A favorite slow fashion uniform (when I could still fit into this Clyde skirt)
Loved this post by Leah this past week because I totally get it. I even felt like slow fashion changed my style (though I think for the better since I feel more “me” than I’ve ever had before). But before blogging led me down this path i never would have looked at linen nor anything oversized (just slim fitting jeans, a blazer, and a tee for the old me). Yet now I have so many pieces that I love and could never part with (hello Elizabeth Suzann linen clydes and Only Child raw silk Alta top). But I get it, we’re in a niche community that makes very similar clothing (especially if you look solely at slow fashion). For me, the high-waisted wide leg look (ala Kamm pants and then later Everlane’s version) was my way of getting sucked into the community standards and trying to make it work even though it didn’t feel like me. Oh and I can also add clogs to that list. Part of it is of course having to try it out and seeing how you feel before you can decide whether or not you’re comfortable with the look. But if you are consistently feeling like it isn’t you, then there’s no point trying to fit the square peg in the round hole. Trying new things is part of the fun and leads to the evolution of your style. If you can do it ethically, sustainably or mindfully that’s what matters (but that’s an ideal that even I, or maybe especially I as a blogger, struggle with). Heck if you can buy a good quality piece that feels 100% you from uniqlo or j.crew and wear it 30+ times that’s better than trying to buy slow fashion items that you never wear.
Anyway changing topics, I’m currently watching The Miniaturist on PBS. If you love period dramas, this one is gooorgeous. Plus it’s set in Amsterdam during it’s golden age and I’m all about Amsterdam since my trip this past January. It comes out on Sundays but you have to wait until Mondays if you want to watch it online.
And lastly, I’ve been trying to read some old Kinfolk magazines that I purchased on a whim that have been sitting around the house ever since (Vol. 8 from 2013). And I read this one passage which I thought was perfect for the changing of the seasons:
We are creatures capable of awe and reverence. And we can position ours selves and our hearts to feel heavy and wonderful things. But to choose to see the beauty in the passing is no easy task. We must first cast off our illusions of control, and then we must take a step back and prepare ourselves for the full spectrum of pathos—love, beauty, loss… “Mono no aware” [Japanese, translation: the pathos of things] tells us to love now. Act now. Be here now. Invite our friends over, and stay up late. Because this time, this opportunity, this season will soon pass. Bask here while it is still possible… Our days ebb and flows. Our lives are a collection of seasons where tides approach and recede, and trees flower and wither. The green fullness of summer is made more precious by the skeleton branches of winter. So don’t fight time and don’t fight the season. Don’t keep things from ending, but celebrate them for the life they have now.