Hi Ladies,

I haven't been round much (reading but not posting). Working full time has been an adjustment, parenting a teen has it's challenges and I am doing some other work 'on the side' so I have been super busy, but I have also wanted to take some time to reflect on my wardrobe and where I wanted it to go.

Over the last Christmas Holidays I was deeply impacted by two movies which I am sure many of you have seen. The True Cost and Minimalism:A Documentary About the Important Things.

I made some decisions and the past months have been all about working through those decision and implementing change.

I decided to source and buy only ethically made clothing, and I decided to buy less and have a more minimal (in size) wardrobe. The buy less but buy better thinking had been in mind for a long time but for some reason I was so easily seduced to just buy more lol.

Nearly 8 months down the road, this is where I am at.

• I have successfully, and continue to, source beautiful, well made and well priced ethically made clothing (mostly Australian made).

• My shopping has slowed and I have learnt to put money away and save for the items I would really like to have.
• Buying only ethicially made items is not always as easy. I have not yet addressed shoes (they tend to be very expensive) and there are some items that I don't yet feel I want to spend the big $$ on, for example sleep wear.

• So, inspired by Livia Firth, if I find myself drawn to a fast fashion item, I ask myself if it is likely that I will get 30 wears out of it. My fast fashion purchases this season have been a few sweaters that are weekend and casual wear and are on high rotation.

• I slowly realised that a very small wardrobe wasn't for me, and made peace with having what I consider to be a moderate sized wardrobe as I do enjoy variety. What I don't want though is so much clothing that I couldn't possibly wear it all, so I have achieved a wardrobe size that allows for variety and for the items to be worn regularly.

Also, during this time, I reviewed items in my wardrobe that didn't fit my criteria and either kept them and am wearing the heck out of them, or sold items that had resale value, and those that I no longer wanted to wear and were not resale-able were donated or passed to friends.

Its an ongoing, interesting and fun journey, but I am aware that it is my journey and I totally respect that others really enjoy fast fashion.

So I guess I am wondering are others on this, or a similar journey? What does it look like to you?

Sharing just a few recent outfits.

1.
Grey Poncho is a beautiful wool handmade by Australian designer Cavaletti Gallery

2.
Top is Mimi The Label - newly launched and made in Bendigo.
Sarouel pants are Cavalletti Gallery

3.
Tied Cardigan is Lulmanna - Independent Sydney designer

4.
Dress is made from Japanese Suiting fabric and is from Cavaletti Gallery.

5.
Pants from Cavaletti Gallery and Sleeveless top made by me

6.
Jacket by Motto and Oxblood top a new Australian made label I discovered recently called Swindon.

xxx Deborah

Ps, I have become addicted to Instagram so these pics are from my feed and all just a little bit 'posed'