Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hello, my friend, and welcome to Catch Up with Louise McSharry. This is the podcast where I do my best to keep you caught up with what's going on in the world, whether it's news on a Monday, entertainment on a Wednesday, or indeed a chat with someone interesting with an interesting perspective or something going on on a Friday.
And as we are heading towards spring, and I know the start of the year is a time when people tend to really reassess and look around them and say, what needs to change in this life? That often applies to your home and your wardrobe. So who better to speak to in January than the wonderful Laura Debarra. If by any chance you've been living under a rock and you don't know Laura, she is from Cork.
She has years of experience both in the fashion industry and indeed in the property industry, meaning... She knows loads about clothes. She knows loads about how to take care of them. And she also knows a lot about things like washing machines and irons and all of the things you need to use to take care of your clothes. So she is perfectly positioned for this conversation.
She's also just great fun and just a font of knowledge. She is, of course, the author of three bestsellers, Decor Galore, Garment Goddess and Gaff Goddess, all of which will help you survive.
live a better life frankly I have to say these books have lived in my home since they came out and they are books that I like they're reference books do you know what I mean I I know where they are at all times I constantly turn to them when I have a question about something whether it's my dishwasher or how to get a stay night um and I really enjoyed this chat with her about how to kind of assess what you have work with what you have care for what you have and also what you need to be mindful of when you're making new purchases I really hope you enjoy
Laura Debarra, what a pleasure it is to have you back on the podcast. Happy New Year to you. Happy New Year. I love coming on. This is one of my faves. Oh, I'm so excited.
All my friends listen, you see. So like, I haven't told them yet. So like when it comes out, I'll be getting the message being like... It's the last time I told them they were all like, we're listening anyway. So I'm going to do a little surprise.
Surprise pop up. I love it. Well, look, I mean, I've always want you on the podcast, frankly, because I just love chatting to you. But I actually asked on my Instagram recently, I was like, who do you want to hear in the podcast? And loads of people said you. And I think at this time of year, people really need your help and guidance because.
Lots of people are kind of looking around their lives, I think, in January and assessing what's working for them, whether it's their actual home or their wardrobe. And obviously this is your these are your areas of expertise. And I've been doing an enormous clear out recently of my clothes because I'm moving house on because my body has changed as well. And it's been really interesting.
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Chapter 2: How can I overhaul my wardrobe effectively?
If you're doing it for a future focus, I think there's a lot online where it's like put everything into black plastic bags and dump it at a charity shop store because there's a new season in Zara.
You know, there is that.
Whereas when you're doing it for something like you're saying, it's for your future, you're plugging into something, you're basically making space for a new change in your life. It is actually so cathartic.
Yeah, I think that's, and also confronting, like for me, because I've really, like I, the amount of stuff that I have, it's insane. Like I have found it quite difficult actually, because I'm obviously clearing out every single aspect of my life really at the moment. And it is, I find it's quite emotional because it's, And I don't mean from a like, you know, relationship perspective.
I mean, literally just being like, oh, my God, look at all this money that I've spent really on stuff that I haven't even really had access to because I've had so much. And now I'm having to look at it all piling up, you know, donation, throwing away whatever it is. And just feeling like I never want to feel like this again, like I'm kind of drowning in stuff.
I think, you know, a lot of us are really learning about the way that we consume and the way that having a lot of stuff impacts us. And it's not usually positively, I don't think. It isn't.
There's a book I always talk about. It's Stuff Happens by an Irish author, Emma.
and it talks about why we like why we actually collect a lot of stuff and like why it's hard for us to let go of stuff and it's called like it's literally called stuff happens because stuff just happens so I think like right now you're thinking I never want to be in this position again but if something like that happens or a drawer fills up that you don't want or a party or a wardrobe you just have to reassess why you know why are you not getting to spend enough time on that section of your life that you thought you were purchasing for or why is this building up are you shopping during moments that's filling a void for something else but I think the main thing is not to be hard on ourselves
I think we see a lot of content, even I absorb a lot of content from creators. I actually quite enjoy their personality, but their consumption is out of this world. Like it's like a new coat every week. And we start to think because of what they're not showing is like now I have 55 coats in my wardrobe behind me. That is going to stress me out in four months or whatever.
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Chapter 3: What are the benefits of caring for your clothes?
I'm really glad my audience loved it. You need to take this back and get rid of it. Like that's going, I predict that law is going to come in.
Tell me more about that 2020, 2030 law. I don't think I know too much about this.
My God, it's so good. I'm even doing the course in a moment. I'm so obsessed about it. I love it. So it's been coming in for ages. Obviously, the French are so good at their sustainability. It kind of kicked off there. But basically, every garment is going to have, to put it really simply, every garment, one thing is every garment is going to have a passport.
So you can literally scan it and see which factory it was made in, who was involved in it, et cetera. But also brands are going to become more responsible for their stock, which means they're going to have to be they're going to have to produce more responsibly.
So like if you do put out a very badly made five pound dress and that dress fails after a certain amount of time, which isn't meeting a standard, a customer can get a refund for it. It doesn't mean that every single thing is returnable straight away, but it just means that the standard within the EU is going to be much higher. I really love it. Like even like when I'm doing
the work I do with Primark, they have a lot of these standards in place already. So I'm used to them as working on their producer side. So knowing that other brands like the Pretty Little Things and all that of it, they are making clothes in much bigger sizes that are able to go to much more places.
The fact that they will have to raise their standard, I think is incredible because it's not always just about buying a Ā£10 dress. It's about other things as well. They have a production line that can satisfy more people.
yeah yeah it's interesting I like because my body has changed a lot in the last year um I've been that's also played a role in assessing my shopping habits because you know plus size women we just do not have access to fashion in the same way that straight size women do um and one thing that I've really realized is that I had this like scarcity mindset when it came to clothes so like
because it's really difficult to express yourself through clothing if you're plus size because you just don't have access to the same things that other people have access to it means that if something does pop up that you're like oh I like that you're like I have to buy that because if I don't buy that that's going to be gone forever and I may never have the opportunity to buy a sequined
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Chapter 4: How do I approach a wardrobe clear out?
And like, I don't think people understand that. And then they're calling them sustainability queens. It really irks me because it's putting work that I do and what other people do back literally three or four years. We had just gotten there where people who had more expertise were showing tags and teaching an audience.
And then because it started becoming popular, people have started doing it in their content. And it's basically making people who haven't seen our videos and have seen theirs, it's just making it a bit skewed. So I think one of the main things is,
it's brilliant to buy wool wool is breathable wool is naturally waterproof you shouldn't wash it at all so if it's something really you're getting really messy in it it may not be something that you want to put like kids in because it may take the natural kind of like waterproof off it and the stain it is stain stain repellent but wool is beautiful right but it's not always affordable or accessible maybe in the style that you want i would always look at vintage or secondhand
and look for natural fibers. I personally love cotton knits. I love them. I'm quite messy and I can wash them loads and they hold a really nice structure and there's a dry hand feel to it and they don't ball like and peel. Like that's like my favorite thing about cotton knits. Like they're just, they're very like in a nice tight crew neck. They're beautiful.
But I think if you see something like 20% and less of a synthetic, it's there to create structure in the garment and strengthen the garment.
Yeah, I was going to say, because it does serve a purpose, right?
And I think sometimes that gets lost in this conversation.
yeah it does serve a purpose and then also like you've got to remember no garment is perfect right so somebody might say like oh this is 100% wool it's I mean pre-owned wool you're doing pretty well that is like a massive tick but it's not always possible not always available in sizes and budget or color or whatever but when you have something that is a blend it is very hard to recycle that or give it another life and it doesn't break down in landfill or it won't break down naturally so you should buy mixes and blends and synthetics with the
just an extra eye over them. That's what I think. If you're going to buy them, there's reasons when we have to buy them. Like I'm going skiing at the end of the month. What am I going to do? Go up in a wool and cotton outfit and get absolutely soaked? No, I have to buy something waterproof. So there's situations.
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Chapter 5: What should I consider when buying new clothes?
You can close the button on a jean, obviously, because it's tough enough. But in shirts, when things pull like that, you can warp everything and it will not sit well. But it also wears out fibers and threads. And I would never dry anything special, anything viscose as well. Viscose is, it basically mimics silk quite well. So it's used a lot in like fancier clothes.
And it's kind of like the night out kind of fabric or kind of occasion wear fabric. That should always be washed cool and no dryer. A dryer can break things down. They say that a lot of garments only actually have about 15 to 20 washes in them, max. Some only have like seven, yeah, before they wear out. So some are way longer, but you never know.
Are you pre-treating stains always, like no matter what the stain is?
It depends. Like I'll have a quick look. Like I'll know if I've got a stain on it. One thing that you never know though is SPF and sweat because both of them come from the reaction with the water. So like you'll put a white T-shirt and it'll come out with yellow pits and a yellow ring around the neck. but that's to do with their products and stuff.
Usually I will know when I'll leave them soaking vinegar and water, but the main stuff that I get are red wine and food. So I will put washing up liquid onto a grease stain and then throw it into the wash. I don't use anything too expensive. It's usually washing up liquid, vinegar and water, maybe a bit of bicarb.
So you can pre-treat stuff, but a lot of times just, this is why I only use liquid detergents. I will just put a dot on my finger and rub it into the stain and then throw it in. So I have a lot.
Okay. Sorry, I was going to say, so let's talk about detergent then, because I have been using liquid detergent for the last year. I'm very committed to it because I find that like pods, they just don't always dissolve properly or I feel like the detergent doesn't distribute properly. You're a liquid detergent gal. Tell me about that decision.
So I always think you should have two detergents, right? But I'm not saying you should have two detergents. You can have one if you want. But in my circumstance, I like a powder and a detergent. Okay. First of all, you have, I will always buy a liquid that has no optical brighteners in them. Optical brighteners are also called OBs.
They basically put a layer onto the fabric that plays with UV light and it makes fabrics appear bluer to the human eye. Right. But over time they go grey. Do you ever have a white t-shirt and you're like, that's literally grey after like six washes? Yeah. Every white t-shirt I've ever owned. Right. Turn your fabric, your detergent around and you will see the words optical brightener on the label.
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Chapter 6: How can I choose the right iron or steamer?
Native. They are. I was in their work studio. They're unbelievable. But they'll also make you a pair of denim from scratch. You can bring in like three pairs and stuff. I think it's worth doing for sure. But I just feel like if you have a lot of stuff that you're like, I have five pairs. No, let's say, I don't know what's a lot to people. Let's say 10 work shirts. Keep the work shirt.
Think of this with fibers. If it's a work shirt, you're going to be sweating and you're under pressure. It's something that you're probably going to be moving a lot and commuting and et cetera. Get rid of the ones that aren't a natural fiber. That would be my advice.
Like if you're if you've excess of certain categories and you're like, I could do with getting rid of some, but I don't know which one. They're all very similar. keep the ones that are a natural fiber if the garment is worn close to your body.
Other ones will, sometimes we'll let like a really nice wool go or like a cotton long sleeve because we're just like, oh, it looks the same, but just be aware of what fibers you're keeping. You want natural fibers in times of sweat, basically.
Well, this is all so helpful. But before I let you go, I just want to ask you about one more thing. And that is trends. I think that we're living in like an absolutely horrifying era of trends, micro trends, you know, our access to social media and so many people proclaiming that this is the latest thing and that's the latest thing. And every five minutes there's something new.
I think it can make you feel very kind of panicked in relation to your shopping, I think. What's your approach to trends?
I think if you are aware of what, again, doing that wardrobe reset will help you with this. What makes you feel good when you're wearing it? And then when you see a trend come out, you're like, oh, this like, sometimes a trend comes out and I'm like, yes, like now it's going to be easier for me to replace the top that I bought years ago that I really like or whatever.
I think if it's what you have to be aware of every time I look at something like a certain, you shared a certain collab today.
Molly Mae and Adidas. What the hell? What is that about? Sorry, I forget that I'm on a show where we can say this stuff. Oh, we can say it. And no hate to Molly Mae. None whatsoever. None whatsoever. It's just such a weird fit. It doesn't make any sense to me.
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