Why is Styling so Important?

Kate and I recently were being interviewed for a local Dallas publication called ‘Dallas Doing Good’. We were being asked excellent and meaningful question that prompted us to express in detail our heart in passion for creating Brookes Collective. These questions also pulled from our deep joy when women use their consumer power to buy into the idea of the value of human life through their shopping habits!

 One question sparked an answer in me that I realized I had never fully formulated into words before. A thought that I knew with conviction but had never had the opportunity to voice before. It was the importance of styling.

 Now, if you know Kate and I personally or you’ve gotten to know us a bit on social media, you’ll be aware that Kate is the fashionista. While I LOVE beautiful clothes, Kate has a special gift of styling things just right. She can take some basic pieces and create an entire wardrobe just by changing up accessories.

 I’ve learned so much from her and have been able to reduce my closet without giving up style because of her ability to re-create entirely different looks with a few pieces of jewelry and a shoe change! Lucky me that I have direct access to such a gift!

 So, Kate being a genius stylist wasn’t new news. The part that I hadn’t ever voiced before was what the implications of such gifts were, ESPECIALLY when she chose to share them with the world!

Think about this:

If you want to make a difference in the fashion industry and the lives affected by it (both positively and negatively)  then it’s important to reconsider how you shop. If we care about the people who are making our clothes, this will lead to slight (if not significantly) more expensive clothes. This leads us to the idea of a capsule wardrobe, or in the very least a more minimal approach because it’s about quality and who makes our clothes over the quick sale.

 However, how likely is this an actual working model if we don’t know how to style clothes differently? When we are used to wearing a shirt one way a few times and then tossing it, how important is this skill to be shared about creatively re-imaging the same pieces in a number of different ways?

Because, here’s the implication of a person who is able to do that.

1. If people are voting for the kind of companies that value human life, those companies will thrive and be able to expand.
2. If you are buying pieces that you won’t throw away after 3-5 times of wearing them, that is significantly less waste (on average Americans throw away 82 pounds of garments  per person).
3. If less waste is being thrown away, our land fills are not overflowing into the ocean thus negatively affecting major food sources in areas of the world that are already on the edge of poverty.
4. If those ocean systems and agricultural systems are not being destroyed then those people do not have to migrate and become refugees to try and find a better solution for themselves and their families. Thus, less vulnerable people groups in the world. Thus vastly reducing human trafficking, exploitation, food shortages, and decaying water supplies.

Friends, when I say styling matters, I really mean it. Your actions are important, your consumer power is vast. Let us together change this world!

#welcometothemovement