Exhausted from the “Jones’s”

We‘re done with keeping up with the trends

There was definitely a time when trends meant everything to my wardrobe. If the top ten ‘must-haves’ weren’t in my wardrobe, currently, they would most definitely have been on their way into it. It seemed completely normal, for a time, to continually keep up with the trends. Everyone else was doing it. Keeping up with trending fashion seemed as usual as washing my hands. Until, it wasn’t.

It wasn’t until I stopped trying, that the necessity of ‘keeping up’ was deemed seriously unnecessary. This was partly due to my stage in life at the time, with young children, having nothing extra to think about excluding survival. However, there were moments that allowed for questions and ultimately created an eye-opening awareness to what trending was really about.

Trends, in fashion, although no fault of our own, are intrinsic ways that the industry influences our desires to spend money on new clothing, seasonally. At face value this seems innocent. It is the way shopping has been done, for decades now. However, when we look a bit deeper we find that keeping up with trending is also feeding a beast of unethical practices.

In order to sustain trends the way they presently work, people tend to be overlooked. Trends these days, a.k.a. “Fast fashion”, rely and depend on overworking and underpaying populations within the garment factory. Unfortunately, there is no other way to explain it. More product equates to more workers; to keep prices the same - the margins must be cut somewhere.

Before the waterworks begin, there are solutions to getting around ‘keeping up with the trends’ and contributing to fast fashion. For starters, let’s stop keeping up with the trends. Focus more on the classic styles that last over time. Other ways around this contribution is checking labels, shopping less, think local or consignment. Simply opening the mind to other ways of shopping fashion is a great start.

Trends used to mean everything to my closet, but this new awareness allows me to not only see things differently, but also allows a richness to this new way of shopping. I no longer care about ‘keeping up with the Jones’s”, but instead focus on ways that my shopping can enrich others in the process of my purchase. Don’t get me wrong - I still love some trends and will acquire www.LiveableME.comthem from time to time, but the way in which I do so has forever changed. Now when I shop, I not only love the style, but I also love what I am contributing to.

For more on slow fashion and fair trade, follow my blog & check out the website: www.LiveableME.com

XOXO -

Jenny Wiglesworth

LiveableME

Sustainable + Fair