VWYW

Today I stepped into a changing room of a retail shop. The full length mirror and hooks on the wall looked oddly strange yet familiar. I could not recall when was the last time I stepped into one. That is how long ago since I last did any shopping. Not because of the pandemic restrictions, not because I switched to online shopping (I find it difficult to buy clothes without trying them first) but for environmental reasons. 

I totally subscribe to the new Rs of sustainability. The most familiar 3Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle - are just not sufficient anymore. The number one R that can truly make a difference is refuse. I refuse to indulge my past careless purchases of clothing which are left forgotten in the wardrobe. I have no qualms about taking over second hand clothes so I do refresh my wardrobe when absolutely necessary, just not with brand new items off the rack. I shop at Fashion Pulpit!

So why am I buying something brand new off the shelves?! An unforeseen circumstance had left me no time to get home to retrieve an essential clothing so this purchase is out of a need to fulfill a work requirement. I was already at a mall then so it definitely made more sense to make a purchase than to make a detour back home for something easily found where I was.

I am quite thrifty (read: stingy although I also have to acknowledge that branded items tend to be of better quality and therefore last longer which will actually be more sustainable) so while browsing the price was a major factor which I kept track of as I went from shop to shop. Nothing seemed to fit in my budget. At the final shop, I had quite a few choices of a range of prices which were still not within my budget but something else caught my eye. 

RECYCLED POLYESTER FROM POST CONSUMER WASTE 

 I went straight for the changing room. I had picked out three different styles each with the abovementioned label. It fits. It fulfilled the need. I paid for the least expensive one I had tried even though it was not the cheapest I saw from all the shops I went to. At that moment, I realised I just voted with my wallet. However pretty soon, I started to doubt if voting with your wallet (VWYW) can really make a difference, especially by a consumer who is not willing to spend much in the first place. Hahaha! There is also the issue of greenwashing to consider...

Well, I do need to spend that money and I would really rather be supporting companies that attempt to help the environment than those that are just out to maximise profits. It just feels like the right thing to do despite the uncertainty of its effectiveness. Or I can even say that it personally feels wrong to buy anything else when I know I have this option now. Anyway, I see it as an advantage in simplifying my decision making process.

This seems to suggest that I might have worried for nothing. Good to know. And oooo.... there are quite a few Certified B Corporations in Singapore I can knock on the doors of!

New Clothes I Bought

My total expenditure on clothing this year comes to a grand total of SGD 77.90. No kidding. Just checked my MoneyLover app. Unless masks fall under the category of clothing then maybe a little closer to a hundred bucks. 

Understanding the reality of fast fashion and waste, I really think twice and even thrice about buying new clothes. Seventy bucks were spent at Fashion Pulpit once in January to look for CNY attires and recently in November to find a dress that fit a wedding theme. The remaining dollars was the balance cost of purchasing some Hello Kitty x Purpur collaboration pieces after using some almost expiring vouchers. 

I never feel a lack of clothes to wear (not that we head out much this year). It also helps that friends know my thoughts on fashion and bless me with lovely hand-me- downs which I would totally consider as "new" clothes but well I didn't buy them. Technically, clothes I found at the Fashion Pulpit aren't exactly bought either as I swapped in pieces that no longer spark joy but I did pay some monies...

Anyway, allow me to present some of the new clothes I "bought" this year:

Found "the" dress with a perfect fit at Fashion Pulpit for a friend's pastel color theme wedding. 

Hard to resist an authentic and affordable collaboration. Was wishing I get to wear this in some cold country....

Hello Kitty is not so obvious but she is there with the flowers! But got a off-shoulder top of the same print instead. 

Both the cat print sleeveless top and silver shorts are from Fashion Pulpit. 

A very good quality (read: heavy) dress found at Fashion Pulpit which I wore on CNY.