But I would keep them in the wardrobe and wear them at a later time when I desire new outfits. It is a strange habit but a trick to convince yourself that you always have new clothes in the wardrobe without buying them.
Apart from that, I have increasingly committed to having more basic items as they are timeless pieces and people can hardly tell. I guess, one could still be stylish without being fashionable?
Your expectation on the slowfashion campaign
I expect to fulfil the basics of not buying new clothes. However, I have also leverage slow fashion season to challenge myself to minimise new purchases as much as possible and to epicycle as much as possible. This is a big challenge because I will be moving apartments over the next weeks and committing to setting up my new place with as few new purchases but as many second hand items or upcycled items as possible.
My greatest challenge would be keeping up with my social media documentation for the work I do and to make this journey interesting and fun for my friends on instagram so they are motivated to also try some things out!
