Question 6. Are you disappointed by the choices available to you for dressing?
Answer: “I am sometimes disappointed but I’ve found one shop in particular that suits my body shape. I also like the hunt of trying to find great things secondhand. I love spending a few hours sifting through clothes to find one of two great pieces. I am a size ten on the bottom, but broader on the top, so I don’t suit clothes made for women with more ‘womanly’ shapes (e.g. pear and hourglass). This can be frustrating but I’ve learned my shapes.”

Question 7. On a scale of passive to highly involved – what is your relationship with fashion like?
Answer: “Involved.”

Question 8. Do you find dressing an easy/enjoyable/other experience?
Answer: “Easy.”

Question 9. Does clothing allow you to be imaginative and express yourself?
Answer: “Yes- it lets me portray an image of who I am on the inside, which is a creative, storing and feminine person. I think fashion can do that.”

A well-edited, relatively minimal wardrobe that is small in quantity but rich in depth.

It was sorted according to the suggested categories, but a lot of thought and time went into analysing the motivation behind each one of the items. The hues contained within the wardrobe tended to be very neutral with an occasional pop of colour.

The garments are not thought of as individual pieces but instead are part of groupings or outfits as each item of clothing has its place in an ensemble. This strategy makes for ease of dressing and assembling outfits.

Her minimal wardrobe was a conscious decisions she made after becoming a mother as her priorities changed she decided that she had ‘enough clothes for my life.” She decided to turn her “critical eye to my clothes”.

She is very confident and clear in her thoughts and motivations towards her wardrobe as everything she does is rationalised and connected to who she is and what she believes in. We found this very inspiring.

She doesn’t believe in excess and doesn’t buy into consumer culture; she says she ‘wants to be mindful’.

She thinks about the day in terms of clothing, “what outfit does today look like?” She sets herself parameters – as she never does too casual or too formal which allows her wardrobe to operate within a narrow but clearly defined band.

She enjoys shopping, and finds looking, not necessarily buying, and meditative. But before embarking on a tip she makes a list and asks herself the question before buying, ‘do I like what I am buying more than what I am wearing?”

We, the wardrobe hackers would like to propose an exchange of services. We would like you offer you the following: 

Based on what we know of your style/approach to clothes, we could offer to change the skirt and top that you no longer wear in order to breathe some life into them.  

In return we would like you to 'turn your critical eye' (as you described at the Hack) to your wardrobe.   We would love to see how you develop this further as we think so many people could learn from your approach to dressing and your system/approach to fashion.

The way you create 'outfits' is very interesting, as are the parameters you ‘self impose’ on your dress code. You never really go too casual or formal which enables subtle degrees of change and a minimal wardrobe. We found your 'hunt' approach to shopping very interesting, as is your 'mindful' approach to dressing/shopping, which would be really illuminating to share with others.

We found your rich philosophical and intellectual connection with clothing to be very interesting- we would love to hear more about this- in your words?

“Factors that influence my wardrobe are: My wardrobe must be influenced by a whole range of factors that I’m not aware of- for example I am now wearing a lot of dresses because they came back into fashion and therefore became available to me. It’s obviously influenced by my perception of self, and my politics (liberal, feminist, greenie), and also by being a mother (I need functional clothes, but I also think the softness and romanticism that has come into my style- which used to darker- some from motherhood) .As a feminist I want to dress in a way that is feminine, strong, and sexy, because I think woman can be all of those things.

I think I try to express my creative engagement with the world through colour and folk influences, and my desire to have an individual style.

As an environmentalist I want my clothes to be either secondhand or from an organization that has an ethical business model. I don’t want to be part of the culture of consumerism or excess.

My clothes make me feel:
Feminine, light, strong, sexy a modern woman, like a mother, aware of the past (60’s, 70’s) and individual.

“Accessories are a huge part of making my wardrobe work. I tend to think of my wardrobe as a set of outfits, rather than individual clothes. Each outfit will have a summer and a winter version (if possible). For example, every dress has a pair of flats and a pair of boots that I wear with it, and a jacket. This means that I wear the same clothes all throughout the year.” (see picture of outfit on floor).

We, the hackers would like to work with you on further developing the mode and method of communicating your approach to clothing and your wardrobe.

We feel it is your deep understanding and connection with dress as an expression for your values, philosophies, and understanding of your own physical and inner world that has truly transcended the narrow commercial views about fashion (Fletcher, K (2009).

We want to share this with the world and want to work with you on developing a method that communicates it in the most effective manner- this could be a combination of spoken word, film, diagrams etc.?

We would like to offer you the opportunity to speak to the other participants in the forum about your ideas. We could all learn so much from you and your simple yet intellectual approach to dress.

Related links

Ethics of Use - Local Wisdom
Alternative Dress Codes - Local Wisdom