**All images (in the image below, not the featured image) have live links that will bring you to these products. Please note each of these is an affiliate link, and I may make a small commission if you purchase pieces directly through my links (TIA for helping fuel KPV, and making my work possible <3 )***
This week, I was feeling really inspired by pieces that bring warmth, texture, and cozy vibes into our homes and wardrobes for late summer to early fall. One thing I have been trying to focus on recently is how I purchase additions to my wardrobe. For as long as I can remember, I have slowly collected high quality pieces for my home, whether from the thrift store or an antique store, a local shop, or a quality-forward retailer. But my wardrobe? That story has been a bit different.
Growing up, I almost entirely inherited hand-me-downs from older cousins, but when my mom did take me shopping, she always insisted on quality. She would buy me just a few new pieces every year, but some that she bought me as a teenager I STILL HAVE (at almost 40 years old).
Fast forward to my twenties, when I was on my own with mere pennies in my banking account. I certainly didn’t have a lot of money to spend on clothing, and found myself opting for lots of fast fashion from spots like H&M and Forever21. They would last maybe one season, and I would have to repeat and purchase ALL. THE. TIME.
I don’t know why I wasn’t very into thrifting clothing in my twenties. I was thrifting everything for my apartments at that point in time, but it was like I had blinders on in the clothing section. That definitely changed in my thirties, when I started collecting quality pieces from estate sales and thrift stores. But it wasn’t until last year that I decided to stop purchasing fast fashion pieces entirely. Instead of buying 20 new pieces every year, for the same price I could buy just a few very high quality, classic pieces that will last me soooo much longer. All in all, I find I’ve been spending lots more per item, but lots less overall, and finding myself with a wardrobe I like a lot more and feel better (ethically) about purchasing. I saw a creator a couple of months ago drop a stat that shook me. She said that the average woman in the 1950s purchased ten new items for her wardrobe each year and kept them, on average, for ten years. Fast forward to present day, when the average woman purchases 80 NEW ITEMS every year, and keeps each piece, on average, for TWO years. No, I didn’t fact check her, but I don’t doubt that this was, at the very least, close to factual information.
This is all to say that if I can influence my readers and subscribers in any way, I really hope that it is to buy secondhand more, and buy quality more often, too. None of us are perfect and we all make choices that aren’t perfect, too (at least I know I am guilty of this. It’s been a journey for me, and one I am certainly still on), but if we can all just be more mindful of our consumption and the impact it has on the world around us, I think all those small differences can have a major impact. It’s power in numbers, friends. And when we stop to think about how MANY items we have versus how many we NEED, and how much we spend OVERALL versus how much we spend on each piece, I think we might find that the higher price tags, in the long run, cost us less because we’re replacing such pieces less often.
So, this week, I’m sharing staples for the home and wardrobe that are certainly not the most inexpensive scores I’ve shared on my edit, but ARE quality and ARE classic. I can imagine holding on to any of the pieces in this week’s edit forever and never ever tiring of them.
