An Introduction to Sustainable Fashion
The global pandemic has enforced a slower pace of life and we have all had time to reconsider our normally hectic lifestyles. Simple pleasures such as board games and baking have become popular, with the requirement for fast-fashion falling dramatically as we simply have had nothing to dress up for, apart from the odd zoom call.
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 being common-place.
One positive outcome of from the horrendous pandemic is that the sustainable fashion movement has gained serious momentum, as we become more conscious of our consumer choices and their impact.
If you’re considering turning the glossy fashion pages and start moving towards a more sustainable wardrobe, here are a few tips to get you started:
Shop your 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 circular anyway, with trends recurring every few years, so invest in pieces that suit you and they will last the duration.
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 help you streamline your shopping experience and stop any impulsive buys that become buyers remorse and end up adding to the textile landfill mountain. It is estimated that 350 000 of our clothes end up in landfill in the UK every year! not adding 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.
Borrow: Businesses are now tapping in to 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 www.mywardrobehq.com 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.
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.
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 and bacteria or moths. Your clothes will last longer for it. If you 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.
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.
Remember that the power of the market rests in the practices of the consumer and we can make a serious and positive change if we begin to shift the direction of production by demanding better from our brands.