Slow style
Home » Magazine » Good, issue 3 » The goods » Slow styleIt’s time to get off the fast fashion merry-go-round. Figure out what truly suits you, and buy quality garments that go easier on the environment. Become your own fashion editor, says Gala Darling. Here’s how to take back control of your shopping—and look better, too
Being stylish is not the same as being fashionable. Style is individual and can never be taken away from you. It’s something you develop and make your own.
Fashion is disposable and, by nature, cyclical. Look at jeans: in the past few years we’ve seen them go from flared to low-rise to skinny to high-waisted and wide-legged. For a while there, it was impossible to find any denim that was remotely flattering for anyone with a figure.
This kind of fashion fickleness can be almost impossible to navigate—so don’t.
This doesn’t mean buying three pairs of tracksuit pants and calling it a day. Instead of letting fashion dictate what you wear, take control and define your own style.
Gala Darling
Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine cast their sartorial spell over millions of women with their slew of TV shows and books about what not to wear. Unfortunately, they don’t say much about developing personal style—more “big necklaces for big girls” than “here’s how to work out your aesthetic”.
Part of being stylish is knowing what suits your body, sure, but that’s not all there is. For tips, Good approached two of New Zealand’s most colourful and quirky icons; their advice follows.
Determining your own look requires a little work and a bit of thought, but the benefits of establishing your own style are huge. You will feel better in your clothing, have a wider range of things to choose from in the morning and it will boost your confidence sky-high.
The temptation to dash out in your lunch break and pick up the odd piece here or there can be a hard habit to break, but clothing in most chain stores isn’t made to last. Think about how much you’ve spent on cheap clothing that has pilled and stretched, and all those impulse buys you never wear, and you might feel more inclined to do something else with your time.
The sustainable solution, then, is to buy good-quality pieces that suit you, and look after them. Yes, this might seem more expensive initially, but you will save thousands in the long run—as well as being safe in the knowledge that you’re not contributing to the lunacy.
When you take some time to define your own style and get in control of your shopping, you won’t need to buy as many items because you’ll already know what looks good on you. You’ll look different and far more interesting than everyone else. Best of all, you’ll feel good about yourself, because as well as becoming more confident about your appearance, you’ll also know you’re not throwing money away senselessly, or perpetuating the disposable fashion industry.
Style tips
Writer Gala Darling runs popular online style magazine Icing, aimed at 18- to 30-year-olds. Icing is full of opinion on fashion, style, aesthetics and how to live a better life.
- Make those fashion magazines work for you. Tear out pictures that stimulate your aesthetic sensibilities. Use them as inspiration when you’re getting dressed or planning a shopping trip.
- Go into stores you would never normally enter and start experimenting. You never know what you might find. Spend some time there. Make a point of trying lots of different things, including accessories and shoes. Some of the things you find might become key pieces, or could kick-start you in a new direction.
- Take photos. I take a photo of my outfit most mornings, but if your hectic lifestyle won’t allow for that, spend some time with your wardrobe and a camera at the start of the season. Use the photos to assess what works, and print out pictures of your favourite looks, meaning it’ll be faster to get dressed (and look good) in the morning.
- Tame your wardrobe. Go through everything, donate the stuff that doesn’t suit or fit you, or looks shabby, and compile a list of things that would make the rest of your wardrobe more wearable and versatile.
- Spend some time thinking about your style. It is not something that will come together in a moment. It takes people years to work out their ‘look’, and even then it will constantly evolve and change in subtle ways. Be patient with yourself and try new things.
