Slow Fashion October is Here!

​Slow Fashion October is here! (Don’t know what Slow Fashion October is? Start here.)
 
With the rise of fast fashion, where we as a culture are pushed to treat clothing as disposable, it’s helpful to take a step back and think about what impact our clothing choices have – on society, on our happiness, on the environment, on our checkbooks.
 
Everyone wears clothing. And as clothing has gotten cheaper and cheaper, consumers have bought more and more of it. Since we don’t see and interact with the factory workers who make it, we don’t think much about how our clothes came to be. They’re just clothes.
 
But are they just clothes? We spend our entire lives surrounded by clothing. We have a relationship with our clothes. A favorite top, a favorite pair of pants, Dad’s old flannel shirt that feels like a hug. Our clothes say a lot about us, how we feel about ourselves, how we want others to see us.
 
I’m ready to take back my clothing choices. Living in the United States, making a living wage, I’m privileged enough to make real choices about my clothing – where it comes from, who makes it, how much they’re paid, whether it’s organic, and more.
 
I’ve never really stuffed my closet with clothes I’ll never wear. But now I want to make more measured choices to build a lasting wardrobe in a meaningful way. I hate letting go of favorites when they wear out, so why not buy (and make) pieces that will last years – and that have a positive impact on society?
 
For me, this mostly means making garments. And since I’m a knitter, it means knitting things.
 
When I first started knitting, I made mostly scarves. Eventually, I started knitting lace shawls, but scarves were my comfort zone for many years. You could chart my knitting history through the scarves and shawls I knit through the years - garter, stockinette, ribbed, bias, stripes, and more.
 
Now that I’ve moved on to socks and sweaters, knitting fills much more of my wardrobe than it once did.
 
Scarves and shawls are still an easy favorite – as summer turns to fall (and my chilly office turns to freezing), it’s so pleasing to grab a shawl on my way out the door. My shawls do double duty – they keep me warm and they’re accessories to spice up my wardrobe.

I love the idea of a capsule wardrobe, though I’m not so great at the execution. Scarves, though, are perfect additions to a small, thoughtful wardrobe. They’re quick to make, don’t take much yarn, and take up just a small amount of space in your closet.
 
The scarves and shawls already in my collection are going to play a big part in my Slow Fashion October.
 
Going through my shawls this morning, I found some old favorites that will go back in the rotation. While my main goal this Slow Fashion October is to make a truly Slow Fashion sweater (from yarn that I spin from local wool), most of what I actually wear will be shawls. 

What's your plan for Slow Fashion October?


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