Fun & Famous
THE OLD LIES RETURNS
“I’m going to sell everything, clothes are just ballast, what do you actually need in life, from now on I’ll spend all my money on traveling.” That’s how I sounded a bit during my trip and the first days after returning. And by the way, I always sound like this right after I’ve seen a new part of the world. Deep down inside me, there’s a die-hard hippie who can’t wait to come out, and once she manages to penetrate my consciousness, I’d prefer to eat only street food, wear the same thing every day, and I even find a backpack of 12 kilos way too much. “On my next trip, I’ll only take hand luggage, all that stuff, what nonsense.”
Well, I’ll keep rambling like this when I’m back in the Netherlands. Once you’ve been perfectly happy for a longer time with so few belongings, it’s hard to imagine that you suddenly need things for the continuation of that happiness. Now, of course, it works differently at home, I know that, but still, I feel a lot for a lot less. So I said ‘yes’ when Glamour asked me if I wanted to sell my clothes during their Fashion Vintage day, I selected a dozen designer shoes that are going on Designer Vintage and filled large bags with pieces that really no one will pay for anymore. Everything out. Money in. And quickly book a new plane ticket with that money.
And it all went well. I proudly tell this to everyone, especially when people start asking, “how can you afford all that?!” “Just sell. And buy nothing new.” And look, there, there begins a small crack in my newly found belief.
Because last Tuesday, I was unsuspectingly working at the editorial office when Lilian suddenly came around the corner with a loaded hanger. She skipped over to the desk opposite me, Jet’s spot, and hung it on the cabinet exactly in my line of sight. As I write this, I’m looking straight at it. It’s a black lace dress from DKNY (May is wearing it here in gray) and I can hardly bring myself to say it, but I must and will have it.
So I texted Jet very nonchalantly: “Wow, how much?” It turned out it was bought on sale at Netta (Net-a-Porter), so that ship had already sailed. But really, I felt that restlessness again that you get when confronted with a stunning piece of clothing. So that old pre-hippie greedy Lies is still there, she just fell asleep for a bit.
But I’m not going to buy it. Maybe I spent 20 minutes setting up an online search to locate that thing, but maybe not. But the conclusion is: no purchase is being made. I missed all the sales, so that’s good news. And if I earn a lot of money from all those sold clothes, maybe I can buy one new little thing in the next sale round. And Jet, can I maybe borrow that dress just a tiny bit?
