A HOLIDAY EDITION WITH A LITTLE FOCUS ON FASHION

Hello Sweeties!  Happy Holidays! 

I just looked into my closet and well...    

Are you one of those people who finds fashion challenging?  Do you perhaps buy only one good dress or suit for the winter season, knowing that you need to splash out a bit during the holidays?  Or are you a fashionista with a great sense of style and an impressive budget to spend on clothes, perhaps with a special closet just for your shoes and purses?  Or maybe you're into sewing your own clothes.  Or you are one of those who are concerned about our ecology and don't like fast fashion?

How aware are you of the fashion world?

I love watching the fashion shows, especially those in Paris, in which top models parade the latest fashions designed the most interesting and esteemed designers, each a personality. Like many of you, I have to watch these on film. These creatives and their crews influence all that there is to wear every season, planning well in advance, so the truly fashionable can anticipate and adjust their wardrobes seasonally. However, much of what I see on the runway would not work for my lifestyle and seems extremely unpractical to me.

Over the last several years there has been a trend to sustainable fashion and against what is called "fast fashion." This is an eco-fashion trend which emphasize buying quality items that last and usually that means that the colors and designs are not influenced by the runway displays or the inexpensive throw-aways that are derivative of them, but clothing that will last, can be worn for years, is well made and comfortable, and will not take a couple hundred years to decompose in our landfills.

There is a store near me that has clothes of this type that I love, though all casual wear, and the salesclerks there have told me that stretchy fabrics are the worst, taking near forever to decompose in land fills. There goes tights and skinny jeans! 

This month I hope you'll be inspired to a bit of an upgrade of your appearance so that when the new year begins there will be, maybe not a whole new you, but a change that readies you for it.

An eco kind of thing you can do is throw a clothing trade party. Each of your friends go through their closet and pull the things that they have not been wearing, clothing that is still in good condition, and bring them over to your place. You serve drinks and some appetizers, and each of you takes a turn and selects one item from the pile until everything brought has a new owner.  After that, the item might need a revision, by its new owner or a seamstress or tailor. Perhaps you have talent that I do not, and everyone can also have fun refiguring the clothes. Sewing machines, needles and thread, patches, whatnot, available, it brings a whole new dimension to the term "Ladies Sewing Circle." (You can turn pants into shorts, dresses into blouses, and sew (!) on.)

Now, be it that you are a socialite who will be out at parties through the holidays or a stay-at-home person who just wants to be alone to read a good book, I have some book recommendations for you that will help you to think fashion!

Missy

TIME TO GO THROUGH YOUR CLOSETS AND PRUNE YOUR WARDROBE! ADVICE FROM MISSY ON HOW TO! HAVE A CLOTHES TRADING PARTY!

The seasons are changing... and while it may be too soon to pitch the coat and scarf during this year's raging winter, it is time to reassess your spring and summer wardrobe.

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First - Has it been in your closet for more than two years without being worn?  Unless it's a winter coat you need to keep in case you have to travel from San Diego to Chicago in the winter,  a black dress you keep for funerals, or a sentimental piece like a fur coat or wedding dress, it probably has to go!

Second - Does it have resell value?  Some women are reselling their gently worn designer fashions at resell shops to get some cash out of the clothes.  What will these shops usually take?  Very new or vintage, lots of classics - they count on people loosing receipts, gaining weight, or being bored with their clothes or very rich.

Third - Will you donate for the hell of it or for a tax deduction?  Frankly, I think giving away without expectations of a tax deduction is the way to go but if you want the deduction, you may think of filling bags or including a fur coat as a way of pumping up the value.

Fourth - Is it classic or clearly out of style? Even your own personal style?  Is it part of a phase you went through?

Fifth - Has anyone ever given you a compliment when you wore it?  Who was that?
Your mom or best friend probably don't count, but what if HE really loves you in that dress, even though it's getting old, then it's a keeper!

Sixth - Will a change in hem, buttons, or some reworking by a tailor keep a treasured item up to date and give you another year in it, or is that all too much expense and bother?  If that skirt is made of a fabric pattern you love, keep it and re-purpose the fabric!

Seventh -  Has anyone said, "If you ever give that away, think of me?"  Maybe it's time to give that dress away to your best friend who loves it, even if it won't fit her? 

Eighth - Is it a uniform you wore?  Is it a bridesmaids dress that never did get turned into something wearable again?  Generations of bridesmaids have been promising themselves they'd turn theirs into a shorter dress but never do.

Ninth -  Is the reason I haven't worn it because I've gained or lost weight?  Honestly you can keep it another year, which is about how long it will take you to gain or loose that weight.

Tenth - Is it repairable? Inspect purses and shoes for wear and tear.  These two items should be kept pristine or pitched.  So resole or have the handles repaired, but if the lining is messy, out it goes - to the trash!

ASK YOUR FRIENDS OVER FOR A TRADING PARTY.  Everyone goes through their closet and brings what they want to give away.  Take turns choosing one item at a time!

C 2014 Missy Rapport/ Mistress Manifesto  All Rights Reserved.  Intellectual Property notice.