Sustainable Fashion/Slow Fashion

Although clothes are a necessity in modern society, this doesn’t mean you should ignore the negative environmental impacts of your wardrobe. With lots of big clothing companies being accused of greenwashing, how can we as consumers ensure we are being sustainable as possible?

Shop Preloved

Buying reworn clothes from charity shops or vintage stores is a brilliant way to shop more sustainably. It reduces investment in fast fashion and supports the key environmental mantra of reusing. Giving a new life to clothes is much better than throwing them in landfills and it also reduces the need to overproduce new garments. It also supports the idea that you don’t need to be following trends to find clothes that you love, because trends inevitably create a lot of waste; something will be ‘in’ for a season and then ghastly in the next and keeping up with them perpetuates the idea that we have to be constantly buying new things to be happy.

Capsule Wardrobe

Capsule wardrobes are being talked about a lot at the moment. They basically revolve around the idea that you buy a few classic pieces which can be mixed and matched in lots of combinations to create a variation of outfits. They rely on timeless pieces that will never go out of style, so they only need to be replaced when unwearable. It also encourages you to buy fewer garments of a higher quality so they will last you longer. By having a capsule wardrobe you are essentially buying what you need and not feeding into the idea of trends.

Rock what’s in your wardrobe

This may sound simple, but wear what you have. Unless something is so worn that it doesn’t serve its purpose, there is no need to replace it. This saves you money and also stops you investing in fast fashion trends. It’s important to remember that trends are manufactured so that fast fashion companies can sell more clothes. If there’s something in your wardrobe have that you simply can’t bare the idea of wearing or it doesn’t fit, donate it to a charity shop instead of throwing it away.

30 wears rule

Now, this one is for if you see a new item and simply fall in love with it. Ask yourself; will I wear it 30 times? If the answer is no, then you’re latching onto trends. If you wait a while before purchasing and know you’ll wear it more than 30 times then treat yourself. However, if you think the item has an expiry date, buying it is only adding to waste. It’s impossible to avoid buying new clothes in the long run, but just make sure your purchases are worthwhile.