Dear reader,

I’ve got a workshop to deliver today. As usually, I always come equipped with all sorts of accessories and tools to demonstrate what I say and people love it. So once I have the contents, exercises, activities and materials ready, I have to decide what I’m going to wear.

So I opened my wardrobe and began to take things out that seemed appropriate. You know, you can’t wear everything you feel like at every occasion. Then I saw something that surprised me:

most of my items had a designer’s logo written somewhere, sometimes even largely across the whole piece of cloth.

My cardigan has a huge Adidas logo, my jeans a big Guess sign at the back pockets, my purse written Mulberry with golden letters, my blouse a Fracomina logo on the sleeves and my jacket is so H&M that you would recognise it from 100m, because everyone owns one like mine. Then I wondered:

How come I became so stupid to let the multinationals invite themselves onto my body with my permission and how come that I voluntarily want to promote their brands by wearing them and even paying for it?

This is clearly stupid. Usually you should be the one to get paid to do promotion, don’t you? And yet there I was, holding quite expensive items in my hands and wondering where my common sense went.

I had enough. I packed all my designer and non designer’s clothes and took them to second hand or put them on eBay to sell it for cheap money. I refuse to be a sheep and as silly and hopeless as it sounds, but I’m declaring a pesonal war to the multinationals. They will no longer decorate my wardrobe and I will not be their puppet.

What did I do instead? I looked at my items that had no multinational brand sign, were made locally and discovered that I actually do own a few pieces sewn by local tailors. And you know what, I’ve had it for years and the quality is still great. Especially in England, you can get some really good no-name quality considered a classic that will last, hopefully even a lifetime. So I ordered some missing pieces online.

Here’s what I own now, and I do not intend to change this habit dramatically. My wardrobe might be boring, but I don’t want to waste my life thinking about what to wear, where to get the best deal, what’s the latest fashion and which colour and especially I don’t want to worry if I put a few pounds on. I’m lucky that mother nature was pretty generous with my looks, so I don’t need to add much to look good. Less is more and I don’t want to resemble a photoshopped foto model in the latest fashion magazine. So I might have small breasts. So I have long neck, so what. It is as it is and all body parts are mine and they serve me well. End of story. I’m not letting them be a show window and I will not force them to meet the guidelines someone else made for me.

My work capsule now consists of items with no extremes in fashion, makeup or accessories:

• a blazer jacket
• a winter coat
• a waterproof jacket
• a jumper
• a sleeveless jumper
• 4 shirts/blouses (3/4 sleeved and long sleeved)
• skirt
• trousers
• pashmina
• discrete jewerly such as my wedding ring, my company ring, a pair of discrete earrings and sometimes a discrete chain necklace
• natural makeup (and I can’t stand a mascara), base coloured nail varnish
• black everyday flat shoes
• medium heel pumps
• winter boots
• everyday bag and small evening bag. No logos, no brands, no glitter whatsoever.

Since I do a lot of sport, I need some of these

• trainers (bought directly from companies that provide equipment for professionals)
• hoodie
• leggings and base upper layer
• 3 polo shirts
• track trousers and shorts
• sportsbag

And I do have some clothes I wear at home. They are neat, simple and cosy, such as a cashmere cardigan, palazzo trousers and basic tops. And a giant robe, of course.

That’s all I have in my wardrobe at the moment. Let’s see how long I manage to stick with this and not be trapped in our consumerism again. I do hope that this list will stay with me throughout my life and to win this small battle, with possibly no impact whatsoever, but important for me to know, that I refuse to go mainstream. It is of course impossible to escape brands altogether. Yet there is a difference if you buy something that is a classic or something that is a show off and will wear out in less than a year. For example I’m keeping my Doc Martens boots, because they are non-destroyable and I’ve been wearing them since high school.

I realise that my action won’t make any difference and nobody will care. The multinationals won’t make any less profits because of me. However, I feel immensely free now. Relieved, determined, proud and simplistic. If you’ve done any clearance in your life, you know how good it feels. Feel free to join or ask questions if you got inspired though – the more the merrier.

Biba

Photo borrowed from: http://peacebenwilliams.com/every-guy-must-see-this-the-radical-effect-of-photoshop-on-a-models-body-photos-video/