Don’t think too hard about it.   

When you're trying something on for the first time, wait until you’re wearing it properly (it’s on straight, not scrunched up and stuck in your pants, or you’re trying to get your head through an arm hole), and THEN look in the mirror.   

If you’re first impression is “Boom!  Wow!” <insert smile here> <eyes widen> <breathe catches> then that’s a great garment for you.  Don’t think too hard about it.  If it makes you that excited with nil effort then imagine how good it’s going to make you feel when you put some fire power into it? 

However, if your first though is “if only it was longer / bigger / more sleeves / better pockets / brighter / less frilly / etc” then probably give it a miss.  Unless you see maximum potential with minimum effort.   

It’s really that easy.  Go with your first impression.  It’s what you really think. 

Now about 10 months ago I tried on a jacket that was exactly this sort of “love at first try on”.  I was at a market, saw this jacket and tried it on, walked over to the nearest mirror and then FIREWORKS!!  It felt like slotting in that elusive jigsaw puzzle piece after you thought you’d tried every piece on the table at least twice and were just going to make do with something that *seemed* right.  And then you find the *actual* piece.  It’s a very different feeling. Like all the planets align and give a collective sigh of relief.  Like putting on a jacket you haven’t worn since last season, sliding your hand into a pocket and finding the missing earring you thought you’d lost.  You feel completed. 

Well, this jacket did that for me.  And it almost feels wrong that you can have this feeling in public. 

But I’d just spent more than was good for me at this market and I felt guilty already about budget blow out. I thought I’d be an adult, walk away from temptation, not be a slave to consumerism and the dopamine hit of purchasing.  

So I walked away.  But my mind kept remembering that beautiful jacket.  And if it had been at a regular bricks and mortar shop I would have gone back in the next couple of days to get it.  But it was at a market near my home that comes and goes every few months with different sellers in attendance.  Like a market version of the Magic Faraway Tree.   

This weekend the market was back at the venue and my diary was free and I knew that seller would be in attendance.  I didn’t hold out much hope that the jacket would still be there as it was the last of its kind when I’d seen it 10 months earlier.   

I saw the designer / seller and mentioned the jacket and how I’d regretted not buying it... and then I turned about and voila!!!!  It was there.  She had made some more of these perfect jackets, just in case.  Maybe my planet aligning woo-woo sense had given her the tingles.  

As we all know, you don’t pass up a second chance.  That would just be a slap in the face of Fate.  Nope.   

I had 10 months to do some low-key grieving for this jacket I didn’t buy and I knew the extent of the regret if I passed up a second chance at it.  Fate is not kind to those who slap her in the face and I wasn’t willing to risk jinxing the rest of my life by walking away now. 

So I didn’t. 

This was a seriously considered purchase.  Slow fashion.  Glacial speed. 

Slow fashion is not just about how something is produced: by a local artisan who makes things by hand, using ethically sourced products, in small batches, and so on.  We understand that side of slow fashion as we are often using it to counter the idea of fast fashion – giant polluting factories that over-produce products and under-pay labour – but we don’t often talk about slow fashion from the buyer’s perspective.  About how we have let that garment take up residence in our memory before we’ve even bought it.  How we love the look at it and how it makes us feel when we’re wearing.  The buzz of acquiring a precious treasure and how we know we will cherish it – whether we’re wearing it or just looking at it in the wardrobe.  

I know I’m sounding overly emotional but really, I’ve been thinking about this jacket for a while and also kicking myself for not buying it when I saw it.   

So, with little regard for what I’ll wear it with, or to, I just know that I’ve considered this purchase deeply and widely and that I’m going to absolutely appreciate it: new to my wardrobe but already well ensconced in my mind.