ThatChelseaGirl

Sustainable Wardrobing 101

I am in the third year of a self-defined shopping ban. At the beginning of the year, I published an Instagram Story about my personal shopping ban to share my knowledge and tips on how to be successful at creating & maintaining a sustainable wardrobe. Since then, many people have asked how I stay true to my wardrobe goals. Friends often ask how they can embark on dressing more sustainably and/or ethically.

To be clear: My shopping ban is not an act of virtue signalling. I initially participated because I wanted to curb my spending, minimize my wardrobe, and put focus & money towards other pursuits.

Pretty darling, why don’t you go & cut your hair?

I very much resent a specific trope of female characters in movies & television: after she experiences a terrible breakup, the woman lead cuts her hair, trims new bangs or dyes her hair, typically with disastrous results (see: The WB’s late-90s TV classic Felicity). My resentment of the post-breakup hairdo is why it’s never been my modus operandi. I first dyed my hair in the 5th grade, years before my first relationship, let alone messy breakup. The color I chose was red, and I was obsessed.

Born a blonde, by age five my locks had turned brown with blonde & red highlights. I dyed my hair a caramel-blonde in high-school, and went for a dark auburn for a few months in college. While my hair changed color, the silhouette remained long and curly. Growing up, I combed out my curls so much that when I finally stopped, someone asked if I’d paid for a perm.

Baby Chels, regretfully damaging my curls by brushing them out.

Intention.

My intention for this blog and online portfolio is to showcase my work, past & present.

In 2009, I began a style blog titled Bella Vogue. Bella Vogue centered on the growing & bustling fashion scene in Austin, TX. In 2014, after eloping to Alaska, I ceased updating BV, but the experience of creating and maintaining BV afforded me many wonderful opportunities, both for fun and for work.

A few things have changed for me since I last seriously chronicled my adventures on the Internet, and many things have changed for the Internet itself: