Anarchy of Roses: PROJECT: concon + dressing down

By Neslihan
I'm starting with a 'new' project that can be summarized by a stupid abbreviation: 'concon'. It stands for 'CONsume CONsciously' and it's not gonna be about me 'presenting an example' or being a rolemodel but it's an attempt in what I would see as consuming consciously. I just want to be more aware of what I'm eating but above all of wat I'm wearing. I've been a vegetarian over a year now. Not a strict one but I wasn't a firm meat-eater (sounds like a pokemon or something) either. It got me thinking about the origins of meat, about the production process actually. It got me so mad to actually know how our fine piece of steak was being produced. How animal- and people-unworthy. I was really frustrated and figured I couldn't be anymore ignorant about this. So I decided to become a flexible vegetarian (or flexitarian BUT GOSH, HATE THAT WORD). Right now I'm at a point of no return. I want to know why my tee only costs 6.95 at H&M? How do they make their clothing so accessible when it comes to the price tag? Could it be that they're also keeping their production costs low by using child labour and disgusting Indian workplaces, which also lack hygene? I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new, I mean you've read countless articles and you probably also have seen a lot of documentaries on this subject. So why do we keep our eyes closed for this problem? Probably because it's easier and cheaper. But I think we owe it to ourselves to know where our clothing comes from and in which circumstances it's being produced. We have to know what the moral price is of budget fashion. And that's what I'm going to do for the upcoming months. I'm not saying I'm going to quit high street shoppig because I can't due to 'financial instability' (I'M A STUDENT, YOU KNOW) but I will think twice before I start impulse shopping. Do I need this? Is the price worth the quality? Do I have something similar already? So, I'm not gonna go extreme on this one. I just want to be more aware of the product of misery I'm buying. And I will monthly report about this.
Another topic that joints this topic effortlessly is a new way of dressing called 'dressing down' (it's actually a counterpart to dressing up). I read about it in Elle Hollands september issue. And it basically comes down to this: you wear a lot of basics and plain colours. The fabrics have to be floaty and the cut has to be seemlessly perfect but simple. You can actually see it as a sequel to 90's minimalism but less firm than minimalism because there is actually room for fooling around. But not too much fooling around since you don't want to look crafted. It's about being pure and getting dressed for the sake of getting dressed. And with my new 'project' (sounds so cool but it's actually something individual) coming up, I might just as well embrace that philosophy.

This 90's couple got the concept of dressing down. Winona Ryder chose for a simple black dress with a very basic cut and Johnny went for a suit and an unbuttoned white shirt. Also notice how Winona kept her hair very simple.