TO LEAD A SUSTAINABLE LIFE
2022 JANUARY QUARTERLY ISSUE
By Andrew Sia
衣慳飾憸
超實用置裝術
It was exactly ten years ago, this couple, who happens to be my best friends and also husband and wife, Elita Lam and Liu Wing-sun, published this book. The time when I received it, I wasn’t too aware of its contents, except to use it as the guide to the juniors. You may say that it is all about the minimalist way of organizing the wardrobe.
But lately, I began to come across more and more about the resale of clothing, like FarFetch, ThredUp, RealReal, Rent the Runway, and more people are speaking thrift shops.
I picked up this book and compiled it with the other books that I have bought lately, and found that they can be really useful as the guide to the millennials and Gen-Z.
Smart Closet Makeovers
By Cynthia Overbeck Bix, Sunset Books, Menlo Park, California
Available at Amazon
Paperback at $11.46
It is a complete guide to help people to redesign and reorganize their closets to suit the needs. And since the covid, we have to find solutions for the home office, the living area, and learn how to maximize our living space when the whole family is cramped inside the same apartment.
The Curated Closet: A Simple System for Discovering Your Personal Style and Building Your Dream Wardrobe
By Anuschka Rees
Available from Amazon
Paperback at $20.03
Kindle at $15.99
The subtitle of the book tells you everything. But it is a book you must own if you want to dress yourself smartly and sensibly.
Shop smarter and more selectively and make the most of your budget.
Actually this book is reflecting the first book which I have yet to come up with a title translated into English.
Pre-Owned Clothing Business Startup
How to Start a Business Selling Vintage, Name Brand, Used & Recycled Fashion
By Marian Robinson
Available from Amazon
Paperback at $11.89
Kindle at $3.75
The book is about starting your secondhand clothing shop starting to know your customers first.
I came across so many online shops where this type of business can use—ThredUp, Poshmark, eBay, Depop, Facebook Marketplace, Tradesy, Vinted, Instagram, Craigslist, LePrix, The RealReal, Grailed, VarageSale, Etsy, and Shopify.
It makes me feel that I should start this business right away.
Why French Women Wear Vintage
Author: Aloïs Guinut
Available from Amazon
Hardcover at $19.99
Kindle at $3.99
This was the book I featured in my book report for our journal’s October issue.
In my other piece, Sustainable Fashion Report – France, I have quoted the world market for the second-hand clothing and textile was valued at $33 billion in 2020. France was not even in its top eleventh market as it was only $64 million. So that you know the top three markets are the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Anyway I would like to quote some extracts that I made in my book report to let you have some taste of the flavors for instance:
Leaner closet means:
– own fewer clothes
– know more about what you own
Clothes can bring back happy memories, nostalgic, but what do you need exactly?
the dispensable ones and those unwanted will need to go
Clothes carry memories, but say goodbye to those when you can’t wear them again
Basic means fundamental, they are the pillars of your wardrobes
There is the French saying: “loin des yeux, loin de cœur” means “far from the eyes, far from the heart”. It is like “out of sight, out of mind”.
Lastly, I made a note to the author’s record for a hundred years of prêt-à-porter has generated enough nostalgia to inspire generations of stylists:
As decades have passed, the French trends changed steadily:
– the Thirties defined a new femininity;
– the Forties and Fifties saw the rise of modern glamor;
– the Sixties, a youthful style;
– the Seventies, both hippie and bourgeois vibes;
– the Eighties empowered women to enjoy both feminine and masculine dress codes;
– the Nineties, fashionable streetstyle, while glorifying minimalism;
– the Noughties, from 2000 to 2009, it was all about being fun, fame and rock