Bringing Social Justice to My Closet--Part One

Trying to bring all areas of my life within a socially just arena has been an ongoing process.  I remember when I first started looking at the issue of human trafficking, it just seemed too big, too complicated to even begin to advocate for change, and trying to figure out how to begin change with me overwhelming to say the least.  Over the past year I've taken one step after another, and am now ready to take a huge lunge ahead by jumping headfirst into college life again and prepare to make social justice advocacy my full time occupation.

I've chosen to double majoring in Political Science and Philosophy.  It's been a very exciting process of getting back into the groove of being a student.  During all the hustle of signing up for classes, and financial aid, and buying books, etc...One deficiency I have in particular has stood out glaringly,... I need new clothes.

I've been a stay-at-home Mom for almost 8 years.  It has been all too easy hang out in sweat pants and t-shirts (some days totally in PJ's to be honest).  Even before that, I have never been able to find a style that really fit me.  I have a closet full of clothes where I can never find anything that goes together.  My fashion sense is is something that I have yet to find.  Clothes shopping is something that has always seemed to be a maze patterns and fabrics and trends that I just don't know how to navigate.  I do know one thing,  I want my entire life to be a statement of what I believe about social justice.  That means being intentional in every area of life.  My clothing should reflect that intentionality as well.

So, where do I  begin to find a style that reflects social justice?  I had to start somewhere, and it seemed to make sense to start with what I already had.   My overflowing closet is full of items that  I do not wear, I need to pass things along to someone who will use them.

So, my first step was to do a complete clothing inventory and closet purge.  I ended up with three bags full of clothing that I honestly never wear.  We took them to the local Salvation Army store and donated them.

Now on to the process of replacing things with clothes that I will wear.  I will chronicle that part of my clothing journey in my next post.