Fashionably Sustainable 2019

It’s mid March, so a quarter in to the year and so far nadda! Nichts! Zilch! Feel so good honestly. I thought I was going to be heart wrenched and down without new clothes to post on instagram, but realistically that thrill is so short lived.

I have filled the void with something else though, books. I bought 6 books at the beginning of the year and then I realized that is also a bit wasteful so I started going to the public library and taking out books. With all the traveling I have been doing it has allowed me to read books faster than I ever have. All I hope is that I come out of 2019 mentally ahead in some way 🙂

In all fairness I do need to mention that I came to my resolution in 2019 because of countless articles I read in 2018 about fast fashion and how blogger & vloggers are contributing to this over consumerism. But I guess my official “AH HA!” moment was when I read Bryan Boy’s tweet on October 30, 2018 that stated “You wanna know what’s sustainable? Wearing your old damn clothes, thats what”. TRUTH BOMB! I just didn’t want to be a part of the blogger nonsense  any longer where you wear something once in a photo and then discard it. I consumed my fair share of clothing and shoes in 2018 so I am good for at least a year without feeling in need of anything. However, it was really after the kids and I spent the last summer in Italy with only a carry-on suitcase for each of us and 10 different outfits that I realized I was really happy with very little. Granted I was in one of the most culturally rich beautiful places in the world, eating fresh nutrient dense foods everyday with my flesh and blood creations so that was really all I needed (minus my dogs and husband who I really missed as time moved on), but I was happy. I didn’t have heaps of laundry to do like I mysteriously do at home every week. It was easy to move from one city to another on planes or trains and in general I just felt so much better with less.

In the very beginning of the year, my friend and very pragmatic stylist;  Leah van Loon,  came to rework my closet to help me plan for the year, putting things away for next fall so I don’t get sick of what I have now and put looks together that I may have not figured out on my own with the pieces on hand.

At the time I had  Sundance Film Festival coming up so she also stuffed my suitcase with necessities for that trip. It made me realize how vast the options are and whatever panic I originally felt quick subsided. I wanted to bring several scarves and toques which Leah assured me we would make work by storing them inside packed boots. Effectively she made use of ALL the space in my carry-on. Needless to say, I had plenty of very warm options for Sundance.

I guess all the fashion weeks seemed to be what focused my attention back on my resolution. But when it really comes down to it, the FW2019 collections are not available for purchase until August so even if I wanted to, I couldn’t get my hand on the things I coveted from the runway until then. I am just staying far as possible away from the website  Moda Operandi  (you start making payments immediately towards those pieces so you can be the first to have them).

There is something so thrilling about having things before everyone else, but it is short lived and silly too. I have really had to monitor my own inner wiring and materialism. The environmental /social impact I have seen in documentaries like  The True Cost  and  River Blue   should have been reason enough to start buying less, but realistically I know Bryan Boy was right in his tweet. The only way fashion can be sustainable in to not buy more so the environmental consequences to do not keep increasing.

As for now, I can tell you I feel very happy with my decision to have made this new years resolution and I am doing my very best to change my ways as a consumer on this planet. BUY LESS

xoxo

Katrina