A Brief History of Me

I grew up in a suburb of Vancouver, Canada and my formative years were during the era of Teen and Seventeen magazines. I vividly recall my first copy of Teen, and how I studied the pages thinking these were the things I needed to own and this is what teenage girls should look and dress like. I tell you this because I pinpoint this time as when I became “consumer” and obsessed with fashion.

Throughout high school I knew that I wanted a career as a fashion buyer. Buyers got to travel, do math on a regular basis (emy favourite subject) and shop for clothes, all while earning a decent living. Seemed like a dream. While I did eventually become a fashion buyer for a large Canadian retail chain, I worked my way up in retail and wholesale sales, and held positions as a Brand Manager and my final destination as a VP of Sales and Merchandising. All of this added up to exactly a 20 year long career in the apparel Industry. By the end of it, I was spent.

The glamour of travel had worn off. I was unable to ever get into a healthy eating and exercise routine for long at home because I had travelled so much for so many years. Typically I was away for 4-14 days every month for a solid 15 years. Emotionally, the industry was taxing with extremely tight deadlines and a constant crunch for profit margin and of course, sales in an ultra competitive landscape. Only in hindsight did I recognize I was also financially spent from continually trying to keep my own wardrobe current by industry standards.

The apparel industry overall has a lot of flaws, many of which the general public is aware of now. Of course there are some very conscious players in the apparel market (ie. Everlane, Beth Richards, Bronze Age and Reformation to name a few) and more and more starting up or adapting their practices. Some of the flaws made me start to question if I was happy anymore doing what I doing. It didn’t sit well with me that the marketing behind the industry is constantly begging consumers to buy the next trend, the next color, and the next “aspirational” price point. As if owning something from the luxury category meant you had arrived to some unbeknownst social status or acceptance. And if you did purchase that trend or colour of the season, it would be obsolete by the next and you would either have created more waste (aka garbage) or spent too much money.

I am 100% guilty. I bought the Acne shoes, the Louise Vuitton Bag and the Hermès scarf among other things, but I've come to terms with my former self and no longer feel guilt for my frivolous purchases. Part of finding your best self comes from experience...and had I not had I previous experience, I wouldn't be where I am today. The same goes for you. Accept what you've done in the past, learn from it, and move on. Life is too short to dwell on anything for too long.

Did anything about me change when I bought these lux items? No! Only my credit card would get racked up and I was constantly playing catch up with my bills and cash flow. Was the Louis Vuitton bag massively better in quality and design than any other handbag I had owned before? Nope! Did I feel as though I had accomplished some great life feat? I definitely had a buyer's high, but it wore off quick.

My perspective was changing and I recognized my habits needed to change as well. In my next post, I will share the sequential events and changes that unfolded, bringing me to where I am today and the creation of Fancy Free.