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The outbreak of a global pandemic has affected most aspects of islanders’ lives – including clothes shopping.
Kept away from the high street and with plenty of time to think during lockdown, local fashion blogger and self-confessed shopaholic Laura Morel has come up with five things she'd change...
As many of the more well-known chains start to close their doors on King Street, now is the time the island should be encouraging more locally owned shops to take their place. Landlords need to be realistic about the level of rents they can get instead of leaving stores as empty shells and business owners need to be incentivised to open physical stores instead of operating solely online.
Pictured: "Now is the time the island should be encouraging more locally owned shops."
As a shopper, we should always check whether we can buy something locally and recognise that if the price is slightly higher that this is going back into our island’s economy. These beautiful independent stores are what gives our town character and makes shopping enjoyable for both locals and tourists.
When circumstances allow, we need to establish many more clothes sharing groups or hiring facilities so that we are not tempted to make extravagant and indulgent one-off purchases.
Pictured: Laura thinks Jersey should capitalise on hiring facilities and clothes sharing groups.
These outlets are extremely popular in the UK and really make you think harder about making investment purchases and the cost per wear of what we buy. Fashion becomes much more accessible and enjoyable if you choose to share what we have with others. My clothes are always on offer to friends and it’s time we all started to AirBnb our wardrobes!
Retail shops need to be more than just a point of purchase now if they want to evolve and survive the current pandemic. With online shopping so easy and accessible there has to be more reason to take that trip into town.
Pictured: Laura says that shops need to incentivise islanders to take that trip into town.
Shops should think about what expertise they have to offer and how they can maximise on the customer service aspect as this is what people still love about face to face shopping. This could involve offering styling and fitting advice, personal shopping options, potential discounts and loyalty points or a special experience day for the shopper.
As consumers we need to be better educated on the ethical and moral position of shops. It’s no longer acceptable to shop ignorantly, if we want to see change in this world then we need to lead by example which means favouring those companies who actively demonstrate good values.
Pictured: "We need to lead by example which means favouring those companies who actively demonstrate good values".
Supporting sustainable ventures, those who treat their workers right and those who choose to portray a healthy variety of women’s shapes, sizes and colour. So many shops are actively trying to make good changes that it's time that those who aren’t are weeded out and held to account.
We are going to see a massive shift in the fashion industry over the coming years after covid-19, as people recognise that we have to do more with much less. Instead of buying seasonally or for short-lived trends we need to make better investments in pieces that will work transitionally and become classic staples in our wardrobes.
Pictured: Laura's advice? Ditch seasonal trends for classic wardrobe staples.
I think designers and shops will actively be part of this change too. Re-working, re-styling and recycling what is already at our disposal. We have some of the best preloved and charity shops ever so let’s give these a bit of extra love.
