We live in a time of fast fashion, constantly chasing trends, from fringe to frayed jeans and flared sleeves. And look, I like following fresh fashion ideas as much as the next girl, but I also think there needs to be a balance. For me, a wardrobe should be built on great quality staples that can outlive seasons, and that can be transformed with one or two new trend pieces.
Style is not about shopping the latest pieces but instead about being creative with the items you already own.
A while ago Skip approached me to take part in the #SkipCareChallenge and show people that it is better to care for and re-wear your clothes. The challenge was to wear one piece of clothing to three different outings, each time styling it in a new way. If you mix gentle care with creativity you can wear your favourite pieces again and again.
Brilliant.
I love this message because, firstly, I think most South Africans don’t have enough spending power to afford all the things we buy (I definitely don’t), and yet we’re constantly lured to splurge on more. And secondly, fast fashion retailers aren’t always doing an eco-friendly job (I’ll leave you to quickly Google that).
The point is, I think we need to rethink fashion.
Skip also teamed up with South African celebrity and fashion icon, Enhle Mbali, who was brave enough to sport the same bright blue Gert Johan Coetzee dress at three different high profile events. These parties are all about showing off, getting snapped in hot new designer pieces and getting the perfect pics for your social media platforms. So the fact that a Enhle, with her 300K Instagram followers chose to show you could re-wear a the same dress is huge!
This challenge forced me to rethink my wardrobe. I chose a shirt dress that I’ve had for a while, and has given me so much love over the last few years. For our visit to Kamers/Makers in Stellenbosch I styled it over jeans, with a thick wrap-around belt around my middle. The second date was a review of Boschendal at Oude Bank, also in Stellenbosch. It was a scorcher of a day so I wore the dress as is, loose and flowing with a straw hat and sandals. And for the third look we headed to review Si Cantina Sociale at the Silo District in Cape Town, where I styled the dress over high-waist shorts and a slogan T, with my favourite espadrilles.
What do you think?
Look 1
Look 2
Look 3
