Creating a sustainable wardrobe can be a daunting task, especially when you are used to the luxury of next-day deliveries, the sheer glut of choice on the high street, and clothes for each season. But bearing your fashion footprint in mind can work wonders not only for the environment, but your clothing as well. Let a new outlook on clothing inform your style choices, and save the world at the same time. Here’s how:
What Is a Sustainable Wardrobe?
A sustainable wardrobe is, in essence, a collection of clothes that doesn’t create an environmental impact, increase your carbon footprint or exacerbate the climate crisis. Lofty ambitions for one person’s wardrobe, but a wonderful way to re-attune with your fashion sense, think actively about your fashion footprint, and make your mark on the fast fashion industry.
Particular items you might find in a sustainable wardrobe might be cotton-rich garments that avoid synthetic fibres and plastics, next to second-hand clothes reconditioned and sold by vintage stores. High-quality, long-lasting items of clothing might also be considered sustainable fashion, as a good, well-made blouse could last five times more wears than a cheap high-street equivalent.
How You Can Create Your Own Sustainable Wardrobe
The 30 Wears Test
This is a simple test, designed to reduce the number of items you might be compelled to buy, and result in a more informed wardrobe. Every time you consider a new item of clothing to buy, ask yourself: “will I wear this at least 30 times?” If the answer is no, you put it back. You might not think you can see into the future, but with many garments you will know instinctively.
Research, Research, Research
If you have any favoured brands or go-to shops for your fashion, find out how sustainable their practices are. Where are the clothes made, and what from primarily? If there is a high carbon footprint involved in importing the items, is there a carbon offset initiative that they are using? If you find yourself shaking your head at the answers you find, it might be time to find an alternative maker.
Rental Fashion
Perhaps a dirty word in some circles, but rental fashion is in fact a fantastic way to reduce your fashion footprint, especially when it comes to irregular items of clothing. Rather than buying a suit or dress you’ll only wear to one wedding, consider a professional rental company – not only to save you money, but also to save the environmental cost of making a suit destined for moth-food. There are also newer initiatives that allow you to rent bespoke brands for seasonal wearing, once again saving you the injustice of a seasonal clear-out or de-clutter.
Drop the Seasonal Schtick
The answer to reducing your fashion footprint might lie in having an all-seasons wardrobe, filled with items you might wear all year round. Selecting ladies’ trousers that are comfortable in all weathers will save you wardrobe space as well as creating a more sustainable collection for you; keeping the number of coats you own to a versatile minimum is also guaranteed to help.
Donate!
Last but certainly not least, if this article has inspired you to pare down your wardrobe to its sustainable best, do not dare throw anything away! Bag it up and take it to a charity or vintage shop, or even sell it on an auction site. Keep the cycle of reuse going, prevent clothing going needlessly to landfill and stop at least one person buying new from the high street, in one fell swoop.
Photography by Olivia J Lennon
