Fashion Done Your Own

from Cardiff Times February 2020

Sustainable Romance

By Molly Dutton

Welcome back lovely people after what seems like the longest month every single year, without fail. This new month of February will be welcomed with wide arms as we finally settle into the brand new decade; and as you should know by now, a decade that is going to bring a wide selection of new trends, upcoming designers and an awful lot of change. Personally, regarding fashion taste, I spent half the decade adorned in tutus and bling and the other half pooling all my efforts towards becoming a sophisticated member of the fashion community, there’s still a long journey ahead and many exciting experiences.

As it is officially the season of love (please try your hardest not to cringe) I wish to explore some of the looks that I am currently trying to put together from my very stuffed wardrobe (I like to consider myself a fashion collector but I think my mum might suggest I’m more of a hoarder). It has come to my attention that life is rather expensive and saving might be in order to fund these magic adventures I dream to go on.

I recently watched a programme that enlightened me on the concept of joy in relation to your clothes and truthfully, it has given me an entirely new view on how I should approach my fashion organisation (in short, how I should approach not being a clothes hoarder). This beautiful lady Marie Kondo

explained how you must ask yourself whether or not a clothing item brings you joy instead of simply how many times you wear it, which incorporates some much needed sentiment into selecting which clothes to re-gift, rather than just a brutal fashion dump.

Following this randomly relevant experience I put this “joy theory” to the test; if it could beat my clothing attachment issues then it truly was a miracle. Picture the scene; I am sat on the floor of my room nearly buried in clothes, holding up a jumpsuit I bought five years ago that is actually the length of my leg and asking it (OUT LOUD) if it brings me joy. Madness truly hits you when you’re under that kind of pressure. I did fight against my feelings and give it away though which was my enormous achievement of the day. The whole process, although it did achieve a less cluttered wardrobe, was rather time consuming and I couldn’t encourage you to do it unless you really are in the best mindset to be completely honest with yourself about your collection. Instead, I’ve found the answer to your new decade fashion cleanse (I’m no Moses but I strongly advise you to try this one); your very own fashion show.

Fashion show. Chaos, clothes everywhere, nice makeup ,flawless hair and probably tears at some point (that could just be me). It’s easy to relate all those problems to the idea of your own fashion show but I’m imagining a much smaller event involving only you and your collection of clothes, more suited for your mum to watch than Anna Wintour. Instead of analysing each item to debate whether you really want it or not, create outfits using the clothes that you have, and if an item isn’t suited to any other item it’s probably seen better days. If you’re really in the mood for an advanced catwalk collection, create different categories like ‘Going Out’, ‘Day trips’, ‘Working looks’ and then you are halfway to creating a look for nearly every occasion. The more you re-use the same item the better ( Mother Nature would be oh so proud of you).

The best thing to do after this immense organising process is to be even more productive and write a list of any items (keep it very short - no more messy wardrobes) that you think you’ll need to complete your wardrobe; this tends to be the basics that are essential to some key looks, maybe a black tee or some blue jeans. I wish I could say that I then tidy my room and light a fresh candle but that would be a lie. Regret usually comes in my mind at some point when I look at my clothes in charity shop bags. BUT you must fight it, not another thought must go towards them (those bright pink disco leggings will be loved my someone else, I swear on it).

On a more serious point, re-gifting your items is so environmentally important especially when the item is in beautiful condition. This could be as simple as passing it on to a friend or charity shop and as artistic as using the old fashion piece to make a newer product that you might go online and buy anyway. With fast fashion on the rise (hold tight for next month), teenagers and many others are buying a large percentage of their clothes on fast fashion websites that are often associated with bad

quality material and, in some more severe situations, polluting clean water due to their use of cheap, toxic textile dyes. Due to this, it is essential that any clothes that are in good condition continue their “life” and get re-used multiple times after they have left one owner. I am never ashamed to admit that I have found some sensational items in my local charity shop which have been affordable and come with the added benefit that you know you are helping reduce the environmental problems caused by other items of the fashion world.

In case you didn’t know I’ve become a bit of an accidental environmentalist which is working quite well alongside the fashion journalist part of myself (it’s like having Karl Lagerfeld and David Attenborough as your conscience, brilliant if you ask me).

Make your own fashion shows this month and I dare you to create five different outfits from scratch. Maybe even use that old jumper you thought was never to see the light of day again. It really is the decade of fresh new looks.