How to be a more sustainable Fashionista
Following Earth Day last month, here are my thoughts on how we can all be more sustainable and ethical in our fashion choices. It’s not all sack cloth and sandals, and we definitely don’t need to compromise on style!
Second only to oil in terms of pollution, fashion has a dangerously high environmental footprint, being extremely resource-heavy, with exploitation of factory workers and farmers in third world countries sadly being common-place.
On the flipside, many of us are making more considered purchasing decisions following our lives in lockdown, and we’re finally witnessing serious momentum in the sustainable fashion movement.
If you want to turn the glossy fashion page and become more accountable, here are some simple ways in which you can start moving to a more sustainable wardrobe:
Shop your own wardrobe. The most sustainable garment is the one already sitting in your closet. Do you really make the most of what you already have? Try to find at least 5 different ways of wearing each item in your collection and apply this rule when you are buying something new. Ask yourself, does it really deserve space in my home? Set regular time aside to experiment with new outfit combinations using magazines and platforms such as pinterest and instagram as inspiration. Fashion is cyclical anyway, with trends recurring every few years, so invest in pieces that suit you and they will last the duration. What goes around, comes around as they say.
2. Invest in a professional. Investing in a personal stylist for a day can save you plenty of future wasted hours and ££ as you gain valuable insight into the colours and silhouettes that suit your body shape which will not only help you streamline your shopping experience but won’t add to landfill textile mountains. Rather than buying several cheaper items, save up your money and buy fewer, beautiful investment pieces that will last for years. Creating a beautiful capsule wardrobe in the right palette and shapes will give you a far better cost per wear as all pieces should coherently work together to provide more outfits. You can take this even further with well-chosen accessories.
3. Borrow!!
It’s tempting to go and splash out on new party clothes for the festive season, but consider borrowing instead. Businesses are now tapping into the designer hire market, making luxury clothes more accessible and even offering us an income on our own pieces if we are inclined to loan them out ourselves. Companies like hurrcollective.com (favoured by Carrie Johnson) offer a wide range of items to hire at a fraction of the retail price, enabling you to rock a slice of high-end fashion without losing any wardrobe space. Or get together with like-minded friends and form a clothes-swapping circle.
4. Make do and mend.
Scouring local Charity shops and Vintage Emporiums is a great way to find unique garments that will really personalise your look. If something isn’t quite to your liking, take it to a local seamstress for altering, and consider customisation to breathe new life into something old. Adding patches, ribbon or using old brooches can be fun, therapeutic and you can totally get creative. If you have some time on your hands why not learn to sew, then the sky is your limit.
5. Wash with care.
The average modern washing machine uses approximately 50 litres of water per cycle but we can reduce this drastically by washing clothes less. Items like denim and cashmere can be spot cleaned and popped in the freezer for 24 hours to freshen and kill bacteria or moths. Your clothes will in turn last longer. If you do need to launder, use items like guppy bags or cora balls to catch micro plastics and prevent them leaking into the environment and use an environmentally friendly detergent.
6. Get informed. Sustainability really is a minefield and there can be a lot of conflicting information out there which is confusing. For example, the H&M conscious range is an excellent step in the right direction but it forms an extremely small slice of their business, with the rest of their practices falling below the ideal. This is known as ‘greenwashing’ and apps such as ‘good on you’ and websites like www.ethicalconsumer.org can be really useful to understand the true picture.