(28) Fashion&Research, part4: your own little Research.

Isn’t it the case that we can all make a change in a our own little ways? Isn’t it the case that we still have the power over our lives and despite many saying “but what can I do” “things work the way they work” or “this is how things work, what do you want?”… “business is business” .. “someone’s got to suffer”, we can in our little own ways make a change, every single day as we rise?

So, fashion, clothes, is a topic that touches us all. Exactly, touching, because if there is nobody to give you a hug, your clothes are there for you every single day. It touches upon most of us, unless you go around naked all the time of course, which is also not an exception, but I guess, clothing and fashion is something that reaches us all to a large extent.

This week, I want to invite you to leave everything we know and learned about how our clothes are made aside (not many wanted to answer to the questions in my poll anyway! :):), so unfortunately, not many things we learned about our each others behaviours) and be a little Researcher for few days! 

Don’t be afraid, it is not going to bite and most importantly… nobody will know about it!;)

Ok, so what do you need? First, free some space on your hard-drive, ah, just kidding, find some space in your head to think about some things while cleaning your place or walking on the street and think… what is your own clothing-buying clothes-being fashionable behaviour?

Research has many methods, but the first step is to find what is it you need to find out. Is it why you buy too many clothes that you don’t wear? or is it why you do not have style you wish to wear in reality? or is it that you care about the environment and you are not satisfied with how things work in our day in fashion industry?

This is WikiHow, your first-aid tool in how to carry out your little research fashion experiment:

 http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Research

It has pictures of very serious and adult people on it, because Research is a serious business, but maybe my relaxed example below will encourage you to go for it!!

 

*Researchista’s little fashionista research experiment*

The goal of my little Research is to find out: where else can I buy clothes that are eco-friendly, friendly to the environment and respecting fair wages and rights of people? So, now that I know what I need to find out, I started exploring what options I see around me…

Ok, I can also stop buying clothes, but you know how difficult that could be in long-term. Is not that I am growing taller or changing sizes so quickly to need new clothes, but you know how much a colourful new blouse can do to someone in a dark grey day. By no means I want to promote shopping therapy, but sometimes it just really works 🙂 and one more thing. I am sorry, Mark Zuckerberg, I will never survive with similar grey or white t-shirts everyday. I am a woman and I need my colours and diversity in choices.

The alternatives found from my little Research: 

1) Vintage /or second-hand/

So, here I was, in Bordeaux talking to my friends about Researchista going fashionista. To be clear from the start: we love fashion. We like fancy clothes from the stores, but we also wonder if wearing second-hand clothes or vintage can be a feasible option?

None of us has ever worn anything from a vintage shop, so one time in Maastricht… we got ourselves these unbelievable cheap and nostalgic for 60’s clothes that we proudly wore on the streets of Bordeaux and Arcachon, France. (Ah, I love European Union, with its cheap flights, you can go anywhere you are lucky to go for a very very small price sometimes!)

We imagined about how women in those times were wearing these clothes, what they were dreaming about and how was it like to live in those times. An (bottom corner, the right lady) was going wild in the shop knowing that her dress is from 1950’s and was having a certain history. AnSo, was loving her synthetic brightly colorful dress (I still think cotton is the way to go), which fits her so well.

We went on exploring what vintage store Bordeaux has to offer to find to our big surprise, that Bordeaux is a lot about little cute vintage salons. You can see how modern vintage clothes can be and how nicely these can be combined with our every day life!

It proved to be not only a buying clothes alternative, but a great and fun experience with a flavour from various pasts. Thank you, Lionettes!

2) Tailors

But what if I need a working suit or a piece of cloth that I can not find in a vintage store? Or what if I do not like second-hand clothes? Then the tailors is second best solution, according to my Research findings. I could not think about Silvia, who is sewing on this amazing Greek island kids clothes, while having 4 children her own 😀 A lot of inspiration, hey! 🙂

https://www.facebook.com/Silvia-Kids-Handmade-546287345394729/

Tailors can be found in any city you live and will be there to serve your taste. The only warning that you might consider is that it can take a lot of time.

3) Local brands

The alternative  I came up with is to buy from local producers. These are a sort of tailors, but at a larger scale. Their shops can be extremely cozy and welcoming. You can find there some original pieces of clothes that are produced maybe only 1 time. I love this brand for example, although it is not local to Maastricht where I live, I hope to find its counterpart in NL one day.

4) Vegan fashion (coming up)…

 

This was my little Research. What do you need to find out? What did you discover? Let me know below, I am really curious.

Most of all, a little Research can help you find your taste in fashion and your best options

Good luck!

And a little French tune from our trip to Bordeaux here for you

 

With love for Research,