You don’t really need to be very much into fashion to have your fashion rituals. You can be next to it, beyond it, or even against it. Trailing around vintage stores, creating your own capsule wardrobe, or scrolling through sales on Fartech, Mytheresa, Lyst (…) platforms, and Pinterest boards before falling asleep can be your daily fashion rituals. Same as finding solace in the ‘I HATE TRENDS AND ALL THE STYLISTS’ world, where I also occasionally live before falling in love with THAT dress Pernille Teisbaek is wearing (still trusting my own fashion gut, though!). So, we all tend to practice various fashion-related rituals in bigger or smaller doses, and, therefore, your name can certainly be added next to my dear comrades and their fashion rules, as well as rituals below.
Ausra: encoding different meanings
(who else can be a better comrade to me than myself?)
My core fashion ritual is conveying a message of contrast through my outfits. I love encoding different meanings of it in my ‘signature’ looks, be it a feathered blouse with sneakers, cowgirl boots with a silky dress, or sartorial a blazer with a kitschy t-shirt underneath. The ritual of dressing up becomes quite manifest when I want to connect vintage with contemporary, like making the past make sense in the current ‘zeitgeist’. I am not a big fan of well-polished, clean-cut looks, so for me, or rather on me, they need to be at least half-unpolished, with avant-garde(-ish) shapes and bohemian rhapsody extravaganza. Not to forget the ritual of putting on the ‘artsy’ glasses every day to perceive fashion as a kind of art, tickling my senses and imagination.
Lina: creating a mood
My fashion rituals are rather simple. First, I always think of what kind of mood I want to create and how I feel. Is it playful? Or maybe strict? Secondly, I try to match the ‘winner outfit’ in my head like a Clueless movie computer. I think of a silhouette and materials I would like to wear. It’s definitely the question of mood when choosing the right outfit. Sometimes, I am wearing a certain outfit because of the good mood it always creates. But the most important fashion ritual is to let something go before purchasing a new item. This is how I get everything to fit in my closet! It’s a good exercise because if I am not willing to let something go, maybe I don’t need a new item either.
Krista: the environment that surrounds me
In summer, I get inspired by sea waves, liquid sunsets, and green nature. In autumn, I find myself inspired by watching the city and people return to its fast pace. In spring, you can find me in my favorite coffee spot, sipping coffee made from freshly roasted coffee beans and flipping through the magazines that I had brought from trips abroad. And lastly, in winter, I dedicate a lot of time to my closest environment – my home, which I decorate and change by various interior details. The environment that surrounds me all year around dictates a sense of my clothing choices, as well as my fashion rituals. This is probably the reason why I can find a pair of converse sneakers in my closet that I put on to wander over the dunes, but also a pair of high heels when I feel like going to the ballet to enjoy the performance and have a glass of champagne.
Simona: sensitivity to smell
One morning she wakes up with a light and lifting feeling in her heart, as well as a mind full of adventurous spirits. She takes a deep breath of fresh air. This woman has been known for her sensitivity to smell, and that throughout the years has shaped her way of embracing the world, remembering profound fragments of life – travel experiences, people, discussions, pieces of art, architecture. Although special, this morning also has one element that connects all mornings of her past – a ritual. It is a rather simple one and so special to her that it gets mind and heart ready for the day. After she sprays her favorite perfume with the delicate scent of leather, tobacco, and lime, adds a colorful layer of clothing to her outfit and a small piece of jewelry, she takes another breath looking powerfully in the mirror, being ready for the world…
Gerda: notion of a specific period of history
I am always inspired by many things – art, music, literature, and everything else that expresses the notion of a specific period of history. To put it short, I love to travel in time with my outfits! Today I am listening to 60s music, have opened up an article on Carnaby street, so I will put on my flower shirts and wear huge golden earrings for the occasion. When I am enjoying Rothko’s painting, I find myself covered in black leather shirts and wearing iconic YSL Opium released in 1977. So basically, my closet belongs to multiple historical personalities – hard to maintain, but it is so much fun to be everyone you want!
Goda: choosing a different role every day
I am a firm believer in nonverbal communication. So, that’s why style and clothes are particularly important to me. I work in fashion, and I love it. I especially like clothes because you can play with them, choosing a different role every day. Every morning, I ask myself: who am I today? A businesswoman who is trying to sell her idea to a client? Or maybe a speaker/artist introducing the audience to the advantages of daily drawing? A stylist who is going to run from shop to shop all day? I choose the role, and clothes are here to help me in embodying that role. More than half of my closet is vintage. Some accessories are from my years as a teenager. And every week, I clean my closet carefully: fixing clothes, cleaning shoes, ironing and folding. I look well after my clothes, so that’s why they serve me for such a long time. But at the same time, I hate when people start serving for clothes. I mean when they work and live for fancy stuff. Pardon, but in the end, they are only clothes, even if it’s so fun to play with them.
Agne: women constantly bringing magic
My fashion ritual is probably a daily inspiration from all amazing women constantly bringing magic into our world through their sense of fashion and elegance. I love looove @smythsisters, who’s an Irish fashion blogger. I’m also a huge fan of a Danish brand ROTATE Birger Christensen run by two of my muses, Jeanette Madsen and Thora Valdimars (THE dress I am wearing in the picture is by ROTATE). And of course, I could not say no to Rat & Boa, also admiring one of its founders Valentina Muntoni. All the great feels.
