Fashion: the pros and cons of a constantly changing world.

I don’t know about you, I’ve never been particularly attached to fashion.

It doesn’t mean that I ignore it completely. Because, as in all things, there are pros and cons.

Let’s look at them together but let’s focus on our soft world of knits, wools, yarns and everything that our hands can do with knitting needles and crochet.

The pros of following fashion:

1. following trends is certainly an important push, thanks to which we ignite the desire to renew our wardrobe, the desire to buy a new wool and make a new sweater, a new scarf, a new hat… choose new colors, those that, perhaps, you have never considered before…

2. following fashion trends encourages us to learn and experiment. It awakens our creative side. And it is something very very valid, regardless of whether we are beginners or experts in knitting.

Let me give you an example: if braids are in fashion (and this year all 3D sweaters will be in fashion, so braids too), if you want to follow fashion and you don’t know how to do them, you’ll want to learn. Right? So fashion pushes you to learn.

If, on the other hand, you are an expert and you know how to do braids very well, you will surely be able to invent original and personal braids. Your creativity will be unleashed thanks to new trends.

3. follow some fashion trend, making even a simple accessory in wool: a scarf or a hat can give us a wonderful feeling of security and self-esteem.

“I made it, with my own hands” – you will proudly say to those who pay you a compliment noticing what you have made.

There are also cons. Let’s see what they are.

1. to follow fashion to the letter, you need a lot of money. Who among us can afford to change a lot in their wardrobe… and do it at least once a year. Very little. Usually we try to enrich our wardrobe with a new sweater. And that’s okay!

I can’t afford to buy a new coat every year, but I can always have a new scarf or hat. The costs of wool, even fine wool or even cashmere, or a cashmere blend are not that high (check out the prices on the Hircus Filati website)… and those who know how to knit and crochet should consider themselves really lucky.

2. the fashion industry is, unfortunately, among the most polluting in the world.

For example, the production of 1 kg of cotton has a very high cost. The data is truly frightening.

Doing research I discovered that to produce 1 kg of cotton you need from 7,000 to 29,000 liters of water… not to mention pesticides and fertilizers, and greenhouse gas emissions.

For this reason, I believe recycling (even creative recycling) is very important. I prefer to buy wool, cashmere, eco-casmere or fine yarns such as alpaca, etc. that I can always reuse. Years ago our grandmothers never threw away an old sweater, it was unraveled to recover the yarn and make another piece.

3. social pressure: “you are not dressed fashionably, you could feel like a category B person”. Unfortunately in some environments this pressure is considerable. But we, common people, know that “the habit does not make the man”, right? So let’s get knitting and squash these feelings of inadequacy.

4. fashion changes quickly and what was good a few years ago could be completely out of fashion today… and what do I do? Throw it away? Of course not!!! Fortunately in the world of knitting these changes are not so radical. Just look at old fashion magazines.

Moral of the story? Let’s observe fashion, yes, but only take what enriches us internally, that makes us feel good and cultivate our passion for knitting, and then… let’s face it, some models are truly extravagant.

Alicja Kwartnik  per Hircus Filati