Fashion

2018 fashion shopping review

/ edebock / 3 Comments

LogoOn January 4 of this year one of my favourite bloggers, Sue Burpee, writer of High Heels in the Wilderness, published a post entitled Is It Possible To Be An Ethical Shopper? In it, she analysed the progress that she had made over the previous year in her quest to be a more ethical shopper and gave herself an overall mark of B-. By the time I was half way through reading her post, I had decided that I would keep a list of all the clothing purchases that I made this year and then analyse my own shopping habits. In addition to wanting to be a more ethical shopper, I was interested in finding out more about my spending habits and I wanted to be more intentional about wardrobe development.

Sue’s advice at the end of her post was

Plan carefully. Purchase wisely, not too much. Mostly quality.

And ethically… if possible. 

I divided my list into three categories: Clothing, Accessories, and Footwear. Within each category, I kept track of each item that I bought listing the date and place where it was purchased, where it was made, the regular price, and if it was bought on sale, the amount that I actually spent. I also indicated which items were thrifted.

So how did I do?

Alhough it’s difficult to find accurate information on women’s spending habits and it clearly varies from place to place, a survey of 1000 American women conducted by ING Direct and Capital One banks in 2012 found that most women, on average, spend somewhere between $150 and $400 on clothing per month, which equals approximately $1,800 to $4,800 per year. According to the research that Sue did for her post, the average American woman added 70 items to her wardrobe in 2013. Based on these statistics, I would give myself an excellent mark! In fact, I can’t even imagine spending or buying that much. All told, I purchased 35 wardrobe items in 2018. In addition to accessories and footwear, this included socks, underwear, and three badly needed bras. I paid full price for only 10 of the 35 items and I spent a total of approximately $1135 (CAD). Had I paid full price for everything, I would have paid somewhere around $2000. I can only give a rough estimate of that because I don’t know the original prices of the 5 thrifted pieces that I bought. For example, I spent $4.00 for a classic trench coat that would probably retail for $100 or more.

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Although I love thrift store shopping, I purchased fewer second hand items this year because I was determined not to continue filling my closet with impulse buys simply because the prices were fantastic. Instead, I spent more and focused on buying items that I needed and that could be worn at least three ways with things that I already owned.

My most expensive purchase was my new winter coat. It was a planned purchase and I shopped around to find  exactly what I wanted. I paid the full price of $179.99, but considering cost per wear it will probably be one of my most economic purchases. By buying the coat when I did, I also received a $50 rebate on any item in the store which my husband was able to use for a new pair of jeans.

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I did purchase one item that I’ve never worn; a piece of costume jewelry that didn’t look as good as I thought it would with the items that I planned to wear it with. Thankfully, I bought it at half price and only paid $8.98.

Now, back to the topic of Sue’s post. She came to the conclusion that trying to shop ethically is complicated and discouraging and I completely concur. 22 of the items that I purchased this year were made in China and 5 in Vietnam, but were they made in sweatshops where workers are exploited and forced to work in unsafe conditions or are they manufactured in socially and environmentally responsible factories? It’s often impossible to find out. I’ve learned that retailers seldom respond to inquiries especially ones that touch on sensitive subjects like this one. I bought 8 cabi garments this year. I’ve been told by two different cabi stylists that their products are ethically produced, but I can’t find anything on their website to verify that. Likewise, I purchased 3 garments from another retailer who assured me that she carries only ethically produced clothing, but how do I know for sure and even if the garments are produced in safe and responsible factories, we have no way of finding out anything at all about the production of the fabric itself. As a result, though I very much want to be, I really don’t know if I’m an ethical shopper, so I won’t be as bold as Sue and attempt to give myself a letter grade for this year’s fashion shopping.

What are my goals for 2019?

  • I will continue tracking my purchases for the coming year so that I can review and evaluate my shopping habits again a year from now.
  • I would like to buy less and spend less.
  • I intend to buy basics that I need and items I love that work well with what I already have.
  • I will resist the pressure of friends to buy pieces that they like, but that aren’t right for me.
  • I will continue to buy quality pieces, not wasting money on fast fashion items that are poorly made and end up in the landfill after only a few wearings.
  • I will continue to write a weekly fashion post!

And finally, here are of a few of my favourite fashion purchases this year:

 

 

High heels? Yes or no?

/ edebock / 2 Comments

LogoThere are very few topics that could be tagged Fashion, Health, and Politics, but today’s post will focus on one of them. I have very few positive things to say about our provincial government, but I do commend them for one recent decision. On January 1, 2019, changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Code will take effect banning mandatory footwear rules that pose health and safety risks to Alberta workers, particularly those in the hospitality industry.

“Mandatory high heel policies that can put workers at risks for slips, trips and falls and can become a workplace hazard are no longer acceptable,” Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray announced recently. “We’re doing this after hearing from so many Albertans and workers who have had detrimental effects to having to work an eight-hour shift in high heels.” The new ruling isn’t about banning high heels; it’s about giving women the choice of whether to wear them or not.

Since I’m significantly taller than my husband and I’ve always put comfort ahead of appearance, I seldom wear anything higher than a kitten heel. After reading about the toll that wearing high heels regularly can have on the spine, hips, knees, ankles and feet, I’m glad that I never got into the habit. Take a look at this graphic from the Florida Hospital Medical Group Spine Health Institute to see what I’m referring to.

Screen Shot 2018-12-05 at 9.15.41 PMLooking at the two profiles, it’s easy to see why men in particular tend to favour women in high heels, but is the increase in sex appeal worth the damage that they cause?

Studies have shown that by limiting the natural motion of the foot during walking, high heels can cause increased stress on the knees and may even contribute to osteoarthritis later in life. Similarly, if high heels are worn constantly, the spine’s ability to absorb shock can result in continued back pain. The vertebrae of the lower back may be compressed and back muscles over stressed. Wearing high heels too frequently can also cause the calf muscle to stiffen and the Achilles tendon to shorten which can actually make wearing flatter shoes uncomfortable. By putting a great deal of pressure on the ball of the foot and forcing the toes into a small toe box, high heels can cause or worsen many foot problems including corns, hammertoe, bunions, Morton’s neuroma and plantar fasciitis.

Does all this mean that women should never wear high heels? Not at all. Worn in moderation, for special occasions as opposed to every day, they are unlikely to cause any long-term physical health problems. So wear them to your upcoming Christmas parties if you like, just don’t wear them to work every day. On the other hand, there are so many cute flats available these days that you might not want to wear them at all!

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Clothing ourselves for Christmas and always

/ edebock / 4 Comments

LogoFor me, fashion is a hobby, not a passion. I definitely want to look my best and I have fun putting together the outfits I wear, but I’m more concerned with who I am as a person than what I look like. The Bible speaks of this in Colossians 3:12 where it says “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Verse 14 of the same chapter says “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

These thoughts seem particularly appropriate as we approach the busy Christmas season. There are lots of ways to show compassion and kindness at this time of year, whether it be making a donation to your local food bank or filling a shoebox for an underprivileged child, but what about patience? That can be a tough one, especially when you’re trying to navigate a busy shopping mall or you find yourself caught in the slowest line at Walmart while the harried cashier waits on a price check.

One of the ways that I try to deal with the busyness of the Christmas season without losing patience is to plan ahead. I’m almost completely finished my Christmas shopping and while I’m stuck at home over the next few days, I plan to decorate and do some Christmas baking. I’ve also made a list of the various Christmas events that we’ll be taking part in during December and I’ll be shopping my closet to put together outfits and accessories for each one. That way, when it comes time to dress for each event, I won’t have the stress of trying to figure out what to wear. Instead, I’ll be in the right frame of mind to put on the qualities of He whose birth we celebrate at Christmas!

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Can I wear it 3 ways?

/ edebock / 3 Comments

LogoI frequently drop into our local thrift stores in search of used books, but invariably the clothing beckons and I have to take a look! I’ve been more disciplined in recent months, buying less and not filling my closet with impulse buys simply because the prices are irresistible. I’ve accomplished that by asking myself one simple question: Can I wear this at least 3 different ways with items that I already have in my closet? If so, it will probably be a good purchase. This doesn’t work for something like a special occasion dress, but it’s a good rule of thumb for most other wardrobe purchases, new or used.

On my most recent foray into a second hand store, this blouse caught my eye.

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Could I style it 3 ways? Easily! It’s light and airy, so I could immediately visualize myself wearing it with capris next summer or perhaps sooner if we take a winter holiday to somewhere warm. It’s also long enough to wear over leggings or skinny jeans with some of my winter sweaters including the Prep Pullover that I showed you a couple of weeks ago. I decided to try it on.

On the way to the fitting room, I spotted this.

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A plain white cotton t-shirt dress. Could I style it 3 ways? I wasn’t sure, but I thought it would be a great layering piece and that it might actually look good under the black and white blouse.

What do you think?

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Even though I might have broken my 3 ways rule with the white top, both pieces came home with me and here I am wearing them with my light grey High Skinny jeans from cabi and a pair of black booties that were also purchased second hand.

A quick and easy wardrobe winterizer

/ edebock / 1 Comment

Here on the Canadian prairie, there are lots of things that need winterizing at this time of year. I cleaned out the flower beds before the snow came and Richard took care of other winterizing tasks around the yard. He winterized the travel trailer to make sure that the water lines don’t freeze. We switched to winter tires on the vehicle, added antifreeze, and ensured that there’s a windshield scraper, a shovel, and other emergency gear stowed in the back.

LogoWardrobes need winterizing too. I did my big closet switch early last month reluctantly moving most of my summer clothes into storage and bringing out my warmer ones. This year, however, I’ve added a quick and easy wardrobe winterizer to my closet which is going to allow me to continue wearing some of my summer tops all year round! The Prep Pullover from cabi is a modern twist on an arm warmer and can be worn over sleeveless summer tops and t-shirts to ward off the winter chill.

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Here are a couple of the ways I’ve worn it so far.

In the first photo, I’m wearing the sweater with cabi’s Align Tank and a pair of faded jeans from Gap that I’ve had for several years. I added a homemade necklace to finish the look. Like the sweater, the Align Tank is from cabi’s Fall 2018 collection. In the second photo, I’ve paired the pullover with a sleeveless blouse from Uniqlo and dark wash jeans from Old Navy.

Though the Prep Pullover works well for very casual occasions, I decided to see if I could dress it up. After playing around in my closet for a bit, here’s what I came up with. I’m wearing the sweater over black leggings and the Treasure Dress from cabi’s Fall 2017 collection. What do you think? Does it work? I added a pendant necklace that mirrors the colour and shape of the pattern in the dress.

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Disclaimer:  This is not a sponsored post. I do not sell cabi nor do I benefit in any way from mentioning this brand on the blog so frequently. Obviously, though, there’s a lot of it in my closet!

Resurrecting an old favourite

/ edebock / 5 Comments

LogoIn last Friday’s post, I told you about a leopard print shirt that I almost gave away, but didn’t. I try to adhere to the wisdom of getting rid of things that I haven’t worn in the past year, but once in awhile old favourites take up long term residence on the hanging rack at the back end of our storage room and wait for a day when they might be resurrected and put back into use. This shirt was one of those. I have no idea how long I’ve had it, but I do remember ordering it from the Sears catalogue. That may even have been before the now defunct department store chain introduced online shopping in 1998! The fact that it was made in Canada is another indication of its age since it’s very hard to find anything that isn’t produced offshore anymore.

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Though animal prints are very much on trend this season, they are an enduring fashion that never really go out of style.

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I could dress the shirt up by wearing it with black pants and a dressier top, but I was going for a very casual look here. I folded back the cuffs and styled it with a well worn pair of Gap jeans, sneakers, and my 65 years bold t-shirt which is technically a lie now since today is my 66th birthday!

I’ve always preferred to wear this shirt as an unbuttoned third piece over a simple top. This breaks up the expanse of animal print which might otherwise be a bit overwhelming. Though the soft, velvet-like fabric is quite warm, it definitely wasn’t warm enough for the 4ºC (39º) afternoon when these pictures were taken! This was a very quick photo shoot and my photographer hubby was wearing a warm jacket. Perhaps the cold explains my clenched fists!

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Fashion and social justice

/ edebock / 6 Comments

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Famous jeans maker, Levi Strauss, made news last week by jumping into the gun control fray calling for stricter gun laws in the US and pledging $1 million in grants to be distributed over the next four years to non-profit and activist groups fighting to stop gun violence. The company “simply cannot stand by silently when it comes to issues that threaten the very fabric of the communities where we live and work,” wrote the firm’s president and chief executive, Chip Bergh, in a piece for Fortune magazine.

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Levi’s action followed hard on the heels of Nike who, on September 3rd, unveiled a giant billboard featuring former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, over San Francisco’s Union Square. Similar billboards followed in other cities. Kaepernick has been a controversial figure since he took a knee during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, a gesture that spread to players on other NFL teams and sparked a nation-wide debate. Nike followed up by releasing an ad featuring Kaepernick which aired during the NFL season opener on September 6th. In spite of the fact that many customers blasted the company on social media and some filmed themselves destroying Nike products and claiming that they will boycott the company, Nike reported a 31% increase in sales over the Labour Day holiday this year compared with the same time period last year.

Levi Strauss and Nike are far from the first members of the fashion industry to involve themselves in social issues. Women’s apparel brand, Eileen Fisher, proudly supports a long list of environmental and human rights groups.  Through its Heart of Cabi Foundation, Cabi, one of the largest direct sale women’s apparel businesses in the US, supports several initiatives to encourage and empower women in need around the world. Even fast fashion giant, H&M, has collection boxes in their stores worldwide aimed at recycling clothing items (any brand) and reducing the tonnes of textiles that end up in landfills. These are just a few examples.

Should companies like Levi and Nike stick to producing products and making money and leave issues like gun control and racial inequality to politicians and lobby groups or should they put consumers in the position of deciding whether or not to support these issues with our clothing dollars? When you shop for clothes do you want to have to think about whether or not you agree with the manufacturer’s ethics? After all, when you give money to a company, you implicitly support the values that that company stands for.

I’d love to hear your opinion!

 

More about Uniqlo

/ edebock / 1 Comment

LogoIn response to my last Fashion Friday post, one of my Facebook readers inquired about Uniqlo wondering if the company is Canadian or American. Uniqlo (pronounced YOU-nee-klo) is, in fact, a major Japanese casual apparel retailer. We fell in love with Uniqlo on our first visit to Japan in 2005. When we lived in Funabashi in 2008-09, it was a short bike ride from our apartment to the closest Uniqlo store and later, in 2013, when we spent a semester in Dalian, China we were delighted to find Uniqlo a short bus ride from home!

From one store in Hiroshima in 1984, the chain has spread across Asia and around the world. In addition to Japan and China, Uniqlo now sells inexpensive high quality fashion merchandise in stores in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, France, Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The first Uniqlo store in North America opened in Soho, New York City in 2006. Ten years later, in September 2016, Uniqlo entered the Canadian market with a store in the CF Toronto Eaton Centre. The company now operates two stores in Toronto and three in the Vancouver area with three more in the Toronto area and one in Vancouver’s eastern suburbs slated to open this fall. Once brand awareness has been well established in those two areas, the company is expected to branch out into secondary markets including Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa with the possibility of eventually having as many as 100 stores across the country.

For those of us in Canada who already love Uniqlo, but who live far from Toronto and Vancouver, the good news is that the company launched online sales in Canada early last month. Now you can order clothing from their mobile-only online store or app and have it delivered anywhere in Canada. As for me, I’ll be back in Vancouver next month, so I’ll shop in person.

On my last visit in June, all I was really looking for was the basic black tee that appeared in last week’s post, but before I even walked into the store, I fell in love with the dark olive sleeveless blouse on the mannequin at the entrance so it came home with me. It comes in 5 other colours and I see that it’s on sale right now.

Fashion math… thinking about cost per wear

/ edebock / 9 Comments

LogoIf you’re like me, there have probably been times when you’ve stood in a dressing room trying to decide whether or not to buy an item because the price seems too high. It fits well, looks great on you, and you love it, but can you really justify spending that much?

That’s when you need to think about cost per wear (CPW). I was never very good at math, but this formula is so simple that even I can handle it!

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The simplest version involves dividing the price by how many times you estimate that you’ll wear the item. Of course, there are other factors to take into consideration. For example, does the item need to be dry cleaned. If so, it’s a good idea to factor that cost into the equation.

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Obviously, no one knows exactly how many times they’ll wear a particular item, but here are some questions that can help you estimate:

  • Where will I wear it?
  • Is it a single season item or something that I’ll wear year round?
  • Is it a trend that will likely disappear quickly or something that I’ll probably wear for several years?
  • Is it well made? Will it keep its shape and colour through multiple wears and washes or will it wear out quickly?
  • Will it play well with other items in my closet?
  • Will I get tired of it?

Let’s look at a couple of examples. I’m planning to buy a new winter coat this year. Imagine that I find the coat I want for $250. I live in a climate where winter lasts from late October until March. Unless I slip away to somewhere warm for a couple of weeks, I’ll likely wear that coat at least once a day all winter long, so let’s estimate that I wear it 150 times over the winter months. If I keep that coat for just one year, the cost per wear would be $1.67, but I’m likely to wear it for several winters so let’s multiply the number of wears by 3. Now I’m dividing $250 by 450 and the CPW is only 56 cents! On the other hand, if I spend $250 on a dress to wear to a wedding and I only wear it a couple of other times, the CPW is over $80! In my mind, the coat is a good buy, but the dress probably isn’t.

Here’s another way to look at it. Let’s imagine that you’re shopping for a basic black sweater and trying to choose between buying a high quality one for $120 or a cheaper, poorer quality version for $24. Which one is the better buy? As counterintuitive as it might sound, sometimes buying cheap is actually more expensive. If you would wear the more expensive sweater 200 times over the next few years, the CPW would be 60 cents, but you might only get 20 wears out of that cheaper sweater before it starts to pill, stretch out of shape, or even unravel. In that case, the CPW would be 83 cents. Clearly, the more expensive sweater is actually the better buy.

For CPW to work to your advantage, you have to love and enjoy wearing your clothes to such an extent that you’re willing to continue wearing them long term instead of constantly buying new ones; you have to be willing to make fewer and more intentional purchases. That’s the whole idea! Rather than forking over more and more of your hard earned dollars for cheap quality pieces that won’t last, you’ll spend more for clothes that will last longer.

Cost per wear isn’t a hard and fast rule. Splurging on something trendy that you won’t wear long term isn’t all bad. Getting dressed ought to be fun, so achieving a low cost per wear isn’t always the desired end, but it’s a handy tool to use, especially when you’re considering a major purchase or when sales racks tempt you to buy on impulse.

So next time you go shopping for clothes, shoes, or accessories, why not do the fashion math?

#13 Haunted Lakes

/ edebock / 6 Comments

Sometimes we travel long distances to see new sights when there are hidden gems right on our own doorsteps. Though they’re only about an hour and a half from home, I’d never heard of Haunted Lakes until I started looking for new places to golf and kayak.

According to legend, the natives of the plains had been in the habit of pitching their teepees on the eastern shore of the larger of the two small lakes. Once, in midwinter, seven braves camped there overnight and when they woke the next morning, they spotted the head and antlers of a magnificent buck that was caught in the ice on the other side of the lake. They hastened across the ice to claim their prize, but as soon as they started to chop the ice around the antlers, the mighty beast, still very much alive, broke free and smashing a passageway before him, swam straight to shore and disappeared into the woods. All seven braves were drowned and it is claimed that their spirits still haunt the lake. Supposedly, every winter when the lake is frozen over, a huge fissure appears along the exact path that the deer traveled to shore.

Not being even slightly superstitious, I thought it was pretty funny when I phoned ahead to reserve a camp spot and was told that we would be in site #13! It was actually the perfect spot for us as we were able to launch the kayak directly from our campsite.

I absolutely loved the picturesque Haunted Lakes golf course!

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Never before have I had to tee off with a freight train thundering overhead!

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After playing 18 holes our first day there, we kayaked the perimeter of the lake in the evening. Though it was bigger than it appeared from the campsite, it took just a little over an hour. Later, as we sat outside the trailer doing our devotions and enjoying the evening air, Richard glanced up and noticed what looked to him like the hand of God hovering over the water!

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Our first day at Haunted Lakes was so perfect that we  hoped to repeat it the next day, but after 16 holes of golf, we were driven off the course by thunder rumbling overhead and rain beginning to fall. We spent the remainder of the day hunkered down in the trailer listening to the rain on the roof and watching the wind churn up the lake. Considering how dry it’s been here in central Alberta, we weren’t terribly disappointed, but I look forward to returning again some day and hopefully enjoying more sunshine!

IMG_20180712_133842499_HDRSince this is supposed to be Fashion Friday, here’s a picture of me golfing on another course on our little trip. This is a typical golfing outfit for me. As long as the weather allows, I’ll be found on the course wearing shorts or a skort, a sleeveless golf shirt, a ball cap, and golf sandals. And yes, that’s a knee brace. According to one of my doctors, my knees are older than the rest of me! That’s a nice way of saying that they’re arthritic. I bought the brace mainly for hiking, but since 18 holes of golf (even with a cart) was beginning to cause discomfort, I decided to try it for golfing too and found it very comfortable.

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