Hi.

As if the world needs another girl sitting behind a computer talking about fashion. Look, I hear you. But let me take a second and explain how the heck I ended up with this harebrained idea.

My day job is working for a foundation that is focused on supporting youth empowerment programs in Africa. (See?! Not where you thought this was going). Every day, I naively try to make the world a tiny bit of a better place.

Before you think I’m a just a do-gooder who lectures others incessantly on topics that they don’t care about (which full disclosure, I absolutely sometimes do), I have to fill you in on a not-so-secret secret... I love fashion. And I love shopping. You can call it an addiction or an obsession, mostly because someone before you has, but it’s true. I can’t get enough. High fashion, low fashion, trends, classics. All of it. First thing I do when I get to my desk every day? Check the NY Times. Second thing? Go to Shopbop.com.

These two parts of myself have mostly felt totally incongruous. At various moments, I try to silence one to justify the other. When buying an expensive, beautiful, life changing pair of shoes, I shut off the side of my mind that thinks about what this money could do if invested in a social good organization. When sitting in a meeting with an exciting nonprofit, I stare shamefully down at the shoes, remembering all the selfish mistakes I have made.

It has been a constant struggle for years. I am a consumer and I am a social do gooder.  All people are made of many parts. Mine just happen to often be at war with each other.

So, I want to fix that.

This isn’t the first time I have been interested in trying to figure out how to be a better consumer. Every time I tried, I become easily frustrated by the mentality that felt rampant in the sustainable fashion world: It’s all or nothing. It seemed I was either a terrible, wasteful human OR I had to produce a single mason jar’s worth of trash in a year. Even worse, it always felt that in order to be good,  my only choices were to dress like a hippy or wear lots and lots of African beads.  Overwhelmed, confused, and dissatisfied, I would give up trying to knit the disparate parts of myself together and fall back into the familiar patterns of shopping and guilt.

That is how we ended up here. The first post of a journey to discover one simple thing: Can I figure out how to love consuming (whether it’s fashion or beauty or home goods or presents because let’s be honest this addiction runs deep) and use that passion to influence positive change?

It’s really a research project of self discovery. And since I was wondering about this, I figured hey maybe other people are too. Or at least you can justify doing this by PRETENDING other people might care. All great research has to start with an list of questions to answer. These are a few of mine:

• What companies exist that are doing good AND making stuff I want to wear?
• How can I change my wardrobe with the budget that I have?
• Can I buy somethings that have a social impact... and still buy things in the fast fashion world?
• Does any of this actually help?

Stick around if you want. I’m just getting started.