I love that feeling of new clothes and the novelty of wearing something different. BUT – and it’s a big but – I hate shopping!
- I’m no good at spotting clothes that work well for me
- I get overwhelmed with the number of options
- I default to black because ‘it’s easy and it’ll do’
I hate the idea that a person somewhere had to work too hard for too little, just for me. Not to mention all the plastic bags!
So I’m a right old misery when it comes to clothes shops.
Enter Sophia
I knew that my next challenge in green living was to clean up my wardrobe. I just couldn’t bear to take it on.
Then I was nominated for the BBC Three Counties Radio ‘Making a Difference’ Green Award. I wanted some new and more colourful clothes, but it would have to be a sustainable outfit for a Green Award!
Instagram rewarded me with links to sustainable stylists and Sophia from Fine Tuned Wardrobe responded to me directly. And she is exactly what I needed.
Awards outfit
After an hour long zoom call, she began the search for that stunning outfit that would carry me through. I dutifully flicked through the options she sent me, picking out those I thought I could manage. The bright colours were fabulous – just as I’d requested – so I selected a couple I thought would work.
But they were all the same old style.
It took me a while to tumble to it – I was opting for the familiar and bypassing the unusual. There was one in bright orange and pink, short with faffy bits at the front. No way would I ever wear that, I thought, and scrolled on by.
Then I gave myself a talking to: I have asked for help in having clothes that are different and better suited to life as the Queen of Insulation. But here I was rejecting anything unusual – what was the matter with me!
I went back to the faffy jacket to take another look. It could work, it really could. I just needed to take the leap.
Awards night
I didn’t win the award, but I did get noticed and made some good contacts. So in the end, being faffy worked perfectly.
Wardrobe day
But this was just the beginning. The next step was for Sophia to visit and sort out my wardrobe.
Not sure I was fully prepared – really should have spent more time reading all the preparation materials! I’d cleared out old stuff I thought I’d never wear again and put them on the spare bed just in case……. So I assumed the throwing out was over.
Three bin bags full of clothes later, I realised just how much I had and how little I wore. I even had two cashmere jumpers that were exactly the same. How embarrassing is that!
Then came the build
So many options just using the clothes I already had. Outfits I never would have thought of. And some of my own throw-outs brought back to complete a look.
And most important – at the end of a very busy day, the bedroom back to the way it began with wardrobes cleaned out and re-ordered. It looked like something out of a film set – colour batched, all folded or rolled in boxes, easy to find and easy to put together.
Daily outfit
Since then I have worn something different each day and, of course, put it up on Instagram! I’m amazed just how many of my clothes have sat mouldering in the wardrobe for years while I’ve worn the same things over and over again.
Now I’m wearing really interesting combinations, jewellery not worn since before covid and handbags that match up. And not a new item in sight.
YET
The same issue remains – I need some colour in my life! I can manage any dress code you throw at me, as long as it needs black or navy.
But Queen of Insulation, Instagran and retirement requires some bright colours and a bit of fun.
So now it’s buy time
Now we know where the gaps are Sophia can begin the search on Vinted. I’ll be around to approve and pay the bills, not to mention being grateful that I’m not the one doing the looking. I’ll get my head around it in time, but right now I’m happy to let Sophia do the heavy lifting.
No fast fashion – all sustainable
And no new materials made, no one damaged or neglected in order to get me my outfit and the Atacama Desert is saved from yet more fabric to add to the pile. It’s got to be good!