It is a well known fact that today’s society is built on consumption. Multi-million companies are built not on quality and reliability, but on exact lack of these qualities. Why make an object very reliable, when it's going to be bought once and last for years when you can make it cheap and of poor quality and people are going to buy it again and again and again. This practice can be seen behind every corner of pretty much any industry, but fashion and clothing industry in general is where this practice thrives the most.
For the majority of my life, I was a victim of materialism and endless consumption itself. Why? Because it's easy and comfortable to always have a lot of things, even if you don’t need them. Its somewhat of a comfort to own a lot of things, it provides you with an illusion that in a certain moment you will have that one outfit for that one event or that hat that will look good with those shoes but in reality one has loads of clothes that serve no purpose but to collect dust and in addition to that with this kind of mindset makes you always look for more and more useless things to add to collection of needless belongings. But in recent years of my life, when the pace of life became a lot faster, I realized that it’s so much more comfortable and even healthier to own just the essentials. Owning just the essentials became my own form of freedom, whitch to my surprise was not only easy but much cheaper too. For example, I was always a little bit greedy while buying a wallet. Always spend just a few pennies, not minding much about quality. And I did that every half a year, because that’s how long those wallets used to last me. But then I decided to invest in to long-term wallet. With my teeth clenched and shaky hands I purchased a real leather wallet made by a quality brand with many years of recognition of reliability. I remember that I was so angry at myself for ,,wasting” so much money earlier. That wallet has bought 6 and a half years ago and serves me just as well as it did the day I bought. Now that I think of it I saved me a small fortune just by investing in quality. And this is how my journey into minimalism and quality started. From that wallet I started chasing not easy and accessible but high-quality items that would serve me for years. I think the hardest part of this journey was overcoming the price obstacle. After years of cheap and endless consumption, it was really hard to convince myself that the price of good quality is higher at the moment but cheaper long term. I started to apply this practice to pretty much any purchase I make regarding my clothing, food, furniture, etc. Yes, I do need to save up for a dream coffee table or scented candles a little bit longer but in the end, it’s well worth it. With a little bit of research online you will have all the knowledge that you need to be able to distinguish quality items from shiny things that will serve you a week. Some niche brands that offer amazing quality products are not even that much more expensive than world-famous fast fashion brands. Majority of my clothing servers me at least a few years or until I get bored of them and pass along to my friends because even after some time of me using them, they still look and serve extremely well and all this is because I bought them to last.
This experience of mine I could describe as cleansing. Getting rid of loads of cheap and unnecessary belongings and investing in long-term clothes was a truly freeing experience. I would advise everyone reading this to give it a try. At first it will be difficult and even scary, but after a while, it will be a true joy to see quality and reliability on and around you instead of endless buying of the same items. In conclusion, minimalism and long-term purchases were and still are some of the things that make my life easier and I hope that I will make your life’s easier too.
