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How Do I Look?: The Year I Stopped Shopping
Fed up with fast-fashion and mindless shopping? So was Inger.
By committing to a twelve-month shop-stop, she delves into the polarizing world of ffast-ashion and returns with a bunch of questions.
Why do we think shopping is the ultimate female bonding experience? Are people who don't shop super boring? Considering that the planet is running out of natural resources, should we only shop at ethical stores? And how come everyone always says, 'I have nothing to wear, ' when in the history of the world we've never owned more clothes than we do today?
Along the way, Inger faces the temptations of sales, finding the perfect vintage dress, and needing to look just right for important events. Does she shop, or does she resist?
Part memoir, part series of unscientific observations, How Do I Look? demystifies shopping and calls for a redefinition of what it means to be a conscious consumer in the 21st century.
By committing to a twelve-month shop-stop, she delves into the polarizing world of ffast-ashion and returns with a bunch of questions.
Why do we think shopping is the ultimate female bonding experience? Are people who don't shop super boring? Considering that the planet is running out of natural resources, should we only shop at ethical stores? And how come everyone always says, 'I have nothing to wear, ' when in the history of the world we've never owned more clothes than we do today?
Along the way, Inger faces the temptations of sales, finding the perfect vintage dress, and needing to look just right for important events. Does she shop, or does she resist?
Part memoir, part series of unscientific observations, How Do I Look? demystifies shopping and calls for a redefinition of what it means to be a conscious consumer in the 21st century.
- GenresNonfiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 2, 2016
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Inger D. Kenobi
2 booksInger D. Kenobi has worn clothes for over three decades. Having worked for two ambassadors and one CEO, she knows about dressing the part. Having spent most of her twenties living at a Tibetan Buddhist centre, she also knows that kindness never goes out of style.
Inger started writing this book while working at the Norwegian Embassy in London. She now lives in the Cotswolds where she and her husband runs a drone-filming company. They have two cats.
Inger started writing this book while working at the Norwegian Embassy in London. She now lives in the Cotswolds where she and her husband runs a drone-filming company. They have two cats.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 26, 2016
This book was so much more than a first world pseudo-crisis. It delved into deep issues and brought them closer to home, split off into marvelous tangents, and inspired a sense of gratitude and can-do. All this with a sense of humour!
Recommended for someone looking for an accessible romp through serious issues.
Recommended for someone looking for an accessible romp through serious issues.
October 26, 2021
The content was entertaining, but there were a distracting number of typos. I'm leaning towards this problem being part of an automated process that happened during publishing to eBook, because the author demonstrates that she clearly knows how to spell. Many times, words with double consonants were printed with just the single consonant. So "off" becomes "of," "latte" becomes "late," and "matter" becomes "mater." At this point, nearly a decade after the project itself, I don't think the author is going to pursue correcting (or corecting if you follow the speling rules of this book), but the mistakes were very distracting.
December 20, 2021
I didn’t want it to end!! Funny, honest and fascinating!
I’m excited to try my own stop-shop because of this marvelous book! I fell In love with the narrator! She’s so thoughtful, funny and fascinating! I found myself wishing I could go on her daily adventures!! And I deeply admired her honesty and thoughtful process as she faced her craving to possess more clothes! This book is juicy and gave me a lot of good food for thought around Fashion. I feel more determined than ever to prioritize creativity over consumption!
I’m excited to try my own stop-shop because of this marvelous book! I fell In love with the narrator! She’s so thoughtful, funny and fascinating! I found myself wishing I could go on her daily adventures!! And I deeply admired her honesty and thoughtful process as she faced her craving to possess more clothes! This book is juicy and gave me a lot of good food for thought around Fashion. I feel more determined than ever to prioritize creativity over consumption!
July 2, 2025
Entertaining and easy to read. A surprisingly nice balance of personal experience and the environmental/societal impact of clothing production. I recommend to anyone interested in shopping more sustainably and mindfully.
April 21, 2017
I liked this book--even though it isn't my typical genre, or even a thing I like or do. Shopping is one of the last things on the planet I think about--especially regarding clothes. The issues she brings up with "needing" to go shopping, I fail to relate to. If you can relate to this (I feel women are the intended audience,) then you will probably like this way more than I can.
What I did like is that it addresses the environmental issues behind clothing. There are social issues as well, but I think people fail to realize that even a polyester shirt impacts the world in a negative way. I liked a lot of what she had to say on this matter, and I also liked the sprinkles of her own childhood (especially the part about her growing up on an island and her love for water.)
I also gained an interesting insight into women and shopping--which is good! I never realized that women's shopping has triggers (like boredom or man issues.)--and I have a ton of sisters.
What I do think is, we as a collective society, do put to much emphasis on clothing. The fashion industry is absurd, and the "right clothes" thing is just stupid. This book doesn't set out to tell you not to shop, but to consider it more, and to re-prioritize your clothing and shopping practices (habits?)
This is the first book from Inger, and luckily, she has the ability to revise the ebook at any moment (thanks Amazon!)-- I noticed quite a few spelling errors, and a few grammar issues throughout. (First page of the intro has a glaring spelling mistake.) Hopefully she can get these all ironed out and get it so the people buying paperbacks in the future get a cleaner copy!
Congrats to Inger for getting this done and out for all to read! She has something to tell us, something that we can all learn from. Thank you for writing this, Inger!
Merged review:
I liked this book--even though it isn't my typical genre, or even a thing I like or do. Shopping is one of the last things on the planet I think about--especially regarding clothes. The issues she brings up with "needing" to go shopping, I fail to relate to. If you can relate to this (I feel women are the intended audience,) then you will probably like this way more than I can.
What I did like is that it addresses the environmental issues behind clothing. There are social issues as well, but I think people fail to realize that even a polyester shirt impacts the world in a negative way. I liked a lot of what she had to say on this matter, and I also liked the sprinkles of her own childhood (especially the part about her growing up on an island and her love for water.)
I also gained an interesting insight into women and shopping--which is good! I never realized that women's shopping has triggers (like boredom or man issues.)--and I have a ton of sisters.
What I do think is, we as a collective society, do put to much emphasis on clothing. The fashion industry is absurd, and the "right clothes" thing is just stupid. This book doesn't set out to tell you not to shop, but to consider it more, and to re-prioritize your clothing and shopping practices (habits?)
This is the first book from Inger, and luckily, she has the ability to revise the ebook at any moment (thanks Amazon!)-- I noticed quite a few spelling errors, and a few grammar issues throughout. (First page of the intro has a glaring spelling mistake.) Hopefully she can get these all ironed out and get it so the people buying paperbacks in the future get a cleaner copy!
Congrats to Inger for getting this done and out for all to read! She has something to tell us, something that we can all learn from. Thank you for writing this, Inger!
What I did like is that it addresses the environmental issues behind clothing. There are social issues as well, but I think people fail to realize that even a polyester shirt impacts the world in a negative way. I liked a lot of what she had to say on this matter, and I also liked the sprinkles of her own childhood (especially the part about her growing up on an island and her love for water.)
I also gained an interesting insight into women and shopping--which is good! I never realized that women's shopping has triggers (like boredom or man issues.)--and I have a ton of sisters.
What I do think is, we as a collective society, do put to much emphasis on clothing. The fashion industry is absurd, and the "right clothes" thing is just stupid. This book doesn't set out to tell you not to shop, but to consider it more, and to re-prioritize your clothing and shopping practices (habits?)
This is the first book from Inger, and luckily, she has the ability to revise the ebook at any moment (thanks Amazon!)-- I noticed quite a few spelling errors, and a few grammar issues throughout. (First page of the intro has a glaring spelling mistake.) Hopefully she can get these all ironed out and get it so the people buying paperbacks in the future get a cleaner copy!
Congrats to Inger for getting this done and out for all to read! She has something to tell us, something that we can all learn from. Thank you for writing this, Inger!
Merged review:
I liked this book--even though it isn't my typical genre, or even a thing I like or do. Shopping is one of the last things on the planet I think about--especially regarding clothes. The issues she brings up with "needing" to go shopping, I fail to relate to. If you can relate to this (I feel women are the intended audience,) then you will probably like this way more than I can.
What I did like is that it addresses the environmental issues behind clothing. There are social issues as well, but I think people fail to realize that even a polyester shirt impacts the world in a negative way. I liked a lot of what she had to say on this matter, and I also liked the sprinkles of her own childhood (especially the part about her growing up on an island and her love for water.)
I also gained an interesting insight into women and shopping--which is good! I never realized that women's shopping has triggers (like boredom or man issues.)--and I have a ton of sisters.
What I do think is, we as a collective society, do put to much emphasis on clothing. The fashion industry is absurd, and the "right clothes" thing is just stupid. This book doesn't set out to tell you not to shop, but to consider it more, and to re-prioritize your clothing and shopping practices (habits?)
This is the first book from Inger, and luckily, she has the ability to revise the ebook at any moment (thanks Amazon!)-- I noticed quite a few spelling errors, and a few grammar issues throughout. (First page of the intro has a glaring spelling mistake.) Hopefully she can get these all ironed out and get it so the people buying paperbacks in the future get a cleaner copy!
Congrats to Inger for getting this done and out for all to read! She has something to tell us, something that we can all learn from. Thank you for writing this, Inger!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews