Dressing the part for a more sustainable future
ON THE PARADOX OF MODERN MOTHERHOOD AND FASHION FIXES THAT WORK HARD FOR EVERY DAY
Adry, no-buy, social mediafree January kind of meant all or nothing this new year. I downloaded the wondrous Maura Rath’s yoga app and resisted every invite that involved wine and/or an oasis of friends who would tempt me into drinking it. I deleted the Instagram app and made a firm self promise to resist the fleeting joy of buying new clothes – definitely an Achilles heel when your job requires reviewing and writing about fashion.
I think what makes style so irresistible now is that aspirational have-to-have-it feeling. I love dressing up and I’ll always love the thrill of shopping. I live for the palpable buzz of fashion week every season, seeing collections close up, first hand or, in more recent times, virtually.
As an editor who relies heavily on new collections and trends as talking a point every week, I depend on it as much as it depends on me. But I also care about the planet. I would like to live in a world where loving clothes isn’t a cycle built on throwing them away.
As much as I love the pursuit of a hero high street piece, I’m conscious that I need to feature clothes in a way that doesn’t create huge amounts of waste. So from here on in, I’m going to cover this column in a way that better reflects the way we all wear clothes, which in the real world is really about styling what we already own and adding new staples as we indulge them.
I’m going to rewear what’s in my wardrobe, including some of my oldest favourites every week (this jacket and dress are last season pieces, the boots and beret oldies... but goodies). There will still, always, be gorgeous pieces available to buy mixed with some beloved, hand-picked preloved gems that tick all the boxes season after season. There will be more niche independent boutiques and labels because after two rather catastrophic years in business they deserve our
What a difference a year makes. Or in this case two years. In fact, two years and one week ago, Sophie Anderton spoke with me in person over coffee in Greystones – just before a world of pandemic and lockdown. Now, the former supermodel turned fashion entrepreneur is Sophie Balinska, having married her Polish aristocrat husband Baz, and we are talking over the phone. Unfortunately this time around, I’m still in Greystones, but Sophie is soaking up the sun in Oman’s Muscat, on a holiday that’s been a long time coming.
From an August wedding that had been cancelled no less than four times and a terrifying motorbike accident last September, 2021 was a tumultuous year for the newly married couple.
‘This is my “thanks so much for minding me” holiday,’ she says from her hotel room. ‘Kaz is literally only off crutches. He broke his femur and his ankle when he crashed in Bosnia while racing for Rally Raid Ireland on the Croatia to Greece rally raid. I went through a ream of emotions at the time