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I've been browsing the trends for Fall 2007, and right now, this outfit, from J. Crew, is my favorite "new" look.
I love this look not only because it is simple and ladylike but because it does not require any shopping. It's a timeless look, composed of pieces that are both entirely classic and completely of the moment. I'm willing to bet that most of us could pull together something similar from pieces we already own.
Looking stylish isn't always about buying what's new or hot. Instead, it's about finding a look that works for you and building a wardrobe of pieces that fit your body and your life. Fashion is one small step beyond style; fashion is the ability to take that basic wardrobe and bring it up to the moment. Moving from stylish to fashionable should not require purchasing an entirely new wardrobe for every season or every trend; instead, it is the ability to tweak what you have and make it relevant for this particular moment.
When you've built a basic wardrobe, you won't need to shop for every occasion or event. Instead, you can make the green choice and go to your closet instead of the mall. It's a slippery slope, though, this need to have what is new and hip. This week The Sarcastic Journalist pondered the American imperative to buy stuff just because we can:
Even now, as someone who has tried to pay attention to her own consumerism, it is easy to fall into “the trap.” Work has been going good for me recently and I thought about “treating” myself for an upcoming wedding with a dress I had eyed months ago online. I figured the dress would be on sale by now, and it was. Except, I kept looking. Next thing I know, I was well above the price range I originally thought about. I was letting my situation get to my head and I was (mentally) adjusting my lifestyle accordingly.
I didn’t get the dress. I signed off the website and decided to wear one the two I already have. Even though I could see why people would find it silly, it is actually the more “green” thing to do. Being green doesn’t always involve buying organic cotton t-shirts or a fairly traded bamboo cutting board made in a yurt, but can be not buying that shirt or that board.
Sometimes, the greenest thing you can do is to not increase your lifestyle to go with money, but to step back and make do with what you have. So, tonight, I will celebrate what appears to be a turn in the road for this family, but I won’t do it at J. Crew. Instead, I’ll go out to eat and celebrate with the contraband wheat.
White bread for everyone!
I like this approach; I think most style blunders come from a sense that we need something new because we're going somewhere special or because we've earned it or because it's Tuesday. That consumerist urge leads to closets full of unworn clothes, which is just wasteful, both from an economic and an ecological standpoint. But Shirley Siluk Gregory wonders if opting out of the consumer market is the best strategy for going green:
Even as many retailers are adopting the marketing slogan, "Buy Green," a backlash movement is emerging calling on people to "buy nothing" or, at least, "buy as little as possible and, preferably, buy nothing new."
Now, I can pretty well predict how free-marketers would respond to this ("Aaaagh! There goes the economy!"). But how effective is the buy-nothing strategy environmentally?
A search for eco-friendly fashion leads you to site after site selling organic cotton clothing. But organic cotton takes just as much energy to wash and dry as conventional cotton. So where is the environmental gain? Instead of buying new organic pieces, consider shopping vintage--or better yet, reconsidering what you already have.
But how do you know if you have the right things in the first place? Think about what you need your wardrobe to do for you. What is the dress code where you work? Do you go out often? Are you someone who needs play clothes? Buy only what you really need, and choose pieces that will work together. This month's Real Simple magazine offers a checklist of essentials for
