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| By Rachel Monique Maskell

Some things deserve a second chance

Hello Darlin’!


How’s it going? We’ve made it back to Sac town; it was a bit of an adjustment coming back, but after spending the past week getting the house sorted it feels good to be home. 


I picked up some more amazing silk scarves while in London for the shop. Ribbon scarves are in and I found several at thrift stores that I just hand washed this morning and set out to air dry. They’re so pretty blowing in the wind. 


I know there is still a bit of stigma around buying things second hand. There’s a fear that there are cooties or something lurking in the fabric that makes it unsafe. Or it’s uncool because it’s not what’s in season. Or someone will find out and think you’re too poor to buy new. 


The thing is, even these beliefs are outdated. 


We have access to laundry facilities in a way that they didn’t when cooties were actually a thing. We can wash the clothes we purchase. This should be done for new or used clothes after we buy them. 


How does anyone stay up to date with what’s in season when the amount of seasons in fashion has gone from 2 to ‘52 micro seasons’ with fast fashion anyway?

I think the positive outcome of this insane production and design schedule is we can wear what we want, what makes us happy. There’s no hard and fast trend since it’s constantly changing. 


Fiscal responsibility is a lot sexier than being broke and dealing with credit card debt. Fast fashion brands capitalize on this because they know we don’t want to spend a lot of money on clothes. The problem with their model are the garment workers on the other end. Until they are getting paid a fair working wage it feels unfair to me to be a bargain hunter for clothes that likely won’t even last. 


Second hand means feeling good about the environment and women’s rights when purchasing. Knowing that most thrift stores go back into caring for communities in need and no new chemicals or production runoff was produced through the clothes is empowering. 


Plus there are so many amazing things at thrift stores! I know not everyone has the time to sort through all the other crap that is also there so that’s why I’ve started my shop and request line


Together we can change the perspective of second hand making the most of resources that are already available.


Big big love,


RMM