Three months without buying fast fashion, just swapping, buying preloved, vintage, repair, upcycling. That is what Slow Fashion Season challenges you to do. This year they added a new idea, you can also buy new items, as long as they are sustainable. An, the founder of FOR KEEPS, joined the challenge 2 times before. What are her insight, and did she make it?
“Last summer I joined Slow Fashion Season for the second time. The first time I didn’t have any major challenges, but this time was different. My bestie Femke was going to get married in the USA mid august, Nashville, where temperatures could get really high. I had thought it all through 😉 had planned to get a preloved dress and shoes months before. So I found an amazing silk kimono dress at No vintage phobia, (image above) Fell in love with the fabric and the pattern. The sleeves and skirt were a bit too long.
But luckily there are amazing people like Annelies, she is a designer at Per Abuijs and she can adjust your clothes to your needs, and make them even better <3. After that I even found shoes on Marktplaats. I was enjoying myself, hunting for treasures. For the rest of the visit, I thought I would just pack all of my skirts, dresses, and shorts and would be ready to fly. But I kinda forgot one small thing: we also had our own summer holiday planned, the two weeks before the wedding. Without time to do laundry. Oops. And on our holiday, it was also very hot. So I came back with just one day to find some fresh dresses and shorts.
I texted one of my friends who was not on holiday, luckily I could borrow some dresses from her. And I tried finding second-hand shorts lastminute – that didn’t go so well. Finally found a pair of shorts in a size xxl, way too big, but a good color, so I took it home. Had to take it in by hand a few inches at both sides. What a hassle. But I made it. I went all preloved packed to the states. And the wedding? See for yourself, the dress fitted like a dream, and I loved wearing an item with a story!
Now you might ask, did I make the challenge? No. In the US I bought some vintage, but I also went shopping some new items with my bestie. Loved it so much, after a whole year, finally being able to be hanging out and shopping with her. But it means I didn’t make the challenge. At the start of this year I wanted to try again, but bigger, a whole year without new clothes. Second-hand but nothing new. And for the first 5 months I was doing great. But Covid made me rethink the plan. Seeing brands struggling I decided I wanted to support a small brand. So a few weeks ago I made a conscious exception for a set of Henk, made from leftover fabric.
End of story TBH: I suck at finishing challenges. But do I mind? No. Because what I end up with is exactly the goal for me: first repair, rewear, swap, repeat what you wear and consciously buy new sustainable made things. So I will participate in Slow Fashion Season (all year 🤗)”
thanks for reading xAn