Getting Back to Slow Fashion after Forgetting Why it Mattered

After hitting ‘complete order’ on my last Fashion Nova purchase, I was initially excited because I was missing cargo pants from my wardrobe. It seemed as if Fashion Nova had some of the best-looking cargo pants styles, and of course, they’re affordable. Fast forward a week and a half later, and I’m wearing my favorite pair out of the three. So cute, fits perfectly, and just my style. As I wind down for the day, I change out of my new pants to get in the shower, and the button to fasten the pants pops off. I think back to the conversation I had with my mother a few days prior about how she no longer purchases jeans or pants from fast fashion brands for this very reason. She was right. Moms usually are.

I’m not usually someone who even purchases from fast fashion brands that often, but jeans have been such a headache in the past that buying cheap, low-quality made sense. Don’t worry, I’m not throwing the jeans out because that’s wasteful. (I’ll be adding a new button.) But you better believe I’m no longer buying pants or jeans from any fast fashion brands again. I say this to say I’m going back on my slow(ish) fashion journey. During the majority of the pandemic, I gave up some of the slow fashion talk and purchases to take photos for Instagram (among other things), and that got me nowhere in terms of being a fashion influencer. I also should have spent my money more wisely because most of those clothes from that time…are no longer with me.

I look back to when I shopped more mindfully and remember how good my clothing looked and how well they’d fit. Not only that, they lasted such a long time. I still have pieces from my first challenge/journey that I still wear to this very day. We’re talking 7 years or so.

Fast fashion can be so enticing and even addictive because of how accessible it is for just about everyone. Ethical and sustainable fashion unfortunately doesn’t cater to everyone’s wallet or even size. Hopefully one day that will change. I’m not here to judge anyone else for their purchases, I personally just want to do better because, why not? I have the means to do so!

Of course, I have to go over some rules of this slow fashion journey. You can see that archived post here if you want to know what my previous rules were.

1. I will only be purchasing slow fashion AND clothes that are of good quality. These can be sustainable, ethical, and/or just very high quality.
2. Fast fashion can ONLY be purchased for special events (theme parties, costumes, etc.)
3. If I decide to make my clothing, fabric can be purchased from anywhere.
4. If fast fashion is purchased, then the item(s) must be good quality AND made of mostly natural fibers.

The rules are definitely more detailed this time. Luckily, I can actually afford to do this the right way this time around and won’t really need to purchase much fast fashion. If you’d like to join along, feel free to do so and leave a comment!

Thanks for reading,

Chelsi