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The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably

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The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably

With a latent buzz of an upcoming recession in the air, the cards agree that living sustainably and fashionably in 2024 is going to be all about managing our money well. Toh let’s see how the cards can help us budget our style in 2024.

Aries: 3 of Wands The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
The 3 of Wands is the story of Pinnochio, who went from being a puppet to a real human boy. In the context of fashion, it’s leaving behind everything synthetic and finding your space in the world of natural fibres. Over the year, reach out for more natural fibres rather than polyester- and acrylic-based ones for your wardrobe. The 3 of Wands is also leaving behind our need for clothes as dictated by the capitalist machine of fast fashion—yaane ki trends—and owning our actual needs and necessities. Cut the strings that control us. Let’s become human. Change is never easy but we can hum along to N’Sync’s classic hit Bye Bye Bye, as we do.
Taurus-king of pentacles The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
This is the year we find security in the clothes we wear—financial security, social security, emotional security. Let’s ask our moms, our grandmoms, aunts and grandaunts how they managed their fashion budgets but still managed to look ten-on-ten at every family event. Try and remember the time they wore something we loved as a child and ask them the story of that outfit—where they got it, how they put it together, how they cared for it, how they fixed it and so on. Take a look at our wardrobe and give away things we haven’t worn even once in 2023, especially to family, friends and colleagues. But not without boring them with the stories of that outfit.
Gemini-knight of pentacles. The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
Little drops of water make a mighty ocean, says a popular proverb. The Knight of Pentacles says that small changes in our sartorial lifestyle will make us a sustainable fashionista. But the key being that we keep at it. This year, let’s not try to make drastic changes in our lifestyle towards sustainability. Where we are in life might not sustain it. Instead, find one small change towards sustainability that we can make every week and make it happen. For eg. in the first week, we can try washing our clothes less often, in the second week, we can learn to stitch our own buttons, in our holiday week, we can take a small detour and spend some time with the local artisans at our holiday destination, etc. These 52 small changes will change us whole. After all, Rumi said, ‘You are not a drop in the ocean; you are the entire ocean in a drop.’
Cancer-ace of swords. The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
Let’s start by doing some accounts. How much did we spend on clothes and accessories in 2023? Plan FDs for 2024 that amount to 50% of that amount. All through the year, stick to that plan. Ta-da! We have a new budget for fashion-related expenditure in 2024. The reason? Ace of Swords says that power makes us sociopaths. Sociopaths have no empathy. Empathy-free shopping is the enemy of sustainable living. And since money is power, let’s start by reducing some of our spending power itself. And always head out with a shopping list. Step 2: Let’s see how many friends we can talk into joining us for a sustainable and empathetic 2024. sustainably By Jugal Mody
Leo-9 of wands. The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
This is the year we leave behind the shame that’s been drilled into us by society about repeating outfits, about not having new clothes for every season, about borrowing clothes when we need to, about mixing and matching outfits we already own. If we’ve been fashioning sustainably already, this year, we will learn to put aside the pride we feel and the judgment we sometimes cast on others for not living sustainably (which comes from the hard work we put in to live like that). This newfound gaze and vibe will attract our community to seek us out, when they need to figure a sustainable lifestyle this year, especially when their purse strings become tight. Project freedom, project love.
Virgo-3 of pentacles. The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
This is the year we stop seeing fashion as a linear object—bought, sold, worn, torn, thrown. Fashion should serve the people it is made for, as much as the making of it should serve the people who are making it. Fashion needs to make everyone feel good—the farmers, the artisans, the designers and the people who wear it. This year, we can change everything about how we dress to make it sustainable without sacrificing on the style, except there’s one hitch: We can’t do it alone. We will need our village. Call that cousin, that friend, that colleague, all of whom share this goal with us (Don’t lie, we all know at least three!). Make a WhatsApp group and help each other change our lives forever.
Libra-6 of cups. The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
This is the year that fashioning sustainably couldn’t be any easier for us. Don’t buy any new clothes; borrow and swap. Start thinking of our clothes as our children and our friends’ and family’s wardrobes as homes in our village: Kids keep entering and exiting the homes without any of the adults worrying, since they’re always around other adults who care for their well-being. Catch up with friends over errands. Our next get-together should be a joint trip to the tailor to get that batch of clothes fixed (Who says we can’t take our hip flask along?). Build better boundaries with friends who care more about what we’re wearing and how we’re wearing it than what we’re up to and how we are.
Scorpio-10 of swords. The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
This is not a year of action for us. This is a year of engaging with grief. And that’s okay too. This year, we make an inventory of grief that fashion may have caused us over the years and how that has affected how we buy and wear clothes. We also study how the fashion industry is causing grief in the world around us. When it comes to personal grief, think about the times it has caused us financial insecurity, think about the times when misinformed opinions by people, in society, in magazines, in design, have led to us not wearing what we really wanted to. Don’t forget to discuss this grief and these thoughts with loved ones and therapists.
Sagitarius- page of pentacles. The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
This is the year we learn to step out of our sartorial comfort zones. Over the years, we’ve developed a certain taste or a certain sense of style. Our peers often recognise us by the shapes and colours of the clothes we wear. Our near and dear ones can sometimes predict (and even make jokes) about how we will wear a certain fabric, outfit or ensemble. We shop at the same places because let’s face it, not everybody really gets the fit we like or keeps the designs we like. This is the year to experiment and invest in new-age fabrics and crafts. Let’s go try everything we would never have thought of, or maybe even swore off at some point.
Capricorn-the sun. The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
Okay, buckle up because it’s time to dive deep into the wayback of our wardrobes. And ask the tough questions. What happened to that piece we haven’t seen in ages now? Why did we stop wearing that particular hottie? Why did we even buy that ugly thing? Once we’re done with that exercise, we solve emotional mysteries: Why are we afraid to show up in the same lehenga at two different family weddings? Why do we need to go shopping the day before an important work meeting or presentation? Why do we keep ordering or trying on clothes we know won’t fit us? Make a list of every difficult question we have about how we fashion, expose it to sunlight and watch it evaporate like the psychic vampire that it is.
Aquarius-2 of cups. The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
Let’s prepare to meet our soulmate if we really like being in love with style and aesthetics. We can keep having those soulless one-night stands with sales, short-lived trends and synthetic fabric, but when this bugger bites us, we’re going to be breathless for a bit. It will feel like this entity evolved just for us and our entire life was just preparing us to meet this entity. It could be a designer, it could be a store, it could be a fabric, it could be a lore. We will not be wanting for more after this. We will even be happy with less of it. The possibilities will feel infinite. So let’s not be afraid to fall in love.
Pisces-10 of wands. The 2024 Tarot guide to fashioning sustainably By Jugal Mody
This year, we have one goal: To avoid a fashion burnout. A fashion burnout is exactly the opposite of living a sustainable fashion lifestyle but sometimes even the best of us can get carried away by the pressures that society thrusts upon us. Here are a few things we can be mindful of, to help us avoid the burnout: Don’t spend more than 10 mins to decide on an outfit—be it for the day or for an occasion. Our gut will guide us well. Trust it. Let’s avoid posting pictures on social media of what we’re wearing. It’s way too much pressure. And finally, if we feel our wardrobe is missing a critical piece, we must close our eyes, inhale and say, ‘It’s not,’ as we exhale.
Jugal Mody
Author: Jugal Mody

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