4 years later
Same as it ever was
8.05am, Monday 17th of February 2025
I found this in my notes app. Something I’d written years ago when things now past were new, growing familiar. It’s interesting to me because before re-discovering this I had written a Wardrobe Tour explaining how I organise my clothes and what goes where in my current home.
A more in depth 2025 retrospective edition to come perhaps another time, or maybe it’s already been. For now please enjoy the same thoughts and feelings but from a younger me!
11.03am 8th of January 2021
I do a lot of thinking about my clothes. I can’t call myself a minimalist or say that I have a capsule wardrobe.
In fact - I have a lot of clothes. Mainly different versions of the same thing. I have 4 variations of the chore pant, 3 chore jackets and about 6 different poet shirts.
It’s taken a long time to accept that I may always have more clothes than others. But I wear 90% weekly and I put time and thought into designing and curating to ensure that I can pair all my tops with all my bottoms in all weather, any season.
If you have seen me recently I’ve probably told you that I just moved house. From a place with lots of in built storage to one with none. (but man, wooden floor boards are nice!)
This has me thinking even more! about my clothes... where will they go? I bought some beautiful dressers but how can I still rotate everything if I can’t always see it, will it still smell fresh or go musty ? (This last thing had me wiping every drawer down with essential oil, popping any extra soap in the drawers and making dried lavender bundles (from Jenna’s Mum’s garden!)
I have such a connection with things I wear that if I forget about it I feel guilty.
This is where story selling has come in handy ~ once a sample has served its purpose and I’ve washed it, worn it, seen the fabric settle, checked the pockets. If I’m not reaching for it weekly or (at all in one season) then I love for it to get a new home with someone who will.
I think my whole mentality on all of this seeps into my practice. I want to create season-less pieces that you love. that are your clothes for best but also work for lying around your home or going to the pool. Multipurpose, ultimate comfort.
9.22am, Monday 17th of February 2025
Back to today. Isn’t this cool to reflect on?
The same themes and ideas. Chore Pants now updated to the Harvey’s, all my Chore pieces sold via my stories on instagram in what I coined “Story Selling”. A pun on Story Telling, where each of my own worn pieces sold had a sentimental story included in their listing. A nod back to the entire meaning behind name and concept of my brand.
“Archive”
A word I had never found paired with clothing when I started. To find my business’s name, I looked up synonyms to Library ~ as the pieces I worked on were always an extension of my own worn and love wardrobe. Evolving over time. History and memories.
Even the *capsule wardrobe* thinking! During our Auckland Pop Up (in May 24), Anna and I chatted over what we actually considered one, and then I wrote a newsletter on it over Spring diving deeper.
Last year, I managed to find a copy of a book from the 80’s by the designer who coined the term.
I hope to do a review (of sorts) or maybe an essay on it sometime.