Alexandria's Closet is Slow Fashion

I'm not going to sit here and pretend that my sole reason for selling the clothes I no longer wear online was solely out of care for the environment. But I didn't make this decision purely for the paper chase, either. To be quite honest, it was an idea I had been playing around with in my head for a couple of years, starting in 2018.

You can get tax deductions for donating to Goodwill and similar shops, but their policies? The way they treat their workers? I just can't anymore. I could take my clothes to Jet Rag, Buffalo Exchange, or Crossroads, but why go through all that effort when they'll probably only take two items out of ten and give me much less than what I could get if I just handled the sale myself? So yeah, the idea for this collection was on my mind for a long time, but for one reason or another, I just never sat down to do it. Well… 2020 entered the chat and…

I know we could all write 1000 page novels spanning four volumes about our lives over the course of 2020 so let me just get straight to the point: between being back to couch surfing during that August and September and not knowing what the entire Christ I was going to do next to fix my life, I just told myself "fuck it", made a few calls, set aside two days, and got my ass to work. The rent was due, and I didn't have it, and I knew that this little venture wasn't going to pay it, but for the sake of everything holy I just needed to finally DO THIS.

And thus, the "From My Closet" collection was born in October 2020. 

That one night at Rhonda...

I *do* believe in both individual and collective responsibility for the environment. Capitalism has largely robbed us of the opportunity to cultivate personal relationships with our local eco-systems, and I resent that. I don't want them to win. So I'm going to do what I can. The "From My Closet" collection is a part of my praxis. Because I really do believe in sustainable fashion, in patiently developing personal style inistead of chasing fashion trends, in keeping our clothes out of landfills and useless dumping grounds overseas, in mending and taking good care of what you already have.

Emphasizing the sensuousness of a woman's neck...

Style-wise, I've always been that goth girl, and I will always be her, but my expression in my daily style has evolved over the years, and that means there's some articles of clothing and accessories that I dearly love, but need to let go of. I've got a bit of a process. When the seasons are changing, I find myself going through my dresser and closet, piece by piece, asking myself: when's the last time I wore this? Do I even see myself wearing this within the next 6 months? How about in my long term future?

Worn on several first dates in my 30s...

I want you to know, I do have an end-goal in mind. As I slowly ease into my newer style expression, I want my wardrobe to be a capsule collection that lasts for years. Since I've launched this collection, I've added some things over the past couple of years that I realized I'm no longer wearing. I will continue to let go of some stuff here and there until there's nothing left to let go of. I want to see the day where all of you whose style intersects with mine have completely cleaned me out, and I can archive the collection.

Overconsumption has gotten way out of control, and I don't want to have anything to do with it if I can help it. This is for all of you who feel me on this.

For your hot girl summer 2023

Am I going to single-handedly stop fast-fashion in its tracks? No. That's not how this works. I'm just going to do what little I can, and I'm going to spread the word while I do it. I'm going to live according to my principles. This is difficult to do, yes, but life isn't easy. Life is difficult, life is struggle. So you really have to choose your struggle. I choose the struggle that comes with being as "green" as possible with my fashion and style choices. I do not seek perfection, just honest effort. And at the end of the day, I'm okay with that struggle, that difficulty. Because I chose it.

AND I WANT MY CLOSET SPACE BACK.

Now here's something I want you to do, you who's reading this. Drop a comment below and give me + the world some examples of how you embrace sustainable/slow fashion as a way of life. Do you do clothing swaps with your friends? Do you hand down clothing to younger generations of your family? Get stubborn stains dyed? Have a local cobbler you'd like to promote? Let's get the comments going with some suggestions and examples for the people out there who might feel powerless, or who just aren't aware and would like to do better.