Fashion, Weight Loss and The Planet

I have been on quite a journey, and in fact I am still on it.  

When I changed my diet in the fall of 2017, I had hopes that I could make some significant changes to my life, but honestly I didn't expect much. Maybe I could lose a little and get my back to hurt less and maybe I could climb stairs without having to haul myself up by pulling on the handrail. What I've gotten so far has been so much more than that. Pain in my body is gone as the inflammation has fallen. My physician is usually pretty thrilled to see me, and frankly surprised I've kept off a more than 100lb weight loss. While I'd like to lose another 40 pounds, she seems perfectly astonished with where I'm at. People ask me, "Ummm how much more do you want to lose?" I never thought I hear that question in my lifetime!

Now I've got a problem that lots of folks would like to have - my closets are nearly empty after three donation cycles of too-big garments. The last pile of boxes topped 4 1/2 feet tall! I had no idea I even owned that many clothes, but when one keeps multiple sizes in the closet "just in case" then clothing overwhelm happens. Now the closets are almost bare. 

But, I am facing a dilemma. Contrary to how I've presented myself for most of my life, I like clothes, and I enjoy fashion (though I've never much cared to be a follower). I was feigning disinterest when I'd go shopping with friends and I'd ignore most of what I saw because, frankly, the only thing that would fit me from most stores was socks! My foot is wide, so even those were off limits most of the time, and handbags don't really do it for me. So, I seemed to not care at all.  But I did.

Recently I purchased a few things that I love and they fit, today. They probably won't fit in three months. Since I work at a college and not a nudist colony, I need garments and I want them to look nice.  BUT... I'm very aware of the devastation of fast fashion. It is bad on so many levels - for a crash course check out this article on the Economist  

https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/01/numbers-economic-social-and-environmental-impacts-fast-fashion or watch the film, The True Cost https://truecostmovie.com/   You may be shocked.

Reduce, reuse, recycle - I've heard it a million times. I believe in it, but have I practiced it? Yes, to an extent. I recycle religiously, and I've donated my clothes to women's shelters and thrift stores. Recently I've begun to use ThredUp to sell my new and nearly new garments to people who will wear them, rather than have them end up in a landfill (and yes that happens even when you donate - see Economist article above). It doesn't feel like enough, so...

To put my my money where my mouth and heart are, this is my pledge - except for undergarments: 

I will buy NO Newly Manufactured Garments for the next year

So how will I clothe myself?  

• I will have my current garments altered whenever possible;
• I will buy from thrift stores;
• I will purchase from re-sellers;
• I will participate in clothing swaps/exchange events;
• I will make do with what I have.

In fairness, when I was at my heaviest I could not find clothes in thrift stores very often - it was one of the reasons I donated so many of my too-large garments because I couldn't be the only one looking without results. I also donated lots to women's shelters because - again - they didn't get donations in my size very often.  But now that I CAN do this, I WILL do this.  I'm still not tiny so it's a hunt, but possible. And, frankly seeing that mountain of garments that I got rid of kind of sickened me because I know some of it will end up in a landfill, maybe even a lot of it. I know that I don't have the time or the skill to use the fabric to quilt or re-make into something else like my ancestors, no doubt, did. So I feel called to do what seems like the next best thing which is to re-use what already exists so I step a little more gently on the planet.

Stay tuned to see how I fare. I'll share what works, what doesn't, where I win and where it feels like a disaster.

PS if you want to join me, here's $10 to try ThredUp  http://www.thredup.com/r/HA5EAC