What I wore in autumn

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Here, a spoonful of brain-food:

1. The Color of Protest: ‘Imagine a world where you couldn’t wear black. Where would that leave the beatniks and the goths? The Audrey Hepburn-wannabes? Where would it leave the fashion folk, and all the social and cultural groups that have seized on the color as an identifier thanks to its long-term associations with … well, take your pick … darkness, existential angst, artistic endeavor, intimidation, obscurity, rigor, efficiency, mystery, depression and sophistication? Where would it leave the protesters?’ Also, China bans exports of black clothing to Hong Kong amid protests; all mailings to city ‘severely investigated’, courier firm worker says and In Addition to Banning Face Masks, the Chinese Government Has Been Blocking the Shipment of Black Clothing to Hong Kong.

2. Post-industrialism alright: Men Will Lose the Most Jobs to Robots, and That’s OK.

3. Here, get to know Greta better: “We Are Striking to Disrupt the System”: An Hour with 16-Year-Old Climate Activist Greta Thunberg.

4. On (now deceased) attempts of manufacturing cool: Was the Gap Ever Cool? A Look at 50 Years in Denim and Khaki.

5. A basic reminder of what greenwashing is (and how we are surrounded by that shit): (in Spanish) Greenwashing, ¿y eso, qué es?

6. The coat season is here for the menswear blogs: (a) Style & Fashion Drawings: Ideally Enough Coats; (b) The Nearly Forgotten Balmacaan; and (c) The Other Kind of Slip-On.

7. And a little fun story of one woman’s home sewing becoming a hat brand: The History of Stormy Kromer and the Iconic Winter Hat.

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What I was writing about a year ago: #100wears: Rayon shorts. On those wardrobe champions that are both outerwear and underwear…

What I was writing about two years ago: Curating the 100% comfort wardrobe. Me suggesting to adopt garments and give them a trial period because you’ll never know after just trying something on.

What I was wearing a year ago: #whatiwore 2018w44 + Sunday links. I was also wearing back then: the Street One jacket, the red flea market sweater, Veja Wata Pierre, Zara-Swap cardigan.

What I was wearing two years ago: #whatiwore 2017w44 + Sunday links. Repeating this week: the Street One jacket and WAG skirt.

♥

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Orden a Tres podcast

This week on your favorite KonMari™ podcast in Spanish – Orden a Tres, of course – we talk about time and how the method can be applied to its use too: Ep. 13 KonMari más allá de los objetos: Tiempo. You can also listen us on Spotify and Stitcher, and iTunes.

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And now for something completely different,

1. For a bunch of fun Sunday reading, Autostraddle has a series on ‘queer women they didn’t teach you about in history class‘. Both educational and entertaining, my favorites include: (a) The Gay Love Stories of Moomin and the Queer Radicality of Tove Jansson because I was living completely oblivious to the apparently well-known fact that this beloved author had had a life-long partner she wrote into her work; (b) Rebel Girls: Bessie Smith Was a Queer Pioneer, and We’re Finally Gonna Get to Talk About It, because, well, Bessie Smith (also, the TV movie mentioned is this one); (c) I was still taught the ‘38 bystanders‘ stuff in my undergrad, so Kitty Genovese’s Murder: Everything You Know About The “38 Bystanders” Is Wrong; and, although I thought that the potential of nunneries as places of intellectual and sexual emancipation was obvious, (d) Swords, Satan and Sexuality: Queer Nuns of the Past. And the historical vocabulary offered is hilarious: Gal Pals In History: 8 Ways To Avoid Using The Words “Lesbian” or “Bisexual”. Yes, a toast to all those ‘close friends and devoted companions’!

2. Gaming’s #MeToo Moment and the Tyranny of Male Fragility. I highly recommend Sady Doyle’s Trainwreck for a lot of in-depth analysis of the internet misogyny among other things.

3. I kept doubting about this one, but, here, you have it and decide for yourself: The Native American Designers Behind Ginew Are Redefining Americana. Is self-appropriation possible? How about all the sides of packaging your culture for sale to others? Or is just basic authenticity that my tired eyes are unable to recognize?

4. Some iconic ‘costumes’ are so basic you could be wearing one right now: Alternative Style Icon: Howling Mad Murdock of the A-Team.

5. Two references to County Donegal appeared on my feeds simultaneously, so it must mean something: County Donegal and its Tweed and Exploring Ards Forest Park in Lighthouse.

6. Yvon lives under the same cognitive dissonance of not being able to stop trying while knowing that we’re f*cked alrght: Exclusive: Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard talks about the sustainability myth, the problem with Amazon—and why it’s not too late to save the planet.

7. And Halloween as an entry point in education about fast fashion might be a smart idea: (a) Scariest thing about Halloween is plastic waste, say charities; (b) Don’t Let The Scariest Thing About Your Costume Be How It Was Made; and (c) Haulternatives for a Waste-free Halloween.

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What I was writing about a year ago: Fix it! No Pasarán jacket and the ruffle blouse. That magical transformation of one little jacket…

What I was writing about two years ago: Educational afternoon: The True Cost and Upcycling Barcelona. The recap of Un Armario Verde’s one and only purely education activity so far. I have realized that I need hand-on action to feel satisfied about my activism.

What I was wearing a year ago: #whatiwore 2018w43 + Sunday links. Was wearing also then: the Zara-Humana cardigan (only now it’s embroidered all over), Veja Wata Pierre sneakers, that upgraded Street One No Pasarán jacket, my mom’s gingham dress, my mom’s birds-and-flowers skirt, Liisa’s lace top, the #memade beige skirt. Oh, a lot indeed… my autumn wardrobe seems pretty much the same as a year ago.

What I was wearing two years ago: #whatiwore 2017w43 + Sunday links + Old #ootd. Also back then: the Street One jacket + you can also see the t-shirt that became the No Pasarán applique.

♥

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As for the little gray cells, here:

1. Talking about uniforms not only as a strategy for reducing the decision fatigue but also as a marketing strategy: What Political Branding Looks Like. And then comes ‘fashion diplomacy’ to whom I’ve, apparently, arrived late… and how chosing the blandest possible things can be a countermove when everybody is watching and interpreting: (a) The Death of Fashion Diplomacy; (b) On the Fourth of July, Melania Trump Dresses for Independence; (c) Melania Trump’s Say-Nothing State Dinner Dress; and (d) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Political Cost of Hair.

2. Well, at least coincidentally (as in: not purposefully) it seems to be a bit less male-dominated affair now: Women Are Defining Paris Couture.

3. I consider myself responsible for distributing as widely as possible every article that explains why Academia is a bad place for people, so (in Spanish) El coste mental de la carrera investigadora.

4. Pay attention to the words and where they point: This Is Not the Sixth Extinction. It’s the First Extermination Event. Also, (in Spanish) Así será el “siglo infernal”: por qué la crisis climática “es mucho peor de lo que imaginas”.

5. Obviously, 1 year since ‘Me Too’, Karnataka garment factory workers say harassment continues. And the usual ‘getting out of absolute poverty is good but not good enough’ stuff: The rise and rise of Bangladesh – but is life getting any better?

6. I keep reading about the ‘only wear once’ thing again and again so it must be true although I cannot understand it: One & Done: Why Do People Ditch Their Clothes After Just One Wear? and Kardashian Kloset: A Pros and Cons List.

7. This also whiffs of hypocrisy and speciesim of ‘skin yes, fluffy skin no’ but hey algo es algo: California becomes the first state to ban fur products and California Just Became the First State to Ban the Manufacture, Sale of Fur Products.

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What I was writing about a year ago: The urge to acquire. An invitation to sit back and observe when the ‘I want new things’ voice appears inside you… based on a true story.

What I was writing about two years ago: #100wears: Veja Taua. All time favorite sneakers, I’m now wearing my 4th and 5th pair.

What I was wearing a year ago: #whatiwore 2018w42 + Sunday links. Also wearing this week: only Veja Wata Pierre sneakers. Apparently, it was colder last year around this time.

What I was wearing two years ago: #whatiwore 2017w42 + Sunday links. Repeating: my mom’s dark blue silk dress. Continuing with the fur ban, that also was the week when I got very pissed about the false controversy caused by people who ‘decide’ that ‘vegan’ leather being an unsustainable oil-derived substance makes fur and leather ‘ethical’… Bah! You can find my rage in the link section.

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Where do you stand on the plastic vs. animal products debate? What arguments move you the most? And what do you practice (and I hereby acknowledge that practices and values rarely align perfectly)?

A detail A: The weather shock coming from Latvian October into Barcelona October lasted a couple of days. And started with having to take off the cape, the hat, the gloves, the cardigan… and tights upon arrival:

A detail B: And I finally acted upon my urge to pick up textile garbage that idiots leave beside the containers. This was a pretty and promising one, so a good clean start into textile dumpster diving! I got a couple of tops out of it and a whole haul – after I’ve bleached those sweat stains that probably got them discarded out of them – for the next swap we’ll be exploring… This one, btw.

A PSA for the thick ones: Textile garbage in Barcelona goes into the orange containers. All Punt Verd stations will either have a container or just take you bag. And all Humana shops will take it. Do not just leave it on the street! There is enough garbage going around already… and I’m not always around to save it!

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Orden a Tres podcast

This week in your favorite – and the only one of its kind – podcast in *Spanish* dedicated to all things Marie Kondo, we talk about relationships: Ep. 12 KonMari más allá de los objetos: Relaciones. You can also listen us on Spotify and Stitcher, and iTunes.

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As for the brain food and reading matter,

1. Let’s start with some science (and all the chemistry equations you wanted for your Sunday afternoon): Demystifying ocean acidification and biodiversity impacts. I know, I know, but it’s important…

2. Only this week, pretty randomly and quite late, I came across one of the pioneering work in the capsule wardrobe universe, Donna Karan‘s Seven Easy Pieces or ‘Essentials’. Although the whole thing is steeped into 1980’s notion of beauty, career women and femininity, the idea that 7 (!) considered and compatible pieces can carry one throughout day and night is very cool. The whole thing is built on a bodysuit + layers formula, and is pretty genius if you like bodysuits… Here, (a) Now You Know: The Evolution of Donna Karan’s Seven Easy Pieces and (b) Donna Karan Names Her Favorite Seven Pieces of Her Career. You could easily replicate this and then be able to say that you capsule is Donna Karan inspired…

Donna Karan’s Seven Easy Pieces at MoMA’s “Is Fashion Modern?” exhibit by Quartz/Marc Bain.

3. And for more fashion theory and history, quite some time Liliana recommended a Coursera course from MoMA on her FB page… and now I have finally enrolled in Fashion as Design. So you might be getting an even more obscure references and reading pieces than before. To begin, Bernard Rudofsky’s 1944 exhibition “Are Clothes Modern?” (I have talked a bit about his stuff before here) and a brief glimpse at 2011 MoMa exhibition Is Fashion Modern? guided by its curator.

4. For those wanting more fashion history – or smart enough to contribute a wiki-resource of fashion history, Fashion History Timeline: A hub for fashion research from State University of New York Fashion Institute of Technology.

5. A reminder to all activists, especially Extinction Rebellion… although when it comes to climate crisis protests, the logic that Ta-Nehisi Coates describes might not be a perfect fit: Civil-Rights Protests Have Never Been Popular, hopefully…

6. These are old scandals by the criteria of the 24-hour media cycle but I’ve been thinking about them this week… and cultural (mis)appropriation is an ongoing thing: (a) on the very short cycle of consumer outrage and forgetfulness, The Resurrection of Dolce & Gabbana; and the Carolina Herrera vs Mexico debacle (b) (in Spanish) México acusa a Carolina Herrera de apropiación cultural por su colección más reciente, and (c) Homage or Theft? Carolina Herrera Called Out by Mexican Minister where Vanessa Friedman dixit about the new caution surrounding cultural appropriation: ‘The natural end result of this particular trend, after all, is that designers and the brands they work for become so worried about offending that they cease to look at the world outside, defining their aesthetic ever more narrowly. Their own experience becomes their sole creative fodder. And that serves neither them nor us. It does not lead to new ways of being in an ever-evolving world. It leads to stasis. Fashion, more than most industries, was founded on the principle of cultural cross-pollination. Like most cross-pollination, it has produced astonishing, illuminating results. That it did so in a way that ill served some of those involved is unquestionable. That it needs to rethink its practices and systems so everyone has a seat at the table is also not in doubt. (…) The question is whether, once the authority of a government minister is added to the pressure of the crowd, it is already too late?’

7. I really enjoy it when even the usually expensive stuff loving menswear blogs get annoyed: Cucinelli’s New Kids Collection Is The Most Ridiculous Thing Ever.

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What I was writing about a year ago: Beyond repair: sports bra and blue leggings. Learning to admit that there is a point of bye-bye, followed by a trip to the orange container. Or, well, rags and trapillo yarn or sth.

What I was writing about two years ago: Autumn capsule = 3 months and 7 dresses. Wearing only 7 dresses for all that autumn was fun indeed…

What I was wearing a year ago: #whatiwore 2018w41 + Sunday links. Also wearing this week: Veja Wata Pierre sneakers, Veja Arcade sneakers, Humana-Zara ruffle top, swap-Zara cardigan, and Liisa’s black top…

What I was wearing two years ago: #whatiwore 2017w41 + Sunday links. And still relevant: Veja Arcade sneakers…

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Do you ever pick up garbage from the street? Or are you the one leaving it on the street hoping I’ll pass by and pick it up? Do you think it’s a reasonable system for exchange of goods?

How it looked at the moment:

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Orden a Tres podcast

We are often bewitched by what we are not that good at, right? So this week on Orden a Tres you will get us, three far from perfect KonMari™ consultants, talking about the importance of self-care… As always, in Spanish: Ep. 11 Hablemos de auto-cuidado. You can also listen us on Spotify and Stitcher, and – finally! – iTunes.

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And for the little gray cells,

1. This week you get a special section on (mostly) men’s undergarments: (a) A Brief History of Men’s Underwear; (b) Winter Undie-land: A Brief History of Long Underwear; (c) Union suit; (d) The Unlikely Return Of White Socks; (e) Laughing at the Robes.

2. In the ‘cute but unlikely to scale projects’ uplifting press releases section, Great Green Wall and (in Spanish) leather substitute made from nopal.

3. Leave it to George to remind you who your class enemies are: ‘Immense wealth translates automatically into immense environmental impacts, regardless of the intentions of those who possess it. The very wealthy, almost as a matter of definition, are committing ecocide.’

4. Basic sustainability advice applied: make do (Extending the life of electronics by a year equivalent to taking millions of cars off the road) and try to make something else out of your garbage (7 Creative Ways to Upcycle Your Old Clothes).

5. On that romantic mist surrounding certain garments: ‘“Utilitarian” is probably an inappropriate concept for this discussion, except in our shared #menswear fantasies of rus in urbe. No one today really needs shoes whose construction has the butch origin story required for #menswear fantasies.’

6. On how purity, perfection and 100% coherence is impossible, and how people attempting any kind of sustainability have to embrace this fact or perish under the weight of our conscience: (in Spanish) La coherencia es una trampa.

7. A piece of satire proposing that we are at peak sartorial tolerance hence making any effort at shocking ‘the gray mass’ futile: Area Men Struggle To Find New Ways To Freak Out Squares.

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What I was writing about a year ago: After 9 months of the big spreadsheet. Ah, the rule of dry facts…

What I was writing about two years ago: (after the fourth swap) September Clothes’ Swap Recap.

What I was wearing a year ago: #whatiwore 2018w40 + Sunday links. And not repeating anything this week because of weather differences involved…

What I was wearing two years ago: #whatiwore 2017w40 + Sunday links. Hah, actually Veja Arcade and the pearl earrings are being repeated, so that weather argument loses a bit of its power…

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Do you agree with the assertion that nothing shocks people anymore fashion-wise? Have you ever dressed with the purpose of shocking and provoking? Still doing so?

How it looked at the moment:

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Orden a Tres podcast

In this week’s episode of your favorite KonMari-dedicated podcast in Spanish we talk about life with animals… and how the Marie Kondo logic applies to them: Ep. 10 KonMari™ más allá de los objetos: Mascotas. You can also listen us on Spotify and Stitcher, and – finally! – iTunes.

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And now for the brain:

1. In March 1960 somebody at Observer had the bizarre idea to ask Simone de Beauvoir about ‘her attitude to fashion and how she chooses her clothes’, despite her telling them that ‘I am not at all interested in clothes […] I have so many other things to think about, so many other interests that they are not at all on my mind.’

2. A kind reminder that separating our garbage in some imaginary neat categories does not mean that it gets converted into something new. In many occasions we just piss off the workers of the recycling plants and break their equipment: (a) (for USA) Plastics: What’s Recyclable, What Becomes Trash — And Why and (b) (for Catalunya) Residu, on vas?

3. Consumption patterns as clear reflections of wider sociodemographic trends: Architecture Professor Explains Why Malls Are Dying.

4. ‘Going carbon neutral’ is mostly greenwashing for the big brands… Gucci Says it Will be Completely Carbon Neutral by the End of September and Kering Says its “Entire Group” is Going Carbon Neutral. Here’s What That Means… + a reminder that if a vendor/brand looks all boho, ecletic and/or vintage, it doesn’t mean a thing as the sustainability credentials go: How Ethical is Anthropologie?

5. When menswear blogs recommend a woman’s movie wardrobe for its use of menswear: Inspiration From Emma Thompson In Late Night.

6. In the mental health corner, A Perfect Mess: Black Swan (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2010) and (in Spanish) Mi depresión nunca fue mía (o 5 cosas que he aprendido sobre salud mental).

7. The kind of fashion editorials I can get behind (because comfy and practical = ultimate good): My Fashion Fantasy is Napping and Get An Overcoat This Fall.

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What I was writing about a year ago: Fix it! WAG skirt and lace undershirt. My adventures in fixing… few accomplishments make me as proud as prolonging a garments life!

What I was writing about two years ago: Summer 2017 capsule ins and outs.

What I was wearing a year ago: #whatiwore 2018w39 + Sunday links. Wearing also this week: only the pearl earrings as end of September in Rīga and Moscow is a very different affair than in Barcelona.

What I was wearing two years ago: #whatiwore 2017w39 + Sunday links. Again, repeating only pearls, because, well, it’s not really sandal weather here…

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I had the interesting experience of wearing my mom’s rather formal (for my standards) coat throughout our Moscow trip… interesting indeed, made me think… no conclusions yet but certainly felt different. What are your relationships with formal/adult clothing? Do you wear it? Do you enjoy it? Are there external circumstances (like, ehm, jobs) that make you wear suits, pencil skirts, white blouses, etc. serious adult garments?

A detail: Above you see the Barcelona part of this week… then I planned my suitcase,

Packed it suitcase full of winter stuff…

To get two weeks of Latvian and Russian autumn:

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Orden a Tres podcast

This week at Orden a Tres podcast we talk about plants and their role in the KonMari™ universe – Ep. 9 KonMari™ más allá de los objetos: Plantas. You can also listen us on Spotify and Stitcher, and iTunes.

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And for the gray cells:

1. Laurie Penny seeing the silver lining (whisper: fanfic will save the world) – We Can Be Heroes: How the Nerds Are Reinventing Pop Culture.

2. An obituary to department stories as places of beauty and longing: The Slow Death of Glamour. As for the present, A 7-Year Old Fashion Rental Company is Buying 193-Year Old Lord & Taylor.

3. When the purists see the irony that can be found among them: “Can’t Wait To See How This Breaks In,” Says Man Who Buys New Clothes Every Week. Meanwhile, you can still – unironically – learn about traditional Japanese hand-dyeing methods, mourn that Levi’s is No Longer Producing Any 501 Jeans in America, and worship Japanese denim: A Rare Visit to Kapital, Japan’s Denim Paradise.

4. The twisted realities of the influencer culture: Are the Most Valuable Brand Endorsements Free? Well, at least this one makes certain intuitive sense.

5. The status quo of the fashion industry? (a) The 76-Year-Long Evolution of New York Fashion Week; (b) The Denim Industry Needs to Find the Innovation Thread: Heritage labels face threats from the athleisure trend and growing demand for sustainable fashion; (c) It’s too late for ethical fashion: A sustainability expert explains that progress in the industry is cancelled out by the rate at which the fashion economy is speeding up; (d) Forever 21’s Expected Bankruptcy Filing Does Not Mark the Fall of Fast Fashion; (e) I can’t believe people still do the surprised ‘I just discovered the ills of fast fashion’ books and articles… but here you have another one only because it introduces the notion of ‘fashion bulimia’ (I’m unsure what the survivors of eating disorders think of this but it is a powerful reframing): The environment and economy are paying the price for fast fashion — but there’s hope.

6. When gestures interpreted as sustainable became hip and sociologically weird: How Fancy Water Bottles Became a 21st-Century Status Symbol and Too Much of a Good Thing (on the mysterious multiplication of canvas totes).

7. I am really longing for some serious disruption, like this: Grounded. I just don’t yet have the courage to do it myself…

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What I was writing about a year ago: September Swap (7th!) recap. Contains the swap to-do list that typically gets me in a knot and then I write these post-swap rants… I thought about maybe toning it down a bit for this week’s recap, but then decided that truth will make us free and maybe even prevent post-swap migraines (I’ve had only one in my life and that was after a swap).

What I was writing about two years ago: Six months of blogging and adjusting expectations. Oh, all those shattered expectations about going immediately viral… or shall we call it a strong belief in the quality of my content?!

What I was wearing a year ago: #whatiwore 2018w38 + Sunday links. Also wore this week: the WAG skirt and the Zara-Humana ruffle blouse (from this ‘I really really want to buy sth’ occasion a year ago).

What I was wearing two years ago: #whatiwore 2017w38. Repeated this week: my mom’s gingham dress, pearl earrings and the DIY mixed ‘pearl’ necklace.

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Can you help but roll your eyes at the n-th media fast fashion outrage discovery moment? Please, dear people, it’s 2019, everybody knows… maybe not the details but the big picture is ignored only thanks to cognitive dissonance. I know, I know, you never know which piece of information will penetrate the defenses of somebody but it just gets painfully repetitive. I just find it hard to believe that there are still editors who would pay for a general ‘everything is wrong in fast fashion’ coverage. Dude, infiltrate, do profound qualitative work, do in-depth coverage of the alternatives, do something new, please!

Feed the little gray cells:

1. OK, the retail might be working very hard to reinvent itself, but this is just weird: “Going to a store […] should feel like going to a hotel or resort, where you are taking away a memory because you are touched by an emotion you want to revisit […] As a retailer, this means “you are not serving a person who needs an item,” […] You are serving a person who needs an experience”: Libraries, Gardens, Museums. Oh, and a Clothing Store.

2. When the way how we use our body parts change, also this happens: Surgery students ‘losing dexterity to stitch patients’. Apparently stitcher robots are not really here yet…

3. And the other reason to praise – or at least explain the surge of – the hands-on crafts is their mental health benefits (in Spanish): Las manualidades son el nuevo yoga para la paz mental: Lettering.

4. George Monbiot got on the quit meat bandwagon only after imagining animal-less meat. Here’s another sprinkle of his futuristic excitement, in this case about synthesizing all food: “a group of Finnish researchers has been producing food without either animals or plants. Their only ingredients are hydrogen-oxidising bacteria, electricity from solar panels, a small amount of water, carbon dioxide drawn from the air, nitrogen and trace quantities of minerals such as calcium, sodium, potassium and zinc. The food they have produced is 50 to 60% protein, the rest is carbohydrate and fat. […] They use electricity from solar panels to electrolyse water, producing hydrogen, that feeds bacteria (which turn it back into water). Unlike other forms of microbial protein (such as Quorn), it requires no carbohydrate feedstock – in other words, no plants.”

5. Lessons from the plastic-free people (in Spanish): Tres años viviendo sin plástico and – with focus on our unwillingness to trouble others – Sin plástico y sin vergüenza.

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What I was writing about a year ago: How to Survive *Winter* in Barcelona.

What I was wearing a year ago (see how many items coincide!): #whatiwore 2017w47 + Sunday links.

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What are the sustainability practices that make you feel like a burden? Asking to weight your own containers at the bulk bins? Telling that you don’t eat this, this, this, and that at a social gathering? Asking where and under what conditions was this made? Having to lie about what you did with people’s last year’s presents?

The best brain food for the best people:

1. Mid-term elections in US, Melania Trump’s fashion choices, Michelle Obama’s book tour, and the season 6 of House of Cards have brought a series of NYT articles (♥ Vanessa Friedman) on the meaning of dress while in office: (a) Melania Trump: Out of Africa, Still in Costume, (b) The First Female President Will Not Carry a Handbag, (c) Dressing Michelle Obama, Then and Now, and (d) The Congressional Uniform Is About to Change.

2. And these two weird-for-me articles (trigger warnings for restrictive beauty standards and class bias) speak to the same interaction between appearance and how people treat one in line with their reading of our appearances: Why do attractive people dress well? I interviewed a random stranger to find out and How to become an International Woman of Mystery.

3. Can you beat Bill Gates’ score on this climate change quiz? And after that, Climate change and the 75% problem. Major takeaway points: cut meat and dairy, reduce your consumption of new things, rethink all those internet purchases, think about making your dwelling more energy efficient…

4. The McKinsey report about how ‘nearshoring’ – still outsourcing to cheaper places but doing it closer so that the production would shorten even more the sketch-to-shelf cycle – is the new business-smart thing to do fashion popped up in my feeds again (this was the first time): In an age of super-fast fashion, Mexico and Turkey may be the new China. Ugh, when relatively good things happen for the wrong reasons…

5. This: Please Stop Clearing Out Your Wardrobe In The Name Of Sustainability. Again and again, every conversation about sustainability has to begin with the fact that the most sustainable thing to do is to wear out things you already have, even if they came from fast fashion brands that you now loathe. Paradoxically enough, wearing your fast fashion stuff a lot is a way of sticking it to them! My advice on this, here – Baby Steps: Detoxing A Wardrobe Takes Time.

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What I was writing about a year ago: The Pink Post: Instrumental and subversive uses of the traditionally feminine.

What I was wearing a year ago (see how many items coincide!): #whatiwore 2017w46 + Sunday links.

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Have you had to curb your impulse to throw away anything that said H’n’M or Zara on it after your first exposure to problems with fast fashion? What did you do? Do you happily pick up fast fashion items at swaps or second hand shops or do you shun them? Do you ever think about this paradox of you wearing and hence representing a brand you do not agree with at all while doing the most sustainable thing possible in giving the most possible wears to their garments?

Brain food, brain food, what a good idea:

1. Urbanism and fashion industry, oh, yes: Is NYC’s garment district unraveling? and How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town. And, in similar vein, some innovation in how to get their fashion to people (still moving parcels around but at least not with new garments): WeWork Is Getting Into Workplace Fashion With Rent the Runway.

2. Today is the Best Time in Fashion: “Fashion has become closer to modern art. Whereas both forms were once ruled by strict classical ideas, the space is now free with untrammeled creativity and multidirectional experimentation, where people can both celebrate beauty as well as ideas that challenge traditional notions of beauty.”

3. When politics and ethical/sustainable fashion might or might not come together: Made in USA and the Rise of Nationalism.

4. What the ultrarich do if they have similar long term vision of future as I do: How tech’s richest plan to save themselves after the apocalypse.

5. Structural disadvantages in the industry: The Most Diverse Fashion Season Ever on the Runway, but Not the Front Row and What it’s really like to be black and work in fashion.

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What I was writing about a year ago – #100wears: Ginta’s gray cardigan.

What I was wearing a year ago (see how many items coincide!): #whatiwore 2017w45 + Sunday links.

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The weather is confusing, there is a lot of work (at work, ha), the blog is a bit backlogged, and my links are very USA-centric. Yes. How are you do doing?

Ho-ho-ho, brain food for everybody!

1. I am so not gen-Z, I have no intuitive understanding of the streetwear aesthetics. Hence, (a) The Season of Peak Sneaker Silliness, (b) How America Became a Nation of Yoga Pants, and (c) Is the Streetwear Bubble About to Burst?

2. Because time by time you just need a tongue-in-cheek anarchist essay: The Abolition of Work by Bob Black.

3. And a reminder that gender has always been what people made of it: A Brief History of Unisex Fashion + a contemporary high fashion example: Céline, Hedi Slimane, and the Grown-Up Woman.

4. And one of the beautiful contingencies when technology and new social mores attached to them push away the old: How Cycling Clothing Opened Doors for Women + a contemporary experiment (mentioned in the article) that shows how far we’ve gone since then: Bikes and Bloomers.

5. And this stuff that I’ve never really understood – Hermès CEO: “People Still Want Things That Not a Lot of People Can Get”.

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What I was writing about a year ago: Curating the 100% comfort wardrobe.

What I was wearing a year ago (see how many items coincide!): #whatiwore 2017w44 + Sunday links.

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What are the trends that you do not understand? Does it make you feel old or just out of touch, or just proudly individual? Are your arguments more about (a) lack of practicality, (b) ridicule, or (c) sheer ugliness?

Here, feed the brain:

1. While most articles about uniform dressing emphasize reduction of decision fatigue and tech millionaires, this 2014 piece turns the argument on its head and talks about uniforms as ‘a stance against trends’ and ‘a consistent recognizable foundation’: The Case for Uniforms. The most inspirational example mentioned is Diane Pernet from A Shaded View on Fashion.

2. On disinhibited creation: Why you should make useless things.

3. I’m such a sucker for ‘look at this person who single-handedly and with great dignity revived an old industry and is doing great’, so: A Legacy of Production at Valley Oak Wool & Fiber Mill. Also, the microscopic-precision handiwork for high fashion as a solution for the youth unemployment (and stupid non-jobs of the digital economy): Teenagers, Forget Engineering. Your Future Is Craft.

4. And I cannot resist a detailed history of a classic and local working class garment when boy fashionistas are fangirling about them: The Other Fisherman Sweater.

5. For our scary future section, How to edit a human. This one comes with a side dish of the dirty business that science often is, in this case making clear also the difference in opportunities for worldwide recognition that funding/location bring to labs and research groups, or how a bunch of genius Lithuanians won’t ever get a Nobel.

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What I was writing about a year ago: An Educational afternoon – The True Cost and Upcycling Barcelona.

What I was wearing a year ago (see how many items coincide!): #whatiwore 2017w43 + Sunday links + Old #ootd.

Other old posts you might enjoy: Adventures of the spring 2017 capsule and The wardrobe ins and outs of spring 2017.

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Do you have any favorite type of stories among the sustainability usuals? Are you more touched by stories of independent wool farmers in West or underprivileged women’s cooperatives in South? Materials, dyes, sewing – which stories you save for special weekend moments of enjoyment? Share some of your favorites, please.

The Friday outfit is a story of comfort vs. stupid ideas about what’s appropriate… That hoodie, well, actually two of those – organic cotton, made in India, stamped with the corporate identity of the company C works for – appeared in our home after a work event that C went to. First I tried to get him to discard both of them because ‘you don’t need them’, then I accepted that he really was using it around the house, then I started to wear the other one myself noting how warm and fluffy it is… and on Friday I went out on the street with it.
Only to the swimming pool and back, and it was raining, but I had sworn to myself not to wear this one outside… But knowing winters in Barcelona and how all I want to wear to the pool – and that’s three times a week and just down the block – is something comfy and adequate for weather, it will now be my gym uniform. And it has a hood to make up for my unwillingness to blow dry my hair. A win for the ‘relax and be casual’ team.

Lesson learnt I consider myself a tiny step closer to: Letting go, of course, and following the sirens of comfort.

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Now that you are all comfy, under a blanket and with a cup of warm something, here:

1. The typical reminders of all the offshoring problems and onshoring complexities: Why Is It So Hard for Clothing Manufacturers to Pay a Living Wage? and American Manufacturing Doesn’t Have to Die. And just to put a sinister spin on that, out of the Dark side a big consulting company: Is apparel manufacturing coming home? The ironic part is that for them – and people they serve – it’s not about ethics but about a balance between production/shipping costs and timing. So their conclusion is that producing in Mexico for US market or Turkey for EU market makes a lot of sense (and customers love it, too) but not really on situ production, that would be waaay too expensive…

2. In the news of ‘animals we are not exploiting yet that have a great potential’- New Artificial Spider Silk: Stronger Than Steel and 98 Percent Water. Be calm, it’s about replicating ‘the spider technology’ not cramming masses of spiders together and making them work for us, no, we do that mostly with mammals, humans and otherwise, not spiders. Not yet, at least.

3. History time! And about the seasonal wares, no less. The Trench Coat: Before, During, and After the Trenches and From Cavalry to Coco Chanel: The Cardigan Unbuttoned.

4. To bring you back – or for the first time – to William Morris and ‘Some Hints on Pattern-Designing‘ (1881) among his other writings, here are some guidelines from him:

“We ought to get to understand the value of intelligent work, the work of men’s hands guided by their brains, and to take that, though it be rough, rather than the unintelligent work of machines or slaves, though it be delicate;
to refuse altogether to use machine-made work unless where the nature of the thing made compels it, or where the machine does what mere human suffering would otherwise have to do;
to have a high standard of excellence in wares and not to accept makeshifts for the real thing, but rather to go without;
to have no ornament merely for fashion’s sake, but only because we really think it beautiful, otherwise to go without it;
not to live in an ugly and squalid place (such as London) for the sake of mere excitement or the like, but only because our duties bind us to it;
to treat the natural beauty of the earth as a holy thing not to be rashly dealt with for any consideration;
to treat with the utmost care whatever of architecture and the like is left us of the times of art.

I deny that it can ever be our own to do as we like with; it is the property of the world, that we hold in trust for those that come after us.”

5. And I encourage you, yes, repeatedly, to do some pattern play. It’s not 19th century anymore and any basic image editing software can bring you and your doodles a lot of joy. Here is one way to do it: Pattern Play with Jeanetta: How to Create a Pattern in the style of William Morris. As a proof, my 5-minute pattern from mandalas that were in my 2017 agenda:

Or how this:

Becomes that:

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What I was writing about a year ago: #100wears: Veja Taua… Oh, I miss them dearly! And I am stalking some random leftover pairs on Amazon hoping they will still be there when my October salary comes in. Those sneakers were so good, I’m now ready to buy two new pairs and just have them sitting in my wardrobe waiting for the current Wata to wear out. After three pairs worn to shreds, I think that’s an informed decision.

What I was wearing a year ago (see how many items coincide!): #whatiwore 2017w42 + Sunday links.

Other old posts you might enjoy: We shall swap again and May Swap recap.

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Have you had any comfort vs. ‘propriety’ dilemmas or insights lately? Which one do you typically gravitate towards?

Here, your little brain attic needs more stuff:

1. Trust your own judgement in aesthetics! Surviving your critics.

2. I’m not sure if this is relevant anymore. It might be that fast fashion collabs with big names has given way to influencer collabs long ago, but still – in 2012 people were writing op-eds on Making The Case Against Fast Fashion Collaborations.

3. A little PSA for those residing in Spain and decluttering: (just in case you were in doubt) you don’t have to keep the boxes of electronics in case the guarantee… the only case when you need the box is to return the recently bought item to get your money back during those 15 days when that can be done. Sources (in Spanish): 1, 2.

4. And to provoke a bit, here you have GoodOnYou asking Is Silk Sustainable? and answering with a suggestion to snack on some crunchy larvae after turning their cocoons into silk. Just to order a bit: Is conventional silk vegan? NO. Can it be? Yes, but it’s more expensive. Would silk worms enjoy high quality of life if we’d just leave them alone? According to human criteria, not really. Is animal welfare the only concern about silk? No, human welfare is also not that cool in conventional silk production, including child labor. Solution? Look through your grandma’s wardrobe or your favorite local vintage shop for second-hand silk.

5. This article is a bit of hodge-podge of data, but the graph of reminding how chemical-intensive is apparel production is nice:

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What I was writing about a year ago: Autumn capsule = 3 months and 7 dresses.

What I was wearing a year ago (see if any items coincide!): #whatiwore 2017w41 + Sunday links (looks that a year ago the weather was even more ridiculously balmy).

Another old post you might enjoy: How I pack or #whatiwore 2017w16.

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What are your favorite animal welfare issues? The ones worth talking about? For me, industrial farming is a clear-cut issue: close that shit down and consume maybe a little meat if you are one of those ‘I just can’t quit it’ people, but honey and wool are my new favorite enmeshed issues I have no clear opinion about. They combine animal ‘exploitation’ and husbandry at its best, ha! And it is possible to do it very well and very badly… also, if we end up truly killing off all the bees, we – especially those of us not willing to live only on potatoes, rice, wheat, corn and the New World veggies – are fucked alright. Go, read Generation A.

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Although most of this week – between the LBD occasions – looked more like this:

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2017 is over, 2018 is here,and here we go again. I’ll tell you about my renewed wardrobe strategy, but so far I’m still with my Riga capsule, in between party dresses and lounge wear. Are you already in the new year or still relaxing around?

Here, in the land of darkness, I’ve been reminded about a couple of Nordic winter realities even when the temperatures are above 0ºC:

(a) Tall boots have a function even in absence of snow – they protect your tights from mud splashes. So ankle boots only for those ready to hand-wash their tights after every use (well, on the other hand, here you can wash them at night, put on the central heating radiators, and they will be perfectly toasty in the morning; that’s not the case in radiator-less Barcelona).

(b) The layering is more complex than in the Mediterranean as the contrast between inside and outside temperatures is much greater. Especially if you run errands on foot and using public transportation, it’s a never-ending cycle of sweating and shivering.

(c) And the darkness, oh, the darkness… Just bought a SAD lamp, not for me, but as a gift. The people of Latvia need help!

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How is your winter going? Are you giving your wardrobes any winter contrasts? How are they keeping up?

And here we go with a plate full of fashion brain-food and inspiration:

The Secret to Vintage Jeans – Tells you the mechanics behind denim weaving and documents the last death in the once famed American denim industry. For me the most exciting part is how the whole industry have turned defects – machine hiccups and shaking – into effects, plus the longevity of the old machines and “despite their simplicity, the newer shuttle looms are often more trouble to operate than the old Drapers”.

(In Spanish) Moda sostenible con sello vasco – A success story of the turn Basque brand Skunkfunk took towards sustainability and ethical fashion. Having started as a little artisanal endeavor of funky designs, expanding using the typical irresponsible fast-fashion outsourcing and then having an a-ha! moment and looking for alternatives in certified manufacturers, material selection, waste reduction, etc. Truly sweet, if you are looking for virgin textiles!

However, my garment ideals and interests are turning more and more towards reuse. There is so much textile already laying around that purchasing virgin fabric seems rather absurd for most uses. One of my greatest eye-openers for this has been the blog of Jillian Owens where she documents refashioning of thrift shop finds (including the funniest “before” and “after”pics).

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Which of the ethical fashion branches is the most exciting for you these days? Reducing the amount owned, swapping for better alternatives, diving into second-hand and upcycling?

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Let’s start this week’s link list with eye candy instead of brain food – Stella Jean: Wax & Stripes: A personal journey. If my getting dressed maxim is that an outfit starts with four different patterns, Stella seems to start with *at least four different African waxprints*. Oh, wow! Enjoy these and then run to Pinterest to get some more.

Fashion’s Interest in Alternative Fabrics Keeps Growing – New fiber news are almost always exciting at first and disappointing afterwards. I find it very cutesy every time an article introducing pinapple “leather”, orange peel “silk”, and fish skin “leather” (not linking, I find that one pretty disgusting), while the actual answer is reduction, real recycling, and then rethinking of virgin fibers. But reclaiming garbage is always nice (while looking into the actual energy required to extract the fibers, etc.)!

Talking about creating fibers from garbage, here’s an example: How Companies ‘Seeing Goldmines in Landfills’ Are Refashioning Textiles.

And looking really into future of (any! think about electronics, too) supply chain transparency: Blockchain to enable transparency in the fashion supply chain.

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Which novelty fiber do you find the most exciting? What was the last time you read one of those and exclaimed “Really?! You can make textiles out of *that*?” Mine were the fish skin stuff mentioned above (yuck!) and discovering that banana fibers have been used for silky textiles for centuries.

As a cold weather public service announcement, here you have a step-by-step of my favorite way to tie the big ethnographic scarves:

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As I’ve suggested an under-blanket strike against fast fashion earlier this week, here is some reading matter that may become handy while you are keeping your body warm and your brain well fed:

Modest Dressing, as a Virtue – an interesting take on modest (as opposed to the body shape emphasizing way of dressing for women) clothing as being both class- and feminist statement signalling our way out of the traditionally feminine.

To the Lady Who Mistook Me for the Help at the National Book Awards – A slightly fictionalized biographic essay on the intersections of race, class, and black polyester. There is no way of arguing ourselves out of the fact that fashion is a class marker…

This Is How Big Oil Will Die – Not about fashion (but about the auto- and oil industry instead), this is a very nicely argued piece on how Big Oil will become obsolete thanks to technology that already exists and market forces. I’m not so optimistic for a similar sea change when it comes to fashion, because the superiority of sustainable fashion stems from moral choices not being cheaper for the consumer. It could be the final touch to not making any new polyester ever again but recycling it indefinitely, though.

These Are The 6 Types of Minimalists. Which One Are You? – Half jokingly but makes sense (as in previous internet debates that vegan is not necessarily eco, etc.) to remember that one thing does not equal another. So minimalist aesthetic is not the same as conscious reduction of number of possessions to keep only those that spark joy or living out of one suitcase nomad-style. They might overlap but not necessarily

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What are your cold weather tricks? Have you had to go out and look for warmer garments ad-hoc? Have youstarted thinking about resolutions for 2018?

While I’m rethinking my wardrobe strategies for the next year – because January 1 is such a nice day to start new things and ways – here you have some textile and garment-related brain food (that can easily be turned into advice and New Year’s resolutions, btw):

Caring is caring (!) and, in case of the most washed items of our wardrobes, the most resource intensive period of the lives of our garments, so here are two (1 and 2) lists of care tips + my own.

From the girl who inspired my pink post, here comes a meditation on make-up (in Russian): Её изумрудные брови: Как яркий макияж изменил мои отношения с внешностью. Although I’ve left make-up behind for good long time ago, this is the perspective I’d like to impart on people like fairy dust: whatever self-expression, including fashion and make-up, is great as far as you are doing it for yourself! Make-up for fun and playing is a great idea if you feel like it, make-up for “concealing” and “putting on an *acceptable* face” tends to be a sign of internalized toxic patriarchy.

Reflecting a frequent conversation in our household, Why despite my best efforts even my friends buy fast fashion: The confessions of an ethical fashion CEO goes through all the usual suspects that our friends and family hide behind after we have sermoned them about the evils of fast fashion. Here is my take on that.

As a special bonus, this is the project that the author of the above piece runs. It brings together info on the ethics and sustainability of brands, have a look!

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What are your garment goals for 2017? Already decided and written down, or still wide open and smelling of future?