Keep It Sempoi, Sudah (and Sunnah)

Assalamu'alaykum.

I was at Bata yesterday looking for sandals to wear for my upcoming Umrah and Ziyarah (may Allah make it easy and accept it, in shaa Allaah!) and I started to have flashback memories of my teenage years, where I sometimes felt really upset and jealous of others because I didn't have a lot of money to spend on clothes, shoes or other fashionable items. (I still don't, haha! Alhamdulillah for that). So I used to psyche myself into thinking that I could still be stylish in my own way - sempoi way.

Because during my teenage angst years (I just had to put that), I was very much into underground music and its subculture (say astaghfirullah now - note the word WAS, yeah :D) so fashion sense wasn't really costly and as a matter of fact, it was really anti-fashion. All you needed was a pair of jeans (to be worn 'till torn), a T-shirt and a pair of Converse sneakers. Voila! You're done! Pretty basic punk rock stuff (astaghfirullah).

Even so, this kind of 'fashion' could also be expensive at times (to my standards!) As underground music and its culture became more mainstream, you saw designer brands also appealing to this type of 'fashion'. A trend. So what happened was you would have brands you could never afford portraying the exact coolness and style that you craved so much, but could never afford. It made me feel even worse. Sometimes, I thought to myself, "I'm gonna save up so I can buy that shirt/pair of jeans/whatever". But the price of the item always put me off - how could you spend RM200 or RM300 for a pair of jeans, never mind a t-shirt?!

So I always had to be content with that pair of jeans that will last me at least a couple of years (tu yang sampai koyak tu haha) or the handover jeans that Mum will provide from time to time (even though they're not cool - typical boring cut not slim or skinny cut that's what people were going for at the time). But hey - you do with what you have. Growing up my favourite spot for shopping was definately Sungei Wang Plaza and the Bukit Bintang area. You can find anything there!

There was this shop where t-shirts cost like RM20 and they come in unique designs. Barang rare, they would say. Itu yang penting sebenarnya! Haha baru underground~

Anyway - I'm thankful to be a pretty simple guy when it comes to fashion, (or the lack thereof). You could always find me happy in a t-shirt, shorts (these days its 3/4)/jeans, flip-flops and a cap. (Roll out of bed fashion) Oh yeah, the cap. A must have accessory. Haha. Rarely would you find me without a cap. And I was happy like that. So not having loads of money to splash out on clothes or fashion accessories didn't really bother me as much. I remember a time where the Von Dutch trucker cap was the in thing - everyone wanted to have one! So the ones who couldn't afford high fashion prices, what did they do? Head down to Sg. Wang/Uptown to get your rip-off version :D

So where am I getting at, you might ask?

I just want to share with you (especially the young ones reading this - if you feel that you have a dress a certain way to fit in with your friends/clique, then forget it. It's not worth it [pun intended. *ba dum tss])

That fad will pass, soon enough. And soon you'll find them spending another few hundred ringgit on the next trend, and the next and the next. You start to wonder what happened to the stuff that they bought earlier, did they even wear it enough times for them to buy new clothes. It just ends up in the closet. This is a reminder for myself, first and foremost. Because shopping at prices like RM20 can backfire as well - because its so cheap, you end up being suckered into the same trap by buying more! So there - lesson learned.

Besides, in my personal opinion, when you don't have a lot of clothes and you have to really make a decision when you buy them - it makes you more creative in a sense that you have to mix & match with what you have (okay i'm starting to sound like a sister now - i'd better stop!) My point being - being constrained brings out the best in you. You start to appreciate what you have. Compare that to people who just buy everything off the shelf. I used to really pop in Topshop (astaghfirullah, I know LOL) just for the sake of it.

SubhanAllah! I kid you not! Sometimes you see people walking in, checking out the clothes - and they're wearing the exact garb that the mannequin is wearing! So yeah, my point exactly. That's what can happen if you just buy for the sake of buying and you just have too much money to care.

So the moral of the story is: Buy only what you need, not what you want. It's easy to just buy into consumerism (pun intended), especially during those teenage years where you want to wear (again intended) what your favourite celebrity (astaghfirullah) is wearing or you follow a certain style of clothing (dressing, as the Malay slang goes - salad dressing? ba dum tss) be it skater, hip hop, underground, whatever - it's just not worth it. Plus, more often than not, its not Islamic! Few years down the line, you will be cringing at the sight of all those clothes and the money spent on it. Trust me.

Imagine - that money could have been used for other things! Such as sadaqa/charity. The Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) said:

"The Muslim says, 'All my wealth, all my wealth!' whereas he only really has three parts to his wealth: That which is eaten, and so it is consumed. That which is worn, and so it wears out. And that which is given in charity, for this is stored for him. Anything other than that will whither away to be left for the people behind him."

(Muslim)

Allah promises that whatever you give for charity, He will replace it. 

What are the 3 things that you will bring to your grave?