Thanks for joining me on this adventure I call, “Shopism”. What’s “Shopism”? it’s an active way to engage with your wardrobe and a new way to think about shopping, in this case, for clothes.
“Active” is meant to represent the overcoming of two ideas: Passivity and Impulse.
Passivity: the idea that we sometimes shop passively, whether it be as an activity where we’re browsing the racks online or in store. When we’re in the passive moment of browsing we are subconsciously interacting with the store, the website, the air, the garments that are presently in our eyesight and reach. We are cataloguing what we see and we are doing it within an instant.
Impulse: Some captured items result in an emotional reaction – a visceral “like” or “dislike”. While, other items might not register the need for a reaction, but rather get passed by the ones that result in a positive connection, usually result in what is known as an impulse buy. We all know what tends to happen with impulse purchases, they are generally followed by levels of “buyers remorse” or a regret in the purchase either due to the cost, the construction of the garment or the realization that it wasn’t actually wanted in the first place.
The second part to “Shopism” is the idea of engaging, thus, thinking of your own wardrobe in a new way. That means:
. Evaluating what you already have.
. Assessing items’ value (actual monetary worth, garment lifespan and perceived emotional value)
. Separating emotional ties from actual use-case.
. Deciding what should stay and what needs to go!
. Re-imaging/configuring the pieces you keep into new looks
. Re-establishing a positive and refreshed relationship with those items.
. Realizing that there is no need to buy anything new in the first place.
. Deciding that the next time you need to buy a new item that you’re going to go for quality with conscience thought put behind it. The more you save and plan for an item, the more you’re going to cherish it and the longer it will survive your new-found love affair.
Honestly, this might all seem like a daunting task but really – it just takes a little rethinking and reshaping of that muscle memory we have to constantly buy, buy, buy. In the long run this practice will not only change the way you look at your closet but it will change the way you look at shopping, clothes and the way our culture consumes things in a whole new way!