Being intentional with your clothes
I don’t want it to come off as what I say here to be my own ideas or a new way of thinking. I do want to write about it though. I think it is important to talk about in repetition in hopes that the idea gets out there to as many people and is reinforced in the people have already heard it.
I think in today’s world we see many people purchasing for the “clout”. For a post on social media etc. Fast fashion we all know is rampant. Clothes are treated as disposable and I think people look to what they paid for a garment to determine it’s worth. This idea in particular is one I would like to combat. I don’t think the sticker price the garment comes with is a good place to look when decided a garment’s value. I think the fact that we can afford anything is basically a luxury of modern life that we all take for granted. If we look at history I think this seems to be a pretty clear assumption, but I could be wrong. Anyways, I want everyone to think about the process that it takes to create a garment.
Let’s use Jeans as an example here. Jeans typically made of cotton. It takes about 1.5 lbs of cotton to make a pair of jeans and about 1800 gallons of water to grow that cotton. Cotton is harvested and separated. It needs to be carded, spun dyed and woven into fabric. Think of all the places cotton has to travel for each of these process’ and this is all before it is made into a pair of jeans. Not to mention the thread and rivets and other parts that go into the making of the jeans. All the people involved with this process alone and then all the people that sew and put together the garment. How is it that we can equate the crop that the earth gives us, the time from peoples lives to create the things we wear and then decide to toss because we feel it no longer suits our style, or because it was cheap we can discard it and call it a day…
I suppose to some degree this is a rant. And I apologize for the rant. I would like to conclude by saying that.. it does not matter if your garment was $10 or $1000 if you are intentional about your use of it, care for it, and see it as something the earth and people of the earth gave you then I think that is a step in the right direction. Find homes for your unwanted garments, find ways to DIY your clothes to fit your current lifestyle, or find a tailor who can help you achieve the look you want. Try to value your clothes beyond the price tag, because at the end of the day the price tag is the most arbitrary part of the whole thing.
