HELP…I HAVE A SHOPPING ADDICTION

Hello everyone,

This is a long overdue post as I have not done a “Help..I have a shopping addiction” post for quite some time. I think the reason being is that I have genuinely not been doing as much shopping over the past few months. Learning more about sustainability and fashions effect on the environment has really gotten me thinking more about what I am purchasing. Yes, it is nice to get the brown puffer vest, but if you have a black puffer coat maybe take a step back and question if you really need it. Do you have something like it in your wardrobe? If not the exact same, do you have something that can be worn in place of it that would work just as fine. I feel like we as humans always cross the line between “I need it” and “I want it ” simply because of what society and social media tell us. Before, fashion took 100 years to rotate. 100 years!! Now it takes 100 minutes, if that, for a new item to come out. Fashion is constantly changing, how do people keep up and why should we feed into it. When we buy that brown puffer vest and wear it a couple times before throwing it away, the simple ‘add to cart’ button is having the worst effects on the world. Over the past while I have really been struggling with what being an “influencer is to me. I can keep telling you to buy this, get that, but why? When the next day I could tell you that those items aren’t “in” anymore and we move on.

Fashion’s cycle is simply too fast to keep up. Over the past few years I have really tried to narrow down what I want in my wardrobe, shop second hand, invest in higher quality pieces and reselling. Despite all these efforts I lost my way a little, getting sucked into the world of Zara, H&M and so on. Don’t get me wrong sometimes you find some great pieces but let me ask you this, do any of those items feel as special as the ones you spotted at a second hand shop or are vintage? I know the answer for me is no. Let’s take this example. Two months ago I purchased a Green Nylon Bag on Mango. Two weeks ago I purchased a vintage Coach shoulder bag on Depop. I can tell you that I have never even taken the tag off the Mango bag but have worn my Coach bag everyday since I received it. Why is this? Well with the Coach bag I spent hours looking for on second hand sites, because it is vintage it feels one of a kind, it i so high quality and something that I saved my money for so why would I even want to reach for my Mango one. It was frankly a waste of money. The same goes for most items in my wardrobe.

Now I know I am not perfect, I do go to Zara for my basic tees or Abercrombie for my hoodies but that has become very few and far between. I will add it to my cart because its cute and then I get a little sick to my stomach when I think about how unsustainable it is. Do I really need another graphic hoodie? Me in the past would of said “Well yes of course, this one is different” but is it really when it is going to end up in the same pile with my other one. If I need a graphic hoodie I have one and if I didn’t have a graphic hoodie, I have a hoodie. I hope this all makes sense. All in all in rounding up what I bought over the past few months, they are purchases that were carefully thought out. This mindset takes time but is so worth it in the end. Your wardrobe will be streamlined, you will be saving your money for things you truly want while saving the environment in the process. Now that’s what I call a win, win situation.