With the newly-announced circuit breaker measures that the Singaporean government is introducing on April 7th, you’re going to have to get comfortable with the idea of spending most of your time at home.
If you’re planning to still leave your house for anything other than getting essentials, please don’t. (And yes, that includes hopping to your girlfriend’s place for hot coffee and gossip.)
Instead, get the most out of your stay home time with these five fashionable things you can add to your to-do list. By the end of the month-long circuit breaking campaign, you’ll emerge a whole lot more chic.
01 | Clean out your closet
Since most retail stores will be closed for a month, you’ll see a significant drop in the number of new clothes streaming into your wardrobe. Just as well, then, that you finally tackle sorting out your wardrobe this month.
Sorting your wardrobe into piles of “keep”, “maybe” and “toss” will help you streamline your efforts better. It also allows you to rediscover the things you might have bought and forgotten about — so the next time you go shopping, you’re less likely to buy a duplicate.
Who knows, once you get the hang of it, you might be tempted to sort through everyone else’s wardrobes as well!
However, if the idea of sprucing up your closets seems like a gargantuan task that you just don’t have the energy for, look to the experts at Sortorial to help. Started by ex- and current fashion editors, Team Sortorial will help you get on top of your closet with a sorting system that they will develop in tandem with you.
02 | Help homegrown small businesses
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(Image: Rye) -
(Image: Ling Wu)
There’s no doubt that even after we’ve emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be a ripple effect that many small-medium businesses will have to face. So before we get there, why not put your money to good use by helping our own local fashion labels?
On our part, the editors at A are putting together curated lists of our favourite homegrown brands, which you can find here. There’s plenty of stylish labels that you can check out, so no excuses!
03 | Stock up on comfy clothing
In these days of uncertainty and bad news, it’s not a bad idea to suss out some chic threads that are also super comfortable. After all, when everyone is practicing safe distancing, we’ll settle for a cuddly hoodie to lift our spirits.
And with a majority of Singaporean companies switching to telecommuting practices, the last thing you want to do is to jump on a Zoom call and look like a mess. So before that happens, make sure that your stay-home clothing looks just as good as your going-out threads.
04 | Read up on fashion
There’s no time like now to start on that book you’ve been wanting to read, but if you’re in need of a fashion read, Penguin Random House has some great fashionable reads that you can have shipped to your doorstep. Between the never-seen-before images and the enthralling texts that stretch from Gabrielle Chanel’s philosophies to juicy gossip told by Bergdorf Goodman’s legendary personal shopper Betty Halbreich, there’s a whole world of fashion waiting to be discovered in the pages.
05 | Start a fashion journal
The good news? We will one day see the sunlight again, as we all emerge from this health scare as a united nation. So while that’s coming in the horizon, why not use all this spare time to start a fashion journal?
Go through your wardrobe, pull out a few pieces and begin experimenting with different styles and styling ideas. Snap photos and save the ones you really like, or send them to your group chat with your friends to ask for opinions. This way, when you do start going out again, you won’t default to the same looks you usually opt for.
06 | Do some recycling
A study in 2016 found that Singaporeans generated a total of 150,000 tonnes of textile and leather waste, but only 7% of such waste was recycled. Scary numbers to think about, but there’s something you can do to help.
Instead of tossing your clothes into the bin, call up the good folks at Greensquare so that they can schedule a collection from your house. All you need to do is run a simple check, such as ensuring all clothing articles are cleaned and in decent condition before the team picks them up. For the list of items that Greensquare collects, check out this link.
While collection has been temporarily halted in view of the circuit breaker measures, you can always keep these these recyclable clothing and accessories aside and ready for when collection services begin again.