2018 was the transition from second to third year of medical school and all the responsibilities and growth and worry and challenges and accomplishments that go along with that. I did not, in fact, carefully develop and curate a professional wardrobe for the wards, but instead kind of just trundled along faking it with clothes that I already owned. I think I'm okay with that.
There are a lot of other things that happened in 2018, but as always, here is a roundup of the clothes that I bought. This is a practice to keep myself accountable, but also help forecast what I will need and want to buy in 2019. I think there has been a shift away from listing and counting in minimalism, but that kind of thing is in my nature.
- Calypso St. Barth green silk embroidered dress - secondhand, Poshmark - $46 - this was a dress I had saved to a Pinterest board sometime early in college, and I found it on Poshmark and bought it with two friends' weddings in mind
- Grey wool trousers - secondhand, gifted - $0 - my sibling bought these trousers from some thrift store and gave them to me. I didn't think I would wear them as much as I do.
- Uniqlo blue striped linen shorts - $20 - nailed it with these shorts, wore them all summer
- Eileen Fisher black silk t-shirt - secondhand, Poshmark - $30 - not a lot to say about this, other than I wear it weekly and hand wash it
- Uniqlo black ponte dress - $30 - bought after our cat died, a bit too short for some clinical situations, but I do wear it to didactics
- Uniqlo blue down puffy - $70 - as mentioned in this post
Total - 6 items, $196
Reflecting on this: it's not a lot, and I do see many flaws in my wardrobe pertaining to not enough. I am wearing through my hardworking black ballerina flats. A lot of my undergarments and socks are either falling apart or have undergone repairs - by the way, I'm pretty happy about increasing my skills in mending clothes! But I still anticipate replacing many things soon. While I don't think I look shabby, I do think I have room to improve my professional appearance. Ultimately, I'll be in a specialty that is in scrubs the vast majority of the time, so maybe I'm holding out on buying professional clothes to really nail in the quality over quantity point.
My last point of reflection is really about minimalism, and also about materialism. I think I understood this year that I actually am pretty materialistic in the sense that I have very strong, emotional attachments to my belongings, which makes decluttering hard. On the flip side, I really do subscribe to minimalism and hate excess in my life, so I restrict myself in owning things because I don't like to part with them. Somewhere, there is a balance between (1) being detached from earthly possessions and not letting them possess you, and (2) being attached to your stuff and in turn treating them with respect and care. Some intersection of the two is the basis of rejecting our modern disposable culture, and the basis for a ton of William Morris quotes/wardrobe curation/simple living and slow fashion/ethical consumption. Something something no ethical consumption under capitalism, but also, I don't know how I feel about influencers in this sphere. Greenwashing, too.
Anyways, that's it. Happy (belated) New Year to all!
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| Four years later, I finally bought a pair of black ankle boots! More on them later. |
That Calypso St. Barth dress is really lovely. I like the combination of colors. Looks like it'd be comfortable to wear too, especially in warmer weather.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if we follow the same ethical fashion discussions on Instagram (I always used to conflate ethical fashion, minimalism, and some aspects of zero waste, but I don't think it's accurate anymore, at least with the communities on Instagram), but I've had a lot of... thoughts about it. I'm often confused by what is happening, in part because it's really hard to follow along with discussions on Instagram.
I think we must follow the same ethical fashion discussions on Instagram - I'm more of a lurker than a poster, and sometimes the discussions make my head spin. Paris-to-Go, though on the far end in her number of items owned and generally not involved in that kind of infighting, keeps it real and is a barometer for how far off some other Instagrammers are.
DeleteThe green dress is amazing in real life! The green is very multidimensional, and the embroidery is really cool. It was something I had on my Pinterest board since early college and I was very happy to find it. I hope my friends don't mind me outfit repeating at their weddings.
I'm definitely a fan of having one really great dress and wearing it to just about everyone's weddings!
DeleteAnd yeah, I think Paris to Go is the only "old school" minimalism/zero waste blogger (as I see it, and I think I became aware of that community relatively "late") I followed who has now become active on Instagram, and she's super sensible! Oh man, I have had so, so many thoughts on the discussions on there, particularly the discussions about diversity and inclusion, topics that are near and dear to my heart. It's really complicated to me, and er, I generally come out thinking that no one who is super-active in those discussions comes out looking well (whether the people initiating these conversations in the name of diversity and inclusion or the people that they criticize for perceived failings). Anyway, haha, there aren't many people whether online or offline who might know what I'm talking about when I bring up this particular set of internet kerfluffles, so I get too excited about having the opportunity to talk about it!
I also try not to own much, but am intentional about what I do own (or I try to be hahh...). I haven't really thought about how that might opposing ideas of materialism. I don't think there's anything wrong with being attached to what you own if you've given thought to the joy and/or utility it gives you, which you clearly have! // My closet has always lacked in shorts, but this past summer I bought a pair of shorts from Gap that I ended up wearing all the time, so I'm super happy with that purchase! Your Uniqlo blue striped linen shorts were a great pick :D as well as your Uniqlo ultra light down jacket, which I also bought last year :3 -Audrey | Brunch at Audrey's
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