Dreamer

Good morning dreamers and happy thursday!

As today’s writing prompt was so intriguing, and so on point to what I saw scrolling down Instagram while savoring coffee, I decided to actually give it a try!

So, in the reel I watched, there was an influencer, Shein-shaming people. She basically compared a purse bought with less than 10 dollars out of Shei, with clearly a designer one. Of course, the designer one had a strong shape, it was sewn very well, and it looked expensive, while the Shein one, she claims that she only wore it once and it looked pretty bad.

This made me think about my order from Shein that is about to come, about the other orders I placed, and what else I have in my closet. Paired with this prompt, well, yeah, the thought kept on coming.

As I stated before, I am not a fashion guru, and I don’t plan on becoming one. I love my clothes like the next girl, and my shoes, and my accessories, but I didn’t grow up in a household that put much accent on appearances, but on brains!

Maybe this is why, maybe it’s simply because I don’t live a catwalk life and I need to wear practical, comfortable, and inspiring to decency clothes most of the time.

As a teacher, you better not wear those super short shorts that make your behind look amazing, outside or on social media. Or to go to work with ripped jeans, when the school policy is against it. Or with net blouses, chain accessories, or whatever is trendy.

Usually, it’s impractical to wear stilettos when you are chained to the school for 6 to 8 hours, or when you are on the field. And usually, when you work with your laptop, you can’t carry a banquette bag, cause it won’t fit, alongside with graded papers.

And I am pretty sure you can’t wear mini floral dresses in court as a lawyer, or that you are in the mood of dressing up and have an outfit to wear only in your car to the hospital, cause there sure will be costumes.

We, the ones who work pretty much, half of the day, if not more, don’t really care about creating the perfect outfit. I’m pretty sure that even corporate girlies must wear smart casual at least.

We need practical fashion not trends that change every single month!

And this is why maybe, we are quite interested in buying the latest trend from a big fashion house, but rather something that fits us right now, helps us and makes us look good.

It’s not sustainable to buy fast fashion, this is the trend right now, and Shein and other platforms like this, are investigated due to environmental practices, and labor practices. Probably justified. But it doesn’t really make it a fast fashion platform that is responsible for global warming. We are the ones that are killing the planet.

Why? Cause we don’t know what and how to buy! And to learn this, you don’t need fashion training, you just need to control yourself.

I ordered three times from Shein: First I bought two green bathrobes to offer as a Christmas Gift, second I bought three dresses (One black evening dress, one copper cocktail dress, and one butterfly pattern day dress that I totally love and found it amazing for summer), the third order has another dress, a bridesmaid one, some accessories, like statement earrings, a leg necklace, and shaping underwear.

Why so many dresses? Firstly because I gained a little weight and some dresses didn’t fit me the way I wanted to anymore, the bridesmaid dress, I only had pink gowny dresses and I found it inappropriate to wear them as a bridesmaid dress, so I ordered a simpler pink cocktail dress, that can be worn to other church ceremonies, or baptize. I made sure to choose wisely and check reviews of products, and all my products came from medium to high quality, all wearable with less to no adjustments. I didn’t order something only to wear once and to sit in my closet for the rest of eternity. And it was less then 100 bucks all of them!

And most of my clothes are like this. Yes, mistakes were made, and I have a golden satin dress that makes me look like I birthed, so I’m not wearing it. I plan on changing it, but frankly, I don’t have an idea how right now. It stayed two years, it will stay a little longer.

But in my big yet not-so-big closet, I have clothes since before high school that I still wear! So, clothes are 12-15 years old at least!

I’m not wearing all of them as good clothes, some are cleaning T-shirts, some are pajamas, some are painting trousers, some are long jeans, now are shorts. Some clothes are my sister’s college clothes that I fell in love with and have them from time to time. Some are thrifted pieces, and some I bought for special occasions, with a bigger budget, to make me look more important. Some clothes I kept, I see my nieces in!

However, one of the oldest things I have in my closet is something I totally love, and it’s so old, it might be older than me, but I don’t care! It’s my grandpa’s woolen vest, that he wore during winter days, by the fire. It’s a blue one, patched, but it was his and now it’s mine, and I wear it in the autumn, at home, while doing chores. Was it a thousand worth? No! Probably it was 2 yarns of wool and a day of knitting. Do I care? No! Cause to me is priceless!

And priceless is my prom green dress, which I wore at the weddings of both me and my sister, and that will be worn to many more weddings, cause we love it, even if it is a 2016 fashion trend!

Priceless is the bodysuit I bought for my master’s exams, or the pleated red skirt, that right now is too short, but it was made by my grandma. Priceless is also the navy blouse my sister gifted me at 19 that I wore when I went out with my besties in college.

Many pieces, no matter the cost, are priceless in my wardrobe. Expensive or not, some become part of me, due to the memories they keep. Some are simply clothes that feed their purpose, and I repurpose them from the store, to my good clothes closet, to my home clothes closet, to my sleepwear then to work then to rags. And if they don’t go this way, they go to smaller siblings of people in need!

I’m not saying I’m the perfect example, I am saying that I have clothes older than 10 years, some older than 20 years in my closet, and choosing from time to time to shop from sites like Shein, only to find deals, isn’t going to kill the planet!

Buying expensive pieces to wear only once, and then keeping them in the closet because people saw you already with that piece..well, I think that might kill it!

I hope you enjoyed this article and that it helps you understand that it matters what you do with what you shop affects more than the brand you shop! I wish you an amazing day and #adreamerlife!

Cristiana Apreutese