Her acquaintances didn't believe that, but Sandra Nagele did it: she didn't buy any new clothes for a year - and discovered a favorite shop in the process.
Unterschleißheim
- A small shop with great appeal - for Sandra Nagele that is the "Klawotte" in Unterschleißheim.
For a fashion-conscious woman, this may not be the hippest address at first glance.
But on the second exactly the right thing.
Sandra Nagele also knows the joy of shopping: full wardrobe, but nothing suitable to wear?
Just go out and buy something new.
And that's not all: "I was also a big orderer." At some point, the pangs of conscience just couldn't be pushed aside so easily.
She has a good strategy now.
The decisive factor was a bet: not to buy any new clothes for a year.
"After the movie I made a bet"
Like many women, Sandra Nagele has a penchant for beautiful clothes and loves to express herself with the language of fashion.
Nevertheless, she focuses on sustainability.
"I rejected discount clothing," says the 54-year-old.
As a member of the fair trade working group of the city of Unterschleißheim, she takes a critical view of disposable fashion.
Collections are designed quickly and trendy and produced cheaply.
You can get clothes for a few euros, but trousers and t-shirts are quickly discarded.
In 2019, the fair trade group watched a documentary about "Fast Fashion" together.
The insights into the industry were frightening, the working conditions in the poorer countries and the handling of the products here, says Sandra Nagele, there are often a few weeks between buying frenzy and throwing away old clothes.
Dealing with climate change also drew attention to second-hand for ecological reasons.
"After the film, I made a bet." She won't buy any new clothes for a year.
"The unanimous opinion of the others was: You'll never make it through.
They were sure of that because I'm known for my love of shopping."
Second-hand shops instead of online mail order companies
She looked around for thrift stores in her area.
The experience after a year: "It was really good." Secondhand brings two needs together for her: the desire for variety in the wardrobe and conscious consumption.
"Today, I'm looking for good cuts and high quality." Nagele also discovered online platforms such as Vinted, now Vinted, where used clothing is traded regionally from private individual to private individual.
"It also works well with the returns." Unlike the large online mail order companies from which she used to order: "Returns are often not processed there."
The clothes swap parties of the Greens, which unfortunately are no longer possible due to Corona, also got the second-hand trend rolling.
She found one of her favorite outfits “from the shoes to the scarf” in the clothes of the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO).
"The goods are presented so beautifully and treated with such respect that as a customer you have a great shopping feeling," she says.
In the AWO second-hand shop, she often finds branded clothing and designer items, such as her transitional coat, black and red, "it's always admired a lot".
No window shopping either
Before Easter, she shifted up a gear: "I didn't go window shopping there either." Much to the delight of her family, "because you could be out and about with me much faster." She usually carries her things until they practically fall apart.
"The oldest piece in the wardrobe, 37 years old, is a turquoise blue summer dress, luckily stretch, a friend sewed it for my 17th birthday," she says.
She didn't force her teenage children into the circular economy.
"We solved it differently.
The kids get 50 percent of the purchase price when they buy new clothes and the full price when they buy something second-hand.”
In the meantime, Sandra Nagele is not only a regular customer in the AWO suit, she is also a volunteer in the team.
In retrospect, she only regrets one thing: "I'm annoyed that we didn't bet on a win.
A brunch voucher, for example, would have been nice.”
Klawotte:
The AWO second-hand shop on Landshuter Straße is open: Tuesday and Thursday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 5 p.m.;
Friday 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and every third Saturday of the month 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.