3 fashion resolutions for everyone
take the guesswork out of your 2025 fashion resolutions-- these benefit everyone!
Giving out blanket advice isn’t usually my style, it’s too messy and there are too many exceptions to confidently declare “EVERYONE NEEDS THIS”. However with 2025 on the horizon and the pressure to conjure up resolutions to make our lives cooler, richer, better, and more complete, I wanted to share a few simple behaviors that will help improve your closet, regardless of where you’re at in your personal style journey. At their core they are basic, but sometimes the most basic advice gets lost and deprioritized while we shop and build our closets over the years. Getting back to basics is the crux of what I’m hoping to achieve in 2025, I hope you’ll join me!
1. become a fabric snob
There are two things I’m extremely proud to be a snob about: oysters and fashion. We should all prioritize fabric composition, and I for one WANT to be snobby about the materials I live my life in. I WANT to be more choosy and place a larger emphasis on prioritizing fabric composition, particularly now that I’m in my 30s and really view the clothes I buy as life long investments.
Polyester will never be wool. Viscose will never be cashmere. Rayon will never be cotton. Lets get real and take a good hard look at our fabric tags, because synthetics (with few exceptions i.e. Pleats Please, Simone Rocha nylons, ect.) will never be better quality than natural fibers.
Personally I’ve made a lot of excuses for buying polyester, but fabric shouldn’t receive a participation trophy just because the design is cool. If it falls apart in 3 washes it’s crap, and money has just been wasted; no amount of lipstick can transform that polyblend pig.
It’s no secret that the quality of our clothes has been in decline for decades. We know this, and we know luxury brands are not exempt from this decline. Expecting higher quality because something is sold at DSM or Bloomingdales is not rooted in reality anymore. If prioritizing high quality fibers like cotton, leather, linen, wool, cashmere and silk is important to you, there’s no better time than the present. I’m certainly not perfect but I’m sick of casually wearing plastic and pretending like it doesn’t matter. Lean into the snobbery, people!
Mandy’s recommendations: A really easy place to start is cashmere + wool. I’ve found so many amazing affordable sweaters this year from some unlikely and accessible places. This one is genuinely the softest sweater I’ve ever owned, guaranteed compliments after every hug. This brand is one of my favorites on the secondhand market, they simply don’t make wool coats like this anymore.
2. prioritize mending
My favorite and most precious series on Tiktok are my mended hauls. These started a few years ago when I was doing a show-and-tell of the dreaded pile that accumulated in a dark corner of my room. You know the one. What begins as an innocent discard because a hem needs to be raised, or a hole needs to be sewn snowballs into a mountain of unwearable items that collect dust due to their minor afflictions. I’m here to give some really simple advice — if you can sew, repair your stuff. If you can’t sew TAKE. YOUR. SHIT. TO. THE COBBLER. AND. TAILOR.
Last year Elle was kind enough to write an entire article about the momentum The Mended Haul has received and how it’s changed so many lives. Mending and repairing your clothes is a lot more than fixing a hole— you are actively investing in your pieces and deciding what you already have deserves to be repaired. The trend cycle demands so much of us; our time, our devotion, our money, our entire outlook on consumption. Its conditioned us to have a knee-jerk reaction to replace our things with something better, because that’s what feeds the machine. Fuck the machine and go mend your stuff.
The most beautiful part about getting into the habit of mending and repairing is investing back into your community. My cobbler and I are on a first name basis, he tells me about his TRR finds whenever I come in, we chat about food and sneakers… basic human connection is highly underrated. Cobblers and tailors are artisans, their skills are often passed down from generation to generation - knowledge you can’t just learn from a YouTube tutorial. I’m extremely passionate about mending and will continue trying to make the mended haul as trendy as a pair of Miu Miu boat shoes, and you should do the same!
Mandy’s recommendations: Fulton Cobbler in BedStuy for shoes, Laura and Melinda in LES for tailoring
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3. build a sexy laundry and clothing care toolbox
Growing up my mom had a sewing box that sat on the floor of our linen closet. This sewing box was magical to me, anytime my clothes needed a quick fix my mom whipped it out, thumbed through searching for the perfect tool and performed her mom magic. In no time voilà, that rip is repaired and that loose thread is nipped! I’ve been spending the last few years building my own version of this sewing box as repairing and mending have become such valuable principles regarding my personal style.
Having your own arsenal of tools to help you in a pinch feels so mature and cool, and knowing how to use these tools feels so sexy and luxurious. A stuffy Hermes Kelly bag or $20,000 Cartier watch is not what luxury represents to me. Coming home after a long day, taking off my secondhand cobbled Marni loafers and placing a pair of muslin shoe bags over them to store until their next voyage IS luxury to me. I love taking care of my stuff! I love showing my items love and attention! I love knowing my purchases were not made in vain! I love giving my wardrobe the princess treatment! The dopamine hit after taking good care of my wardrobe is such a good feeling!
Mandy’s recommendations:
switch over to velvet hangers (one of my 2025 projects)
seam ripper the most useful tool in my moms sewing box
cashmere comb to gently brush out pills
flat measuring tape
suede brush good for cleaning suede and shoes
leather shoe polish
a good old fashioned iron + ironing board — steamers are great but nothing presses out wrinkles like a hot iron
mesh laundry bags for delicates
always have a lint roller on hand — I like these disposable rollers that peel at an angle, the reusable chom chom velvet roller for large surface areas, and the mini chom chom for a smaller reusable option
for detergent I love Tide Power for the best clean, Dedcool for the best scent, and Mrs Meyers for everyday— would love some more natural options because I’m always looking to find a better detergent
Grove stain remover is my all time favorite, I don’t understand how it works so well
Mrs Meyers dryer sheets, very critical if you have pets who shed
The second year of 75 Hard Style Challenge is coming up! Maybe this is a spoiler but I’ll be hosting primarily on Substack and IG this year- stay tuned for that!
<3 Mandy
I really like puracy for laundry soap. Their stain remover also work really well.
I've been on a fabric snob journey as I slowly donate and resell my current wardrobe. It's not just about longevity either, polyester has been bad for my skin and (TMI) Ph balance. I've had good luck with online thrifting since EVERY brand is selling marked up polyester and quality can't be trusted for most modern brands. Especially for budget baddies like me.