I love fashion since I was a little girl; and it was clear to my mother that I had a innate ability to know what looked good and what didn't. Clothes I wore, my friends would always ask me if they could borrow afterwards. As I entered into my teens, they would ask me to go shopping with them as they valued my opinion and more often than not, I would buy their outfits and style them. As part of my education, my mum always insisted that we learn basic sewing skills, as she always would say "everyone should know how to sew a button or take up a hem". And my love for fashion grew and grew and never diminished. But she also taught us to appreciate process from fabric, design, cut, construction to the skirt, blouse, dress etc you see hanging in a shop.
William Morris once quoted the following: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful". This quote has been updated for the 21st century by Marie Kondo with her philosophy of "only have things that spark joy, you can also define things that spark joy as things that make you happy". And while, thanks to HBO, most of us have decided to declutter our homes, we still have to declutter our spending habits.
You see, I am not a fan of fast fashion or low cost fashion because it is everything but low cost. Yes, you can buy a pair of jeans for €25, but have you ever wonder who is getting short changed along the way? it is definitely not the shop, or the distributing agent or even the manufacturer or the designer.... but the worker that spend 12 hrs, 6 days a week in front of a machine making clothes with hardly any breaks for a wage as low as €1 a week.....but as long as it is them and not affecting us, we give it no thought at all, right? Low cost by its very name, means that clothes are priced cheaply, and lets be honest, it has made us put lets value on them and instead of appreciate that we can buy fashion a much more affordable prices. We see them as cheap commodities that we can disposed off at will without giving a second thought; after all, it only cost a couple of euro so it is worth nothing to us anymore, instead of thinking we can have beautiful affordable clothes and have money left for other expenses.
I do understand that not all of us can afford to buy "expensive" clothes. We all have bills, rent/mortgages, food, loans etc to pay as well as trying to save for a holidays, a new house to get into the property ladder or get a bigger house as our families grow, a new car etc. But, we used to buy clothes for an especial occasion that would also be able to wear again and again in other situations.
And then Fashion Police program on E channel became popular and brands realised the power of celebrity; so they would send clothes to their managers and publicist in the hope they would wear them and boosts the brand sales. And we loved the awards shows and the Film Premiers where the red carpet became a catwalk. We talked, discussed and choose our favorites and not so favorite looks and decided along the way to emulate these women we so admired. So wearing clothes once became a practice that we adopted slowly. And since we do not have a celebrity salary, the low cost revolution started to develop. And now, with social media and the blogger/influencer phenomenon, where the "girl next door" give us "unbiased" advice on what is worth to buy and what is not, has made this problem even worse. They are selling us a lifestyle where the daily grinding is not part of it and we are lapping it up and buying into it. Brands send clothes and products to these influencers as well as giving them a remuneration for their time and advice on their blogs, they get free clothes on a daily basis, they post, model and tell us how "it is on repeat" and "they cannot live without it"and most definitely is their "favorite piece that never take off" making acceptable the wear just once for the gram.
And now every time we go on holidays, we buy a new holiday wardrobe. Every Christmas and New Year, we buy a new outfit, every wedding we are invited, every special occasion or just because it is Saturday night and we are going out with the girls, photos will be taken that will end up on Instagram or Facebook and we cannot be seen in the same outfit twice....it is madness! for our pockets and the environment. We put no value on the clothes we buy as they are as cheap, sometimes, as a bag of chips! Trust me when I tell you, no one really cares that you are wearing the same dress for two different events or on repeat, in all honesty, no one is keeping score. And if they are, you don't need that kind of negativity in your life and in your pockets , so let them go.
But you see, while this was happening, I still preferred to buy clothes that were better made, using better fabrics, nicer design, beautifully cut and in classic designs, so I can wear again and again. My motto has always been Buy Better. Buy Less and Wear It!
Some of my friends never understood why I would spend more money when I could buy a dress/trousers/blouse etc cheaper and would say often that I was wasting my money as it was too expensive or that I was just too 'posh' and a little eccentric! But while in their minds, spending €150 in a pair of jeans is just madness, to me has always made economic sense. My €150 jeans, has last me on average 5 to 6 years (sometimes even longer), while my friends €25 pair, would fall apart after 9 months, so a new pair needs to be bought; multiply by 6 years and you see how your cheap pair has become a really expensive pair? Also if you take into account the cost per wear, I can guarantee you that my "expensive" pair becomes very inexpensive.
But it is not just an economic reason. To paraphrase William Morris, I like to buy clothes that are either beautiful or useful; if it can be the two even better. When I wear a dress like the Marianne dress from LuxeProvence featured on this blog, it sparks joy! I feel beautiful, it makes me feel especial and it is a garment that I hope to have in my wardrobe for years. That is the basis I buy most of my clothes. I don't buy for an occasion but something catches my eye and I buy it. Trust me, I always find a reason to wear it. And nothing bring me more joy that "shopping" my own wardrobe. Think about it: I love the clothes hanging there as I bough them consciously, they fit perfectly to my body and it is very unlikely that someone will show up wearing the same outfit (although once at a wedding it did! not that it bothered me), but also it defines my style that is individual to me, and don't end up looking like a clone of whatever is the latest trend, my individuality is guaranteed.
And if you ask me, I don't believe in the "If you haven't wore in a year, get rid of it" advice.....because I have been proven again and again that it is just the worse piece of advice ever! Buy classic pieces that you love. Make sure that you bring to a tailor so it fits like a glove to your body. Look after the piece by hanging it every time you wear it and clean it with care and that piece will last a lifetime. So I haven't wore a dress in 5 years...... but when I wear it next, it feels new every time. As I say before, it is almost guaranteed that no one will be showing up in the same outfit as me. Trust me when I tell you fashion is cyclical; fashions come an go, it has a cycle, they go out of fashion but 100% guaranteed it will come back into fashion sooner or later. So by getting rid of something that you are going to buy 5 years later, makes no sense! Wear the original not a badly cheaply made copy..... but if you really want to buy something inexpensive, please consider the charity shops. They are a treasure trove of the most amazing fashion and you never know what you might find..... and if you only wear once, you can donate back to the charity shop and do your philanthropic duty at the same time. If you ever need help to do second hand/charity shops shopping, I am available to help you buy a piece that you will love and appreciate for years to come.
Lastly, I do believe in investing into people's dreams and goals, supporting entrepreneurs and local economy. We all want to earn a good salary so we need to support each other enterprises and that means paying a price that is fair.
The Marian dress featured on this blog is by Luxeprovence; was designed by the super talented Jamie Beck of Ann Street Studio and it is available for purchase on their website. I love their philosophy of offering local products to an international market.
The dress has been designed and made in Provence by local seamstresses, in local french linen and I am in love with it. I have wore to a black tie event as well as a garden party or just because it is so so pretty that I just makes me feel special, sexy and beautiful. It also could be worn as a wedding dress.
Please note that this post has not been sponsored in any way. This dress was bought last summer but you can bet it is coming out this year again, including a wedding I am invited to in Ibiza (where guess are requested to wear white as it is the tradition....)
Photographs by Remi All_about_portraits