Comments on: Invitation | Commit to Quality

By: Bridget

Bridget — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:05:46 +0000

I love the question “where do I cheap out” because I find it so interesting where people spend their money, where I spend my money. And it is completely irrational!I will spend money on my house ($2000 fridge) but buy $3 earrings at Ardenes or $30 on shoes at Winners. I like expensive T-shirts and lipsticks but I don’t care about my hand bag. Not this year. I have decided this is the year I buy the beautiful bag, shoes and coat and not fill up my closet with the one season trendy item.

By: Karina

Karina — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:50:07 +0000

I do not see the distinction, however, as being between cheap and expensive. Price is not the motivating factor. Rather, it is meaning. What will it mean to me, to the world around me if I buy “this”? Am I buying it for the fleeting initial thrill of the buy or for the contuing return on owning it and seeing it as one of my possession? How will I feel if I have to look at it every day in my closet, on the shelf, in my home? The “GENUINE” part of my Style Statement requires that I ask these questions of myself before every purchase now, so that it is mindful and for the right reason, true to my values, and with full acceptance of its consequences. To me, that leads to a “quality” purchase.

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:41:45 +0000

I learned this lesson when I was in my forties. I had read several times that the average woman wore 10% of her clothing 80% of the time. As I progressed on my path towards minimalism, I thought about it and began paying more attention. Then, as I am prone to do, I did a giant purge of my closet. It felt freeing. It felt like I had lost weight….which, in a sense, I had.

Now, at 59, I have spent the last ten years applying this idea to the rest of my life. Although I still have more possessions than many would consider to be “minimal”, I have what works for me: things that I use and love to look at. I no longer fear getting rid of things when they no longer serve their purpose in my life. There is always someone else who can use them.

Diane…refined adventure

By: Emily-Sarah

Emily-Sarah — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:07:25 +0000

Talk about timing. I was thinking of this related to clothing just yesterday (as I peered into my overstuffed closet). In earlier years I had at times the mentality of desiring two or three less expensive shirts instead of one more expensive one. I realized recently (shopping in a “better” designer section of a department store) that now I much prefer one luxurious, well-made, high-quality piece instead of several inferior ones. Less certainly CAN be more.

Quality is almost always a very visible, tangible thing. It rests at the core of something: it makes up its essence and its personality (and in the case of clothing, its fabric, feel, and fit). And everything you bring into your life makes a statement about YOU.

And what you allow into your life and onto and into your body also creates a visible, tangible picture — of how you allow others AND YOURSELF to treat you. (It’s also sometimes a snapshot of how we use or abuse resources — ours and others’ {like the earth itself, in your examples of cheaper stuff inevitably ending up in the landfill}.)

Reading (and applying my) Style Statement was part of my “reformation” internally and externally. I love your sentence “The path of quality takes time, confidence, and vision.” So true. And so worth it.