A chat with The Slowlist
Last month I had the great pleasure of being interviewed by The Slowlist, a hub and digital retail space for independent makers & conscious brands - Click here for the original article
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Each month, we’ll be sitting down with a different sustainably minded creative to find out how they slow down.
This month, we caught up with Morgan Barfield. Morgan is a Manchester-based photographer and stylist. Known for shooting sustainable jewellery and a love for secondhand fashion, we quizzed her about Sunday mornings, shopping and why she’s done with trends.
Slow mornings or slow nights?
Slow mornings.
How do you unwind and slow down?
Watching international cinema and TV – this has been the biggest life hack for me when my brain is in overdrive because watching something in a different language with subtitles forces you to 1000% engage with the content – no phones, no chat, no distractions. Me and my partner cancelled our Netflix at the beginning of this year and have been watching loads of Korean and Chinese films instead, it’s been really relaxing and transportive. I posted about a few of them on instagram and this girl reached out to me and gave me a list of all her favourite Chinese films so I’m working through them at the moment!
Tell us about your favourite place.
I have so many! My favourite at the moment is probably the tiny Thai restaurant in Cheetham Hill called ‘That’s Thai’. It’s opposite the climbing centre that me and my cousin go to. There’s honestly no better feeling than sitting out on the little plastic chairs with a huge Pad Thai after a morning climbing so I associate that place with pure bliss. The ladies that run it are absolute angels too.
Your favourite small and slow changes?
Microfibre make-up removing cloth – Absolute gamechanger! Also getting a food waste bin, our regular bin fills up so slowly now.
Words to live by?
The things you say no to are just as important as the things you say yes to. I tell everyone this, it’s especially relevant for other freelancers or creatives. Be selective, be consistent, set yourself high standards and principles. I think it’s really important to take pride in the things you turn down, that you leave out of a shot, or that don’t include in your portfolio.
These choices are fundamental in defining your business or brand. Saying no means you are focussed – that you have a vision and it’s not just throwing everything against a wall and seeing what sticks.
Tell us about your dream Sunday morning?
Cartoons and coffee and pastries in bed while it’s raining outside.
How did you slow down your relationship with fast fashion?
For me it definitely began as an emotional awakening before it became a conscious decision to slow down. I started noticing that I would feel really unhappy whilst shopping, whilst I was spending and buying and wearing all these trends that weren’t really me. After I had made the connection (and it took a really long time to face those facts) I started to experiment more with vintage and with buying brands that would otherwise be out of my price range second-hand on eBay.
I found it was also really useful to dig deep into my own tastes, taking note of the things I wear on repeat and the things I would never wear. It’s all quite boring now really! I think I just buy lots of variations of the same shapes and colours on repeat but it means everything gets a lot of wear.
