I love you fashion, that's why I let you go
This is a new year’s resolution and I’m writing about it to make it through
If you make it to Voo store within the first four weeks after giving birth, you’re either missing a luxury item in your nursery or fashion is your safe space. One brisk November afternoon I found myself lurking in front of the doors of my go-to Berlin shop, the inside both heavily perfumed and heavenly stacked. What finally drove me and the pram inside was more likely the need to breastfeed our baby, than trying on beautiful new things. But being close to this immaculately curated parallel world, tucked away in a changing room feeding, felt like a piece of my old me. Old me that would browse through the racks of goods for fun, and sit down for a coffee to sink into the blissful chatter of fellow shoppers. Old me that I wished to transfer into my new role. And this is where we get to the tricky premise of my 2024 venture: I really do love fashion.
Fast forwarding to the end of the year, the presence of devoted grandparents allows me to keep up with my reading over the holidays and I stumble across an article I had screenshotted mid December: British Vogue’s sustainability editor Emily Chan resuming her challenge of only buying 5 items of clothing in 2023. Flicking through her learnings, I memorize my numerous first and second-hand finds of the same year in an attempt to dress my ever-changing self. Eyeing the relatives doting on our son and sipping English tea (with oatmilk, pardon me), one section strikes a nerve:
“Why five?”, Chan writes,“Well, according to a report by the Hot or Cool Institute published in 2022, everyone in the world needs to reduce their annual fashion consumption to that figure for the industry to stay within its carbon budget – ie reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by the amount needed in order to keep global warming to 1.5C – if nothing else changes.”
If this piques your interest, and you’re keen to dive deeper still, a number of other mindful voices also offer something beyond green editorials. Keynotes at Slow Factory, the pages of
, and the work of Lisa Jasper with Folkdays Berlin are all worth your attention, both for their educational paths, and for their aesthetics. The awareness of a consumerist doomsday is very accessible, but the call to action is often less attractive. So changing the course of a global climate crisis with a small personal gesture seems appealing. The irony that this is sold to me by a magazine usually offering new looks (and arranged in giant columns in our living room), is striking, but somehow this hits differently – if a Vogue editor can do it, so should I.The rules
If now you’re thinking, five items, that’s a lot, then we might not speak the same language. My ability to hunt down any cute streetstyle to its details and equivalents on Vinted or Vestaire has reached a frightening dimension, so has my bookmark of responsible brands.
While we can agree that buying second-hand or from sustainable labels is betterish, this challenge is about all kind of purchases and to distinguish their true longterm value from their sudden appeal. Consider the days of 3 euro fleamarket cashmere sweaters gone. Here’s some definition:
#1 Only five fashion items can be bought in 2024, also meaning second-hand clothing, even if they can have a lower footprint than new pieces. This doesn’t include undergarments or socks, but does apply to glasses and jewelry. Gifts also count.
#2 Clothes renting (think wedding guest outfit), borrowing or swapping are possible.
Simple, isn’t it? Well, how am I going to do this. The first intuition is to delete all apps, go into hybernation, avoid well-dressed people. Which shouldn’t be too hard when on Elternzeit. But the real challenge is actually the opposite: Face the new brilliant collections, meet all the inspiration and stylish individuals, keep the alluring shopping short-cuts. I want to support brands I believe in. Because there has to be a way of combining the joy of fashion, the little escapes and the conscious decisions.
And this is where the newsletter comes into place: Things I didn’t buy this week is a space to hold my cravings and consider how I came across, excelling the joy by showing it to you. Each week or so I will share the things I consider wishlist-worthy, but somehow didn’t buy. And the F-I-V-E things that eventually I will end up getting. Or even less? Okay, let’s not get too excited.
Things I didn’t buy in the past
Let’s warm up with something I didn’t buy from approx. week #48 last year to the current week #3: I was unaware I needed a beige brown fake fur jacket until I saw this styling, first in an instagram story. Think slick hair, dangling earrings, said jacket by Acne, a long red (!) shirt peeking through below, oversized white jeans and spiky boots – this is gold to me. The next days were spent contemplating if this would be my take on winter this season. At least I could layer it?? Unsure how this would add to my overall fuzziness and the reality of my tired new-mom complexion, I finally decided to back off, feeling okay.
On the contrary, this one still hurts: Ever since I bought some very good draped chiffon skirt-pants with botanical print (similar here or here) in 2022, I am hooked on Ioannes. This bag is no exception and confirms my unprompted love for tie dye objects. While it went through a rough markdown at a well known marketplace and sold out, it’s still available (and stunning) here. Still, I didn’t buy it, but keep it in sight with loving gaze. Instead, I opted for this one, back in July:
The Wandler bag (same tone, different style here, same bag, different colour here) made my summer, serious enough to fit a blazer with the right amount of quirk to not be boring. Also, I guess I reached the age where I appreciate crossbody again. A good investment.
Speaking of white trousers above - I’m reminded I also didn’t buy the Lilo cargo pants by Avenir, paired here in a full look at their SS24 show at BFW.
What I love about these trousers is not only the relaxed fit and detachable pocket-belt (all the dressing up and down options!!), but also the fact that they consist of 100% deadstock fabric, made to order in the brand’s Berlin studio. Looking at them again – why exactly are they not, well, mine?
I love you fashion, that's why I let you go
Now that you have an idea what’s ahead of us, let’s refocus: See things, talk about it, do not buy, that’s my mission. What will I do once the Spring Summer Collection of my clients launch? Nobody knows. What part of my life will receive compensational damage instead? It’s in the stars. Before I forget, dear friends who read this, please don’t gift me anything unannounced, it might create chaos (read rule #2). Let’s make this year count, less.
For now, I’ll take a deep breath and report back to you next week. Oh yeah and btw, maybe I already found two of five things I do want to buy. It’s January 15. It’s going to be a very long year.
Good luck with the challenge! I’ve also stated this as well and plan to document it. It’s going to be a tough year resisting temptation, good luck!!
Interesting take on discussing fashion without actually buying anything!