I am happy to present to you the first episode of Slow, BonneGueule's new video format in which we will talk about sustainable , ethical, eco-responsible fashion... and how to have the healthiest possible relationship with the consumption of clothing.
And in this first episode, I tell you about the BISOU method. A concept invented by Marie Duboin Lefèvre and Herveline Verdeken to stop buying anything and everything without thinking. And to do this, you just need to answer five questions.
1 – Need
First question: What needs does this purchase meet for me? Sometimes, in the midst of boredom or the blues, you can mechanically go to a site and fill your basket with products, with the idea of putting some relief in your heart. In English, we call this “retail therapy”. But the “soothing” effect of shopping is only a short-lived lure.
So ask yourself if buying this piece is not, above all, a way of seeking a dose of comfort. If the answer is yes, abandon your purchase.
On the other hand, if you need a warm sweater because winter is coming and your last sweater was eaten by moths, that makes sense.
2 – Immediate
Question number 2: Should I buy this item of clothing immediately? Should you rush, or can you give yourself a week or a month to think about it before making the purchase?
Sometimes an immediate purchase is justified: if you need a new pair of jeans after having a hole in the ones you wear all the time, for example. Or, if you're going to the mountains soon and you don't have hiking shoes.
But in the majority of cases, it is possible to wait. And often, the desire to buy passes over time .
3 – Similar
Question 3: Don’t I already have something similar in my closet? For this category, you must have the contents of your wardrobe in mind. Don't you already have way too many striped tops in your closet? If so, do you really need yet another sailor top? If the piece you want to treat yourself to is more or less similar to a piece you already own, move on.
It can happen that you have certain parts that you may have in duplicate. I'm thinking, for example, of jeans , these basics available in different cuts and different shades of denim.
4 – Origin
Question number 4: What is the origin of this product? It is important to find out about the origin of the clothing you wish to purchase. In the store, it's easy: just read the label. Online, it's more complicated. But in general, when a brand wants to be sustainable, honest and transparent, it will detail everything you need to know about the piece.
Ideally, we avoid what was made in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan... It is very difficult to know under what conditions the clothes were made there. These are countries where a lot of fast fashion is produced, therefore fast, “disposable” fashion, therefore pieces which risk not lasting very long, with poor quality . China is a special case: there is good and bad. This is a subject detailed here in the CSR guide on China .
5 – Useful
Last question: Will this item really be useful to me? Try to think about the situation of the piece you want to buy in your everyday life . Is it suitable for your daily life?
For example, avoid shoes with heels that are so high and tight that are impractical in real life. Or the coat bought for winter, but which is 100% polyester, and which therefore absolutely does not keep you warm .
