Soraya van Kooij (31) is participating for the first time. Sustainability is a subject she says she has been working on for a long time, but until recently little was done about clothing. “I could call myself a shopaholic. Every time I had a party I bought a new shirt or dress, which disappeared in the closet and ended up in the pocket for charity.”
“My good intention for this year was to buy less clothes,” she continues. “I can take the challenge, but I also know from experience how difficult it can be to buy nothing if I have been scrolling through a web shop for a while and really want to have that one pair of shoes.”
Primal instincts
Participant and former fashion blogger Sandra Kleine Staarman (35) has an explanation for this. “You will keep the desire for something new and you will be constantly influenced, online on the street. The fashion industry knows how to respond to our primal instincts. If we think we need something in the short term, we will soon pass to an impulse purchase. “
Kleine Staarman renounced her collaborations with fashion brands and now has a blog where she focuses on the psychology behind consumerism. “Giving in to the desire for a new garment just gives you a good feeling. In addition, some clothing and accessories have a status-enhancing effect. We also don’t see the negative effects of the fashion industry here, which are in developing countries.”
Van Kooij wants to be “nice and comfortable”, but says that she does not always have to buy something new. “I am creative with what I already have in my closet. And I look for possibilities outside my own wardrobe: I borrow or exchange clothes with my mother and my sister.”
–
