Wishes

Shopping — and not shopping — has become more polemical. I’ve always treated my wardrobe as a means of self expression. I’ve gone through eras where part of the message was how I shopped. Say, building a wardrobe from clearance sale racks (although the harsh realities of fast fashion dampened the joy of finding a pair of five dollar pants), to all second hand (which still buys into capitalist notions of consumption), to making my own clothes from thrifted materials (which forced me to look at why I need so much clothing in the first place). And to manage this wardrobe, I’ve also gone through Marie Kondo purges and more recently, ethical downsizing (great for feeding one’s need to feel guilty about everything).

Lately, to disassociate from the current global nightmare, I’ve been playing dress up on Pinterest thanks to their collage tool. It’s half wishlist (I want those wide legged animal print trousers but I already have loads of patterned palazzos), and half showcase of ways to stylr things I already have (the quilted pants, the Birkenstocks and the COS wrap dress).

I’ve already experimented with wearing a puff sleeved t-shirt under a sleeveless column dress (it works!).

And I can probably see up some of these see-through coverups. It seems like a fun way to dress up a more basic ensemble.

Collages are also a tool for visually mixing up different elements. An electronic exquisite corpse. So far it’s fun, but I’m sure I’ll find a way to feel guilty about this pass time as well.