Ingrid's Top Ten

Clarity of mind sometimes comes at 5:30 in the morning when I’m still half asleep! This is when some of my great thoughts go on to be forgotten because I don’t get up and write them down…this happened to me today and the only thing left from a brilliant thought was the word: clarity.

So I’m going with it and I’m applying it to the content of this blog because I feel it really relates to it. Ever since I started on this journey towards sustainability, I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to get out of it. What is my goal? I have also been trying to figure out a way to challenge myself into doing it. My first inspiration came from Sheena Matheiken who wore the same LBD (Little Black Dress) for one year in order to raise awareness about over consumption and in the process raise money towards a charity close to her heart. I love that! But somehow doing that again, didn’t seem quite right for me, at least not yet, I might do it later. Right now, my main focus is to explore as many possibilities of thinking slow when it comes to fashion as I can. And so finally I stopped trying to reinvent the wheel and did what comes naturally to me: I came up with a list. 

I love lists, ask my kids; they now make lists of their own. I have a packing list, menu plans lists, I make shopping lists, ‘to do’ lists and so on. So it made perfect sense when my sustainability list came to be.

This list is a compilation of other lists I’ve seen online, and my own.  Many of the articles I read, rang true to me but not everything on their list seemed appropriate, so I took the best of what I have seen and mixed it up with what I have learned so far, a little bit of my own intuition and voila:

INGRID'S TOP TEN WAYS TO BECOMING FASHIONABLY SUSTAINABLE: 

(I get a chuckle out of David Letterman’s top ten lists, so I have to have my own)

1.       Start with quality

           Get reacquainted with good finishes and quality fabrics… ask grandma

2.       Buy Used
           Consignment, thrift or swap

3.       Buy less

                  Quality vs. quantity.  Minimize to maximize: What do you love, what works and what doesn’t?

     4.     Buy Up cycled or recycled

            Re-vamped items or items made with used or vintage pieces

5.       Buy Vintage
           1920’s to 1990’s

6.       Alter Clothing

          Make things fit properly. Salvage broken goods.

 7.        Think Green

          Pick kinder, gentler options? Hug a tree?

   

8.          Get Educated

           Learn about corporations practices, hold them accountable. Find out who is making a difference and who's not.

      

9.        Shop Local

          Support local designers

10.      Make it yourself

          Just start small...

Not necessarily in that order, I will tackle each of these challenges in more detail one at a time and find out everything I can about it each month. And so it is that with the clarity of the challenges comes the clarity of the vision: at the end of the 10 months I hope to have become a better consumer and designer. I hope to be better informed and educated and in turn share that with those who are seeking that information too.

I want to invite you to join me in this challenge if you’d like and choose one of the above options. Send me your experiences and tips and if you’d like I’ll share them in this blog.