This month I added two items to my wardrobe. One of them is the pair of Tread by Everlane trainers, which I recently reviewed. Receiving them — they were a gift from Everlane — made me take a closer look at all the sneakers I owned.
While testing out the trainers for review, I also tried on my other sneakers for comparison. That’s when I realized I never wore one pair due to its color and that another pair was too small for me. I put them both up on Poshmark. So, I added a pair of shoes, but subtracted two. That puts my current sneaker count at two pairs, not including workout shoes.
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Tread by Everlane Trainer – $98 [review]
I’ve been steadily decreasing the number of shoes I own. A few years ago, my shoe collection numbered around 50. Today, it’s closer to 30. Some of that is because my style keeps evolving. These days, I gravitate towards a more minimalist look. In the past, I would have worn more heels, vintage looks, and the occasional whimsical piece.
My feet are more finicky than they used to be too, so I’m less likely to compromise on comfort. (My right foot has been bothering me lately, so I should probably get that looked at.)
The other item I bought was fast fashion. I know. I, a self-proclaimed ethical style blogger, bought an item of fast fashion. It happened at a place that I have a particular weakness for: Target. Like many people, I love Target. (I have to say: I loved it even before it was cool and offered so many stylish things because it was the one place my family visited regularly. So, I have fond childhood memories of roaming Target.)
I’ve been pretty good about not even walking into the fashion stores I used to frequent. But you know how it goes at Target. You’re there to get something boring like toothpaste and you pass by the housewares or clothes and start to browse. And then you leave with a new dress or throw pillow but forgot the thing you came in for.
This time around, I spied a T-shirt dress from their women’s minimalist clothing line, Prologue. Checking the tag, I was surprised to see that it was actually made out of cotton. (I reviewed the line when it first came out in the fall and it did not impress me. Polyester galore!)
I tried on the dress and immediately loved it. While a lot of minimalist style T-shirt dresses end up being too boxy on me, this one felt comfy and roomy while not being too shapeless. The fabric is a nice medium thickness too.
Target Prologue T-shirt Dress – $22.99 (on sale now)
By the way, the Target I stopped by had recently remodeled. It definitely felt like a step up and more department store-like with more clearly demarcated areas. The fitting rooms were in the center of the clothing floor with round mirrors on the gray doors. Inside was a gray and white patterned wall, reminiscent of wallpaper, and mirrors lit by a strip of light down each side. There were even plush chairs in a waiting area.
Anyhow, I’m not perfect. I still shop fast fashion now and then. That may make me a hypocrite, but on my budget I can’t buy everything from a slow fashion company. Sure, I can thrift, but it takes a lot of time to find something that suits me and fits. I think being mindful, making an effort, and trying your best counts for a lot. Making sure that you’re going to use something counts for a lot.
My most well-loved sweatshirt is a Proenza Schouler x Target x Neiman Marcus one from 2012. I’ve worn it so much that it has developed holes. I should probably retire it. I think that was a better buy than the $200 ethically-made pants from a small boutique that I never wore. They never fit quite right, even after alterations. After trying unsuccessfully to rehome them with friends, I ended up donating them (where I hope someone thrifted them).
The most important change I’ve made, really, is in consuming less in the first place. I shop way less than I used to. And when I want to buy something, I’m much better about asking myself questions like: Will I wear this a lot? Does it seem well made? Is it made from a natural fiber?
In her own reflections on recent shopping, Xin wrote about “that faint but sometimes recurrent desire to shop for the sake of novelty or entertainment.” That resonated with me. I grew up with shopping as a form of entertainment (hello Target trips).
I don’t know if this is necessarily true, but it almost feels cultural to me. If you consider the culture of my family, that’s certainly true for me. And when visiting cities in Asia where I have relatives, I’ve noticed that shopping very much seems like a form of entertainment there. Stores stay open much later than they do in the States. It’s not uncommon to take a stroll through a store or mall after dinner. (And yet, the apartments there are tiny compared to American homes. Where do they put all the things they buy?!)
I think I’ve come a long way in pushing against the tendency to shop for the sake of fun or novelty. But that feeling is still there. I’m not going to lie: that shopping high felt good. I felt absolutely giddy about my new dress when I bought it.
The Buzz of Wearing New Things: Target Dress // Everlane Trainers [gifted] [review] // Everlane Bag [review]
Additions: 2 items = 5 items total for the year
Subtractions: 0 this month = 27 items (more or less)
Thank you for the shoutout, and I’ve definitely been thinking about how growing up with shopping as entertainment (which I feel like is pretty common for a lot of people who grow up in the suburbs here in the US, going to Target or the mall was exciting when I was a kid) could affect one’s habits later in life. I’ve also spent a lot of time living in Hong Kong where malls are everywhere, and much of the time when one is going out to eat with friends, it’s most likely to be at a restaurant that’s located in a mall at least 50% of the time. (Though as far as I could tell, people didn’t necessarily shop as much as one would think, despite how many malls there were – it was difficult to see how most of the stores in most malls could possibly be making a profit – and their apartments are absurdly tiny by US standards, even NYC standards!) I feel like when one lives in the US, the default consumer culture that the retailers are certainly eager to sell us is one of… excess… and the idea that when in doubt, might as well buy the item in question.
And I certainly know the feeling of needing to work through my feelings about not being able to thrift everything (I’m not personally able to fully trust even most “ethical” brands, given my profession – a litigator is not well-served by trusting anyone or any company’s representations without personally verifying the underlying “evidence”, which is impossible with clothing manufacturing, plus very few “ethical” brands offer a lot of the types of items I need for work.) I really admire people who are able to rely almost entirely on secondhand clothing (out of the people whose blogs I link, that’s pretty much just Adina/Blue Collar Red Lipstick and Ariana/Paris-to-Go), but just looking at how they approach it, it’s very clear that not everyone could do what they do.
Ah yes, I remember begging my parents to let me hang out with my friends at the mall. Encouraging people to shop seems like the consumer culture in a lot of places. I wonder if people are better at resisting in Hong Kong and other places where the homes are small. American homes are huge by comparison and easier to fill up with stuff. (Also, I love all the restaurants located in the malls in Hong Kong! Very convenient.)
I hear you about being skeptical of ethical brands self-reporting as ethical. A third party certification would be helpful. I use the Good on You app to check on brands, and that’s been .. interesting. For example, they rate Everlane as only a 2 (not good enough) for not disclosing enough information but they rated Uniqlo and H&M a 3 (it’s a start).