Hi Uniques,
Slow Fashion is on everyone’s lips – everyone talks about it, every magazine reports about it, and ultimately so many do not know what it means.
When I heard the term for the first time, I could hardly imagine what it means and had to google it. You went the same way? Then you are exactly right today.
Shopping, money and the girls
Imagine yourself. Think back to your last shopping date with your best friend. Can you remember how you laughed? Oh, it was so funny to chat, to try all the stuff and to enjoy the shopping trip together. In the meantime a cafe here and a delicious meal there, because at some point the bags become of course heavy.
Exploitation, starvation wages and seamstresses
Imagine a woman – no not a model, no celebrity and also no blogger! No, imagine a woman sitting bent in front of a sewing machine in a huge hall with lots of other women. The light is bright and dazzles you in the eyes. Her hands are reddened, her eyes glazed and her face expressionless and gray. Do you hear the continuous clicking of the sewing machine? More and more. Click, click, click … The woman works monotonously. She automatically pushes the pieces of fabric under the needle, pulls them back, cuts threads, and reaches for the next piece – quickly, efficiently, like a machine. And what is the reward of this woman? For sewing all the clothes, sewing new logos hour by hour and working so efficiently – well she gets 30-40 euros at the end of the month.
Well, do you already know where we are? Of course you know it! Finally, even in school, it is already learned how badly the seamstresses in, for example, Bangladesh are dealt with.
Most of the parts you carry anyway only one season – and then? Away with it! They are no longer trendy.
The Addiction for clothes
Wow, what a fierce contrast! Perhaps now you think that I’m writing this all very dramatically. Drama always pulls!
Of course you are right, but the real drama is not my text here – but that we always try to talk all this down and look the other way. Of course I also like to buy and do this often. I am just a normal girl, but to get rid of a clothing piece after wearing it just once sounds plain nuts to me.
Why do we always buy new clothes? Why do we follow all these constantly changing trends? Why do we need 12 kilograms of new clothing every year? I mean 12 Kg? Who’d have thunk it?
Perhaps it is our strong urge to want to be part of it. Perhaps we want to be part of the group – and this is also perfectly legitimate. Maybe we just want change. What exactly is it, no one can say, what do you mean? Does it perhaps have social background?
Slow Fashion of the furious fashion scene
Fashion seems to always be the exact opposite of Slow. The trends are just passing us by, and before we can adapt our wardrobe, the next trends are already there. And anyway – you can slow down fashion a little.
5 Tips for Slow Fashion
# 1 Check it out
As I already wrote in my post about the wardrobe clear out, often you do not know what exactly is in your own closet. So check out your wardrobe and get to know your clothes. You can of course also muck out right away. Slow Fashion does not mean you’re going to be a Messi and never throw away a piece of clothing again. But more about this in point 2.
# 2 Keep it in
Think carefully which parts you want to keep. Maybe there are pieces of clothing that you do not like so much at the moment, but maybe will be absolutely trendy sometime again. If my mom had kept some of her teen dresses – well then I would probably now be absolutely in the trend: D fashion trends come and go – but somehow they repeat themselves.
# 3 Recycle it new
Sometimes parts are thrown away if they are torn. Many small places can be easily repaired without great sewing skills. Holes directly at the seam can be super easy sewed. So you do not just save money, but also give a second chance to one or another part.
# 4 Make something new
Now you need a little more sewing skills, because dresses that are too small or which you no longer like you can often make cool new things. On Pinterest you will find some cool inspirations. In any case, it is guaranteed that no one is wearing the same outfit as you: P Okay, it’s not a brand, but why not be your own brand?
# 5 Give it away
If you decide to give away some clothes, give them to an old clothes collection or sell them. So others can look forward to use them and your clothes get a second life. Throwing away is really the very last option!
What do you think about Slow Fashion? Is it again just a trend or is there more behind it?
I hope it is not just a trend.
Are you an excessive shopper or rather an occasional buyer?
You have to tell your friend why this time there is no shopping? Then share this article with her.
Pics by Lars Nitschke
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