The secret of life lies in the search for beauty – Oscar Wilde 

Happily surprised I was to find a handwritten poem on the accompanying card with my last Wellicious order. It quoted Rumi – a favourite poet of mine. Quotes inspire me; they are like mantras that I can recite over and over, bringing me back to the essence.

The above one from Oscar Wilde sums up the essence of living, to always search for the beauty, in yourself, in people, in the designs you surround yourself with and dress yourself in.  

Generally speaking I find the apparel industry it is looking for cheap chic, fast fashion and low labour costs. That is why I resonated with the spot on manifesto published in Intelligent Life’s magazine a couple of month ago:

http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/lifestyle/rebecca-willis/clothes-a-manifesto?page=full

The author Rebecca Willis writes about a surveyed group of women on fashion:

Women are sick of low quality, overpriced, poorly made, ill-fitting clothes that don’t last. They are fed up with too much choice. … when it comes to what they actually buy, they are more exercised by quality and cut than bells and whistles: they want their clothes to fit properly and not fall apart.

Exactly - why is it that my mother’s dresses were sewn properly and mine – even the high quality and pricy pieces - need repairing after one washing? I sometimes long for the fabulous fifties when women clothes were feminine, stylish, durable and comfortable. Yes, I know women were glued to the kitchen sink back then, but what progress have we made if the search for beauty gets out of sight?

Willis puts it beautifully: The Slow Fashion campaign is about more taste and less speed - Women want to have love affairs with their clothes.