I've been talking about it a lot * week 49
A string of opinionated random thoughts.
You never know until you try
a line from an otherwise cheesy, cheap, bad Christmas movie. And, this year, I did try and committed myself to following The Rule of Five proposed by the Berlin-based Hot or Cool Institute. They thought a lot, did calculations, drew graphs that included the 1.5 C degree threshold, excessive carbon emissions, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and labor abuses, fossil fuel dominance, obsolescence and declared that if we would all collectively commit to only buying five garments in one year (instead of the average of 70 or 80 pieces) the world would be in better shape and the fashion industry would clean up a big deal of its mess.
I started with a monthly diary to document the process for posterity; I can be that preposterous at times.
Because I had done no-buying stints so many times, I thought I was perfectly equipped to stay on course, and my carbon footprint was in good standing, as if it were a FICO score. I only buy second-hand, after all, so I am way ahead of the game.
So. Many. Thoughts.
I am about to complete the 12-month gig and will compile the cheat sheet of the thoughts that led me to love my wardrobe like never before. Oh wow, can we say that I am in love?
I followed one rule to reaffirm that I don’t like buff, perfect, uniformity, anything basic from clothing to food to furniture, streamlined, obviously trendy shit.
I am fine with less, clutter clogs my brain and impedes my Sagittarius imagination to flow freely.
I’ve never seen ordinary effort lead to extraordinary results.
Love
No kale in the juice (Martha is always right)
Fashion Neurosis podcast by Bella Freud
Be a Steve Jobs in a sea of Microsoft-like bad-taste people
Upcycling challenges, like will I ever be able to re-use that beaten Astrakhan coat?
Being able to apply the strategic pause in a conversation.
Hate
Elena Ferrante and can’t say I haven’t given it a try, can’t get past probably page 5. I tried the Netflix thing, good for whomever is Elena Ferrante because he or she made a lot of money. I find all of the stories a forced farse. If you want to read real Italian literature, go for Alessandro Manzoni for example, or Natalia Ginzburg if you want.
The energy of lack
When your thoughts are focused on desire, and the belief that you do not have that desire, the universe manifests exactly that, more desire, and more not having. When we focus on what we don’t have, we create an energy of lack which, paradoxically, moves the very thing we want away from us.
The words consumer and over-consumption when referring to people and fashion. Wrong and wrong. That we are consumers is a capitalist construction created by marketers that need to induce us into buying something so cheap and easily returnable that you don’t think about it twice. That built-in obsolescence is the troubled part: that cheap polyester thing in person is nothing like what it looked like on the website and it’s ill fitting on you, it was so cheap that it’s not worth it returning it, and you dispose of it never worn with tags. Now, that is nothing close to “consumption”, it’s just a bad purchase. It’s like buying persimmons because they looked good on that IG feed, but you don’t even know how to eat them, if they are even ripe enough to be eaten.
How do you say it in Italian?
Non arriva al panettone, literally she/he will not last enough to eat il panettone. Panettone is for Christmas, so, in other words, we refer to that person as the flavor of the month, a non marriage material, a relationship with an expiration date.