A Fashion Lesson I've Learned During Quarantine...

These past few months of quarantine have been weird to say the least...

And for many people it's been stressful, depressing, and exhausting. I don't think anyone truly saw this coming. And if you're like me, you were definitely ill prepared. I had just got back from a trip in Miami when I got the call from my boss that we weren't going to be working in the office for the next two weeks. "Awesome!" I thought. But then came more weirder news... 

There was a curfew in the city I lived in, they would only allow 15 people in the grocery at a time, every store, restaurant and bar was closed, and people were even talking about the possibility of shutting down the borders of entire states. I panicked. I was all alone in my apartment and as news articles started to circulate that this could go on for a lot longer than 2 weeks I knew I had to leave and head back to my hometown to be with my family. Things were getting particularly bad in nearby NYC and New Jersey where I lived. I felt like a prisoner. So I grabbed a few things and headed back to CT. 

First, let me start off by saying I pride myself on always being a light packer. Every time I travel I like to travel with the smallest amount of luggage as possible. It's just too stressful carrying around so much stuff and I hate it. However, I had decided early on in quarantine that I wanted to use all this extra free time inside to create content and post more to instagram and start this blog! So aside from the basics I made sure to also pack a couple of cute outfits like a pink corduroy shirt, some jewelry, and a pair of jeans and a bomber jacket. I thought to myself, I think these clothes will last me for the next month. Hah! Little did I know I'd be trapped in CT for the next 90 days.

After just a few weeks of being home I realized of course I had severely under packed and I was slowly running out of outfit ideas and I had so much that I wanted to post. Thank god my mom is also obsessed with fashion so I was able to borrow a few of her clothes but for the most part I was stuck with clothes I had sitting in my room since high school, or reject clothes I had left at home because they wouldn't fit in my closet in my apartment and I deemed them "not worth it." This, coupled with the fact that I wanted to save as much money as possible because I just didn't know WHAT was gonna happen to the economy/my job/ the world?? I decided to try and make it work with what I have and let me tell you... its been challenging but also super rewarding.

So here is my lesson: Buy less, use what you have and before you donate that piece of clothing you think isn't in style anymore, why don't you put it in storage for a little while. I think I needed to realize this more than anything. I was on a bad path of donating anything and everything that takes up space in my room that I haven't worn in the past couple months or was something I thought wasn't in style anymore. I would shop at fast fashion retailers CONSTANTLY to keep up with every trend and I wanted everything I wore to feel and look new all the time. This isn't sustainable!!! Not only is this bad for your wallet this is bad for the environment too. If there is one good thing that's come from this horrible pandemic it's the fact that I've saved so much money and took a step back from my normal life to reevaluate how I was living. I was spending so much money on dumb things like $20 cocktails at happy hour and overpriced coffees before work. I'd buy new clothes every single week. I'm so happy to be able to say for a fact I won't be going back to these yucky spending habits once quarantine is over. I've saved so much money these past few months I was able to pay off my entire credit card... something I was hoping to do by 2021. It felt amazing and I know a huge reason why I was able to do that was my self control when it comes to shopping.

So here's a pic of me in a pair of sneakers I was about to throw out because I thought they were "dirty", a tube top I've had since I was literally 16 that I left in my drawer at home to collect dust, and a sweatshirt I hadn't worn in a year because I didn't like the way it fit. Showing you this to hopefully inspire you to use the pieces you have, even if you think they're not worthy, it truly is all about how you style them.

This year has been one giant wake up call for me and this is a lesson I want to live by in 2021 and all the years to come, so here's to saving our clothes, buying less, recycling more, and constantly challenging ourselves to use what we have!!!