Trust Me, Wear Other People’s Clothes
Exchanging clothes with friends and family will enrich you and your closet
If you Google how to dress more sustainably, one of the first pieces of advice that will appear among the results is to exchange clothes with friends and acquaintances. At first, this sounds utopian. It's as if everyone has a cheerful community that meets once a month to exchange starter cultures, tomato seeds, homemade cheese, and a few pieces of clothing. The reality is often quite different, at least in my environment. You may get some discarded garments from friends and family that they don't like, and there is little chance you will like them, too. Or worn-out rags suitable only for repurposing as cleaning cloths. What was worth having, they sold on second-hand platforms. Nevertheless, consider this advice because, although rare, you can catch truly valuable pieces in clothing exchanges with loved ones, which has happened to me by chance several times.
My friend Veronika has a sizable clothing collection, although she would disagree with that statement. Every few months, when she organizes her clothes, she sends me a piece she thinks I might like. She gave me a lovely tight plaid dress that I wore to death. I toned it down a bit this winter by switching to skirts and pants, but before that, I wore it to all family gatherings, business obligations, and events. Everyone is sick of it by now. She also gave me beautiful vintage earrings, a black coat, and a few more dresses that I wear in the summer months.
I don't often peek into my mom's closet, but recently I went in and found a superb classic blue shirt. I had been looking for precisely that for a long time, but I surrendered to the philosophy I already wrote about - to simply let the pieces I’ve been looking for find me. Then the catch is even sweeter, and I know it came right when it was supposed to. Just like this shirt.
Among my favorite things from other people's closets are two dresses and a skirt from a family friend, Aunt Milka. She sewed them herself for her daughter-in-law about forty years ago, so each piece has a hand-finished lining as it used to be done, and that's why I feel like I'm wearing couture rather than linen dresses made at home. She gave them to me ten years ago, and I still wear them every summer. I patched up the small flaws that occurred from wear and tear myself because I wanted to extend their lifespan as much as possible, and they’re still as good as new.
The stories these pieces carry move me, as well as the fact they were a part of the life of the person who wore them before me. I don't choose them just because they're more sustainable and better for the environment but because they carry uniqueness, sentiment, and warmth. These emotions are the reason why I'm so passionate about clothes and fashion as a whole. And the reason why I share this newsletter with you every week.
And now, an announcement! I would be thrilled if you joined me at Najs Buvljak, which will take place next Saturday, April 22, in Zagreb, where I will speak on a panel about sustainability in fashion and sell some of my clothes. I will donate all the proceeds to the Fashion Revolution, which fights for a clean, safe, fair, transparent, and responsible fashion industry. See you there!
Love the quote about each piece carrying sentiment and warmth - I always think about people wearing my sh clothes before me and their experiences, it kinda makes the clothes special.
I used to do it in high school with my girlfriends and I definitely miss it - Few years ago I removed from my wardrobe pieces I was sure I was no longer going to use ( definitely not at my age ) to give them to my nieces and to friend’s daughters - quite beautiful pieces of course. I made them happy and I made my self even happier.