If you haven’t been paying attention, you could easily forget how 2020 has been blah for everyone. There were plans to wear the most spectacular outfits, attend concerts, events, vacations and fashion shows – we all had big plans for our outfits. However, this has been a lesson in ourselves in 2020 and we’ve closed the door on it now. We learned to appreciate the small things, and many of us learned to develop our likes and hobbies in that time. When it comes to fashion, this time off and pandemic has meant that we have evaluated our own styles. Many of us have taken our existing tastes in fashion and actually embraced them, rather than stay buttoned up by the suit-and-tie approach in the workplace. Working from home has meant we have shed ourselves of the office couture and instead, we’re being ourselves. It’s been refreshing, really!
While we’re talking fashion, brands and clothing companies have worked on their own habits and approach to fast fashion and eco-friendly fashion and many have reevaluated the way that they do things. Before COVID came along, companies were working on their ability to create new clothes while mostly ignoring the planet. We’re not any better, though, as we stocked up on the things that we didn’t need for the sake of consumption. The good news is that we’ve had time to reflect in 2020, and we’ve finally bid goodbye to the year that changed history. It’s time to celebrate getting to 2021, and that means putting together some fashion resolutions and being better with your fashion in the new year. If you spent time wearing cheaper options from fast fashion stores, then you may choose to spend more carefully this year and choose higher quality clothes that don’t shed and don’t come from stores with unethical practices.
People make resolutions because they want to make changes. Does that mean that the chance to resolve means nothing? No! It’s a New Year, and the whole point of human growth is rooted in changes. You change your thinking and the way that you do things and sometimes, that requires a U-turn on what you previously lived by. Change is good and you are allowed to grow and do things differently. 2020 you don’t have to be 2021 you. So, even if you loved those mass-produced and cheaper fashions, it doesn’t mean that you can’t change and the right resolutions can often keep you on the right track. Resolutions give you a goal to stick to and they can make you feel like you have achieved something. Choosing resolutions doesn’t have to be tough, either. You can pick those that make sense without any added pressure. All you have to do is be aware of what you want to achieve, then go out and get it. The time that you invest in yourself can potentially change your life – and everyone wants to achieve that, right?
Even if you aren’t someone who believes in making resolutions, you can still sit and think about your intentions for the year. Fashion resolutions are those that you should put some effort into. Just because you’re stuck in lockdowns and repetitive quarantine, doesn’t mean that you can’t make better fashion decisions. We still have the ability to shop for Off-White for men online, and we still have time to develop our own sense of style that may differ from what’s “socially acceptable”. The other important thing is that we can now resolve to be more ethical in our clothing choices, and we can take advice from other fashion enthusiasts who shop the same way. Below we’ve put together a few fashion resolutions that just make sense going forward.
Choose Better Brands
Oh, we all love those big names out there, but sometimes it makes more sense to get some research done into your favorites and see whether their ethics align with yours. Some companies produce beautiful, silky smooth clothing that gives you a tailored fit without seeing a tailor, but their practices aren’t quite as ethical as you’d like. Fast fashion brands sometimes have less than sustainable fashion practices, too, and while it’s nice to enjoy cheaper, faster fashion, it’s not until you do your due diligence that you realize just how much you’re contributing to the pollution out there. This is time to start thinking of how your actions can affect the world around you and it starts with where you can make positive changes. A good place to begin is where you invest your cash, and investing your money in good, ethical and sustainable fashion companies is going to be life-changing. Look at the materials used, where they are sourced and how they’re disposed of to better understand that fashion forward future you could have.
Support Local Crafters
Fashion isn’t just something that you find in high street stores or online. Sure, the pandemic pushed us all to buy online but that doesn’t mean that you have to go for the big mass-market companies. Fashion is about art and when you choose to look locally, you’re feeding more money into the local community as well as supporting a small business. We’re also not suggesting that a local company is a good one if they’re not sustainable but it is the little companies that have suffered the most right now. The boutique stores and artisan crafters and the geniuses who are sewing from their garage? They all need your support. Lending your support to the smaller businesses is going to ensure that you keep their place in the fashion industry as you rediscover the fashions that you love.
Wear It Again
You’re in a pandemic, which means that now is the perfect time to stop wasting your clothing! If the non-essential stores are shut, or you’ve lost your job, you need to keep wearing the clothes you’ve got. The whole “only wear it once” thing is a thing for those with way more money than sense. If you have an outfit you want to wear in the wardrobe, why only wear it once? Get your money’s worth and wear your wardrobe. Look at what you have and patch what you can. If there are clothes that are too small for you, then it’s okay to get rid of them but recycle them where you can. It’s not normal to keep one outfit that you wore once and then never wear it again – keep wearing your clothes. You’ve paid for them and you’ll be doing better for the environment simply by wearing the things that you’ve spent money on. If there are items you can’t or don’t wear, sell them on eBay or Facebook marketplace and you can then use your profits to buy new items for the wardrobe. It’s all about recycling and redoing where you can! One last point on this: if you’re spending more money on the beautiful, high-quality brands, then you need to show it off like the fashion model you want to be!
Go Outside Your Zone
Suits. Shirts and trousers. Blazers and waistcoats. All of these are pretty standard items for a man’s wardrobe when working in an office environment, but now you’ve been spending more time at home and your comfort zone has changed. Most people aren’t getting all dressed up to just be in the virtual office, so you don’t have to, either. What about outside work? What are you wearing? If there is one thing that we have all collectively learned this year, it’s that life is too short to be afraid of fashion. We deserve to take a minute and get creative, and we deserve to do it in a way that makes us as happy as possible. Experiment with colors and styles. Swap your baggy jeans for something skinnier and pair it with boots and a tucked in shirt – the possibilities are endless. Move away from navy blue and green and think about getting some splashes of brighter colors in your outfits. Think yellow scarves and bright colored socks, and swap jeans for other materials. Check out the current men’s fashion trends and start embracing them. You don’t need to go nuts with it, but you can swap and change as many things as you like. As long as you are breaking out of your fashion rut and exploring what else the fashion world has to offer you, you’re going to have a chance of success outside of your comfort zone.
Don’t Buy: Think
Do you really need that thing you’re looking for? If you want to make one good fashion resolution, it’s to stop impulse buying fashion pieces you know you won’t wear. Clothing that has been painstakingly designed and created for you deserves to see the light of day, and you can’t keep buying and burying it in the wardrobe. Before you buy it, put it down for seven days. If after seven days you still want that thing, then go ahead!
Thanks for reading and y’all stay dandy.
-Diego
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