The Cottage Smallholder

A few years ago an old friend was talking about replacing her bicycle. She had just returned from a trip to Holland and wanted to replace it with the sort of Dutch bike that she’d ridden in Amsterdam. She spat out the drawbacks of her present bike and finally topped the list of reasons with the condemning cry,
“And it’s pink!”
“I rather like the colour pink.”
“It’s embarrassing. Who wants to be seen on a pink bike?”

Personally, I’d love a pink bike! I was secretly amused by this conversation as I had recently embraced the colour pink as a change to my habitual blue clothes.

After D and I split up I tried to celebrate me, what ever shape I was. It was hard as I felt boring and a bit cringey. I needed some new clothes and decided to have a bit of fun by choosing colours that I did not normally wear.

Not having much money pointed to the second hand route. I went onto eBay and found several ‘new to me’ tops that fitted the bill. Classic clothes in pink, yellow and  purple. I discovered that eBay has lots of clothes that are just worn for a season and then off loaded. Decent brands, hardly worn. I scooped some up and prinked about.

I found that changing the colours of my clothes, forced me to take more interest in my appearance. Rather than just pulling on the same old uniform you are forced to play with your clothes to see which pieces go together – which of course can be a pleasure. For the first time in years I was enjoying my clothes, felt more confident and attractive

Since then I have bought and sold quite a few clothes on eBay.

Of course people have been buying second hand clothes for decades. These savvy shoppers were ahead of the game. Now it is recognised as a good thing to do. Recycling and repairing is hip and slows the horrors of climate change.

One of my favourite designers, Gudrun Sjoden, actively encourages people to wear her clothes until they are worn out. She has sold fun patches to repair clothes in the past. Her designs are timeless and don’t go out of fashion. I do buy a few of her clothes every year – a new scarf or hat can give zing to an old dress. She has wonderful sales and of course a lot of her clothes are available on eBay.

In the eco section of her website she makes this interesting point,
“Yes, it’s probably through the washing machine at home that both you and I have the biggest impact on the environment. Generally we all wash far too often! Wear your clothes until they are dirty, before which you can air your clothes and remove individual stains.”

This thought hit home when I visited my sick dog at the vet this week and got a large watery poo deposit down the front of my shirt. I had no time to go home before other appointments so I just rose above it and hoped that my nifty Gudrun scarf distracted the eye!