22 January, 2021

Spiritual Awakening Notes





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07 January, 2021

Been a While

I've been back in Perth for about a month now (I would count the exact days but I don't want to depress myself), and it's been odd. I mean it's 2021 now and that in itself doesn't really seem real. Where did it all go? Everything is happening so fast. I would expect time to move slower here in Perth at least, but I suppose this is an indication to let go of my notions about this place being stagnant. Perth may be small and boring but that doesn't affect my life anymore, I'm no longer attached to this place and so my body cycle no longer lags with it. Anyways, it's around 9.30am right now and I'm just going on this tangent. I'm suffering from a flu (one that I cannot even go to the GP about as they'll fear I have Covid, which I don't and I have sound reasons to know so), and it's sort of made me wanna get back into writing. It's a weird concept because I go long periods of time where I don't write and I just make myself feel shitty about it. Everyone always says that writing is a skill that needs to be practiced everyday to perfect and then when I end up going months without producing any good work I just feel like maybe I'm not made to do this, but then I'm like maybe I'm not letting myself achieve what I'm capable of because I'm plain lazy.  Anyways, now that I'm sick and feel gross again, I suddenly have the urge to just type away whatever pops into my head. It's the only consistent thing with my writing- to start pouring out everything once I feel disgusting. Maybe it's an attempt to let go of the weight little by little that feels like it's been pushing my head under the mud (does that even make any sense). 

Finished this piece in Cervantes

Now onto another rant for a bit because again, I need to get this weight off me too, and because my fingers seem to just be tying away at this point (making up for all those months I didn't), I've come to the realisation (and I knew this before, but now it's a lot more apparent, perhaps because it's been happening a lot more often) that I have absolutely no idea or no way to predict the new types of emotions and feelings I'm going to encounter as I age. I don't known what about this concept irks me so much- I mean I understand that it makes me feel helpless because of the uncertainty and uncomfortabity but then why do I respond so severely to this than I do to any other aspects of my life that I know will change with time? I know I can delve into my psyche a lot here and conclude that it's what I have the least control over- how changes in my life that are out of my hands will inevitably impact my emotions and how i have absolutely no control over that- but I guess I'll tone it down a tad now. It's just that in the past couple of months I have had to encounter and sit with new emotions that were brought on by situations or circumstances that I never thought I'd have to face. It was even more disarming I guess because I'm such an over-thinker and I make sure I evaluate every single possibility when it comes to anything, and so to have been so thrown off guard recently, so many times, by happenings that I didn't account for, made me feel helpless beyond what I can explain. It doesn't scare me, it just bothers me that I didn't even consider any of those situations a possibility. However, I'd say a thing I truly cherish about myself is my ability to take any of these feelings- no matter how inconvenient- and flip it on it's head and remind myself that I can always take away a great story/ poem/ work of art etc. if I look at it as a lesson and an experience and not just something thats positioned me to lose something or someone or that has 'set me back'. 

As a writer, I take everything that happens to me as an opportunity to be written about, and I'll keep that with me even with the future unpredictable situations and feelings that are to inevitably show up.

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12 November, 2020

Clothing: high fashion, fast fashion and mindful purchasing


Clothes have provided many cultures with “protection, modesty, and ornament” (Ross, 2008) and are still a significant part of our lives. It is important in symbolizing occupations, celebrations, and culture; and there are etiquettes and rules to dressing up. Clothes also represent status, roles, and personality.


Contemporary fashion is built around its consumers, who have been shaped by the drastic evolution of the fashion industry in the past 20 years. The late 1990s demystified and exposed exclusive designs and styles to the average person via the new craze over runways (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010).
‘Luxury fashion’ and ‘high fashion', is less appealing to the wallets of the majority, although, their expensive nature constitutes superior quality and long-lasting materials. However, high fashion is exclusively characterized as ‘superior art’ (Rocamora, 2015) and embodies novelty, constraining its access within the realms of elitism (Rocamora, 2015), rejecting its need by the average person. Although, the rise of social media and celebrity culture continues to fuel the desire of consumers to stay up to date with the latest styles and conform to celebrities (Park & Yang, 2010) meaning that demand has to be fulfilled in other ways. 

Fast fashion is designed to produce cheap clothes in luxury designs, in a fashion market that is unpredictable and highly impulsive—partly because of fast fashion itself (Chipambwa, 2018.). Despite limited time to make clothes and enormous competition, fast-fashion still aims to make a profit. These time and cost demands have resulted in the number of garments produced annually double since 2000, while the average consumer purchases 60 per cent more (Remy, Speelman & Swartz, 2016). Production and consumption have been difficult on the environment, with an estimate of 23 kilograms of greenhouse gases in making 1 kilogram of fabric (Remy, Speelman, & Swartz, 2016) as according to research on major chain stores, the clothing was manufactured to be worn fewer than 10 times (McNeill & Moore, 2015). 
 
Furthermore, the speed at which the industry pumps out these clothes results in greater reliability on artificial fibres. The increased rate in the production of cotton, usually aided by large amounts of water, pesticides, and fertilizers that current technologies are unable to sustainably dispose of. This has resulted in almost three-fifths of all clothing being incinerated or thrown away less than a year after they are made (Remy, Speelman, & Swartz, 2016). That is how we secured the cycle of purchasing imitations of high fashion, for a fraction of the price, made with low-quality, disposable material.



Keep the below things in mind when you purchase clothing that is sustainable, strong, and budget-friendly.  

 
(a)  Where does this item come from? 

Many popular retailers adopt designs seen on the runway within three to five weeks (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010). If you go onto the Shein website, for example, you’ll see a large selection of the trendiest items- replicas of the latest trends, for a fraction of what it cost to make the original item. To make clothing in such a short period of time, and on such a large scale, cannot be done without the exploitation of workers and of the environment. 


A lot of us also engage in, and contribute to this production of fast fashion unknowingly, as the marketing techniques adopted by corporations very effortlessly pull us in. Nasty Gal, for example, always has some sort of sale going on and advertises their cheap rates continuously. 


You really must sit back and think about where the item is coming from if it is that cheap and available that quickly after its popularity.
 
(b) How much wear will I get out of this item?

Although runway photos and celebrity outfits seem like the ‘it’ styles, it is important to visualize yourself in the item. Before purchasing it, ask yourself, how often will I wear this? and where will I wear it? Allow yourself to visualise the use you will get out of it. 


Sustainable and conscious purchasing does not have to mean spending hundreds on high or designer fashion. Remember, there are many alternatives such as thrifting and second-hand shopping for you to explore different styles and trends. 

Not only is it cheaper, better for the environment, but also gives you access to many more unique pieces that you’d otherwise not find in fast fashion shopping. 


Facebook Marketplace, Thread-Up and Depop are some of the many sites to visit!
 
(c) What is the quality of this item?

Natural fibres such as recycled cotton, organic hemp, and organic linen (Rauturier, 2019) will not only age well but also serve as an investment and minimize landfills caused by man-made fibres such as the cheaper polyester.


Cheaply made items will deteriorate after several washes, needing replacing- adding to landfill and increasing your expenditure. 


Not everyone has access to applying such filters when shopping, however. If you have trouble following these suggestions, you can look at practices such as minimalism, second-hand shopping, upcycling and capsule wardrobes as great alternatives in taking the step towards acquiring a valuable, long-lasting, eco, and wallet-friendly wardrobe.


References
Bhardwaj, V., & Fairhurst, A. (2010). Fast fashion: response to changes in the fashion industry. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 20(1), 165-169. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09593960903498300
Chipambwa, W. (2018). Staying Competitive in the Fast-Fashion Era in a Developing Economy. International Journal of Costume and Fashion, 18(2), 3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330286651_Staying_Competitive_in_the_Fast-Fashion_Era_in_a_Developing_Economy
McNeill, L., & Moore, R. (2015). Sustainable fashion consumption and the fast fashion conundrum: fashionable consumers and attitudes to sustainability in clothing choice. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 39(3), 213. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijcs.12169?saml_referrer
Park, S. Y., & Yang, Y. (2010). The Effect of Celebrity Conformity on the Purchase Intention of Celebrity Sponsorship Brand: The Moderating Effects of Symbolic Consumption and Face-Saving. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 1(4), 215. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/20932685.2010.10593073
Rauturier, S. (2019). What are the most sustainable fabrics. Good on You. https://goodonyou.eco/most-sustainable-fabrics/
Remy, N., Speelman, E., & Swartz, S. (2016).  Style that s sustainable: A new fast-fashion formula (pp.2-5). McKinsey & Company. https://docplayer.net/43670262-Style-that-s-sustainable-a-new-fast-fashion-formula.html
Rocamora. A. (2015). High Fashion and Pop Fashion: The Symbolic Production of Fashion in Le Monde and The Guardian. Fashion Theory, 5(2), 129-131. ttps://doi.org/10.2752/136270401779108626 
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