Like most people with a keen interest in fashion and trying to keep up with the latest styles, I had my closet full of clothes that I simply did not have the time to wear. The culture around fashion influences us to always seek for more to keep ourselves relevant, but the truth is that less is more, even in the world of fashion.
Making the transition from endlessly shopping online in all of my free time to being more resourceful with the pieces I already own was definitely not easy. But here are three points that might help you make a smoother transition.
1) Fashion isn’t about what you own. It’s more about creatively styling an outfit from what you already have.
Retail therapy is not the best way to alleviate our stress. I’ve also learned that owning a lot of clothes does not necessarily mean that you are fashionable.
Fashion stems from the creativity and culture of the designers that’s manifested through products that we put over our backs.
2) Invest in quality clothes from brands that put effort into their designs and production.
There’s two-fold in this point.
a) These clothes will uphold their quality longer.
Quality of the product goes hand in hand with product design. Brands that give ample attention to stitching and material used will put out products that will last more than a couple of wears before it starts to fade in any way.
I recently got this shirt from Khoman Room, and I can already tell that this shirt will have much more durability because the brand invested a lot into the production and design. Texture of the shirt is sturdy, and as long as I don’t run this through a dryer, it won’t shrink after my first few washes.
b) You can always resell these and get most of your money back, which you could use to replace them with the new items you’ve had your eye on. I’ve bought and resold a lot of my clothes that retained more that 50% of their value even after having worn them for over a year. Now, that’s being efficient.
3) Limiting what you have will always push you to be more creative.
This is true for scenarios beyond fashion. Instead of trying to copy the styles we see on Instagram, putting together outfits stemmed from our creativity and reflection of our own realities is a lot more fulfilling.
Creativity is our chance to feel alive. While this sounds cliche, it has some truth to it. After all, it allows us to escape from the mundane parts of our lives.
Upon making this transition, I can assure you that your perspective on fashion, creativity, and anything related to materialism will start to shift to one that’s more efficient and helpful for our well-being in the long run.