This Is Not Another Gift Guide
I promise! Thoughts on clothing consumption, styling as a creative practice, and last minute holiday fit ideas.
Hello friends-it’s been a minute! And by a minute, I mean a completely stripped from the 60 second meaning of the word to describe a significantly longer period of time to suit my purposes because time is a colonial concept, am I righttt? (That’s a mouthful, huh?) Run-on sentence aside, I’m glad you’re still here. And I truly hope this finds you well, rested, and also activated in your communities given the *gestures maniacally and frantically* of 2024.
If you’ve been anywhere near the internet like I have (or maybe a little…too near), there’s a good chance over the last month or so you’ve been inundated with gift guides from wealthy influencers and clobbered by marketing emails enticing you to purchase “must have” styles for the season. It’s all left me feeling…tired. Frustrated by companies incessantly pushing products? Crestfallen about the state and culture of consumption in the global west? According to Fashion United, globally, people buy “over 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year” which is “over 400% more than what we consumed just two decades ago”. These numbers are wild, and this is coming from a maximalist who adores fashion and is by no means immune to the allure of clothes that’d be new to her closet.
Without turning this into a full dissertation of the state on the fashion industry and our relationships with the clothes we own, societally speaking (because that straight up wouldn’t fit into a single, or even 20 Substack essays), this all has me thinking of how to tackle this collectively, as laypeople. Of course, buying fewer pieces means giving less to the capitalist machine, which feels good and certainly doesn’t hurt our wallets, while leaving us more money to handle our bills, *unforgiven* student loans, and for savings, as well as giving to causes we care about, like mutual aids and grassroots organizations. But, I’m also aware that when I’m feeling the big anxiety creep in, the thoughts around maybeeee getting a few things to spice up my closet for some sweet lil escapism start popping up like a wildly accelerated whack-a-mole, and I think I may not be alone in that. So, can an additional, possible antidote to wanting to consume less be creating more? And—hear me out—can styling what we already own be one of those creative practices?
Someone on (the cursed app) IG recently re-shared @teadayblogs’s Artists Flogs that really struck a cord for me: “Create more than you consume"
Watching this sparked a realization-I genuinely feel significantly better when I put my anxiety-ick into creating rather than doomscrolling or purchasing. And as Tea said, it doesn’t only have to be what we typically think of as being creative, like drawing or painting, it can be…Styling. A. Fit!
Which brings us to it technically still being the holiday season, and you maybe needing some inspiration for what to wear from what you own. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who is committed to taking public transportation and therefore, very much dressing for the weather. And okay, maybe at most a shared car on the way back home. But only one way! So…
If you have a fanciful pant:
Alternatives: A patterned, brocade, shiny/silky, or just a wild card of apant you normally feel is too dressy
Why not pair it with: A sultry top, a turtleneck, or a patterned shirt
If you have a blouse with a big ass collar:
Alternatives: A top with a ruffle, large or frilly lapel, or if the collar’s fabric varies from the rest of the garment
Why not pair it with: That fanciful pant, track pants, bloomers, or a miniskirt
If you have a textured top:
Alternatives: A sequined, velvet, feathered, or silk top (truly, any top with a fabric that brings you joy)
Why not pair it with: That fanciful pant, a patterned pant, a plaid skirt, or your favorite roomy trousers
If you have 2 plaid pieces:
Alternatives: two polka dot pieces, two animal print pieces, two stripe pieces-the fun is in the same-but-different clash
Pair. Those. Bad. Boys. Together.
Of course, there will come a time or special occasions, in which we’ll need to purchase new clothing. And when that time comes, there are a number of great smaller designers and businesses who are doing some exciting work that we can support with our dollars. This creative practice is meant to slow us down, flex our imagination muscles, and to find the actual gaps in our closet, rather than running towards the rush of dopamine from impulse purchases.
Signing off for now, but I’ll be working on being more active with writing here (as a creative practice ;) )! Wishing you all an abundant new year and a liberated future for us all. xx