Sustainability Driven Fashion Styles: Tips on How to be More Conscious with Your Looks
With how the world is changing, sustainability might be one of the most important considerations you should make for your everyday life – and one of the best ways you can make a difference is to be more conscious about your fashion choices. Whether you love to wear your black jeans or are always in a collared shirt, you can make changes that will be better for the environment.
There are three main focuses when it comes to sustainable fashion choices – buy better, make use of what you already have, and reduce waste.
Buy Better
Fast fashion in recent years has been trending, as people are jumping on board when it comes to getting more clothes for cheaper prices. The cheaper prices have meant there has been a spike in popularity when it comes to online clothing companies that will then ship their items to different countries.
There are better options when it comes to making better choices when buying clothes.
- Choose sustainable brands that are ethical, pay their staff fairly, and care about the environment. There are companies out there that do not use cheap labor, and these are the best places to go.
- Shop locally to reduce carbon emissions from shipping. Online shopping might be convenient, but the unseen cost to the environment makes it more harmful.
- Shop second-hand first; good bargains can be had in thrift stores. This is a great way to not only get good prices but to find iconic pieces that suit you.
- Understand your own style and buy only the clothes that make you look and feel good, and that fit you well. Don’t be tempted by trends unless you plan to make them part of your ongoing style (and then buy well).
- Look for good craftmanship. Quality clothing will have well-stitched seams and solid zip mechanisms, for example. Poorly made clothes will need to be replaced and will not withstand even a couple of washed before disfiguring unlike well make high quality materials that withstand being worn and washed.
- Choose natural fibers like cotton, linen, silk, and wool. Modal and Lyocell are good options too. Avoid nylon, spandex, and polyester.
Make Use of What You Already Have
It is due to fashion designers and influencers that drive the ideology that you need to have the latest trends in your wardrobe. However, your fashion choices should be down the how you best understand your own style and what looks good on you, rather than following every fashion trend you come across.
The key is to have a few staple fashion pieces in your wardrobe that can be matches for any occasion and are of high quality so that they last excessive wear. An example of a staple item for your wardrobe is black ripped jeans as they can be dressed up or down in various ways.
Here are some tips to help make this choice:
- Wash your clothes less often. Not only will this make them last longer, but you will also be using less water and electricity. Remember to choose your detergent carefully too so you can avoid microplastics.
- Learn how to make repairs so that a hole or a busted zip doesn’t mean that you need to throw clothing out. If you can’t, then seek out a local tailor who would be able to do it for you – then you are supporting a small business at the same time.
- Similarly, think about upcycling clothing you already have. An easy example of this would be turning a pair of jeans into shorts or adding a new design to a plain tee.
Reduce Waste
It is the unfortunate fact that regardless of how sustainable you shop or how much you look after your clothing it does have an end date. This can come in many ways as it can become too small or beyond the point of repair. There are however ways that you can get rid of these items of clothing in a more sustainable fashion.
- Sell your unwanted clothes. There are online places to do this, or you can sell them locally on social media perhaps. This can make you some cash and ensure that clothes are reused.
- Donate to thrift shops, especially those that support charity. This helps other people make more sustainable choices in their fashion shopping, and helps you do a good deed too.
- Look for scrap fabric collectors. Companies often use end-of-life clothing to recycle new things, and this can keep clothing out of the trash even when it isn’t good enough to sell or donate.
- Special occasion? Don’t buy something to wear only once. Consider hiring an outfit – again, supporting a local business and ensuring that you aren’t tempted by poor sustainability choices and the clothing can get numerous uses out of it. This is especially relevant when it comes to outerwear and special occasion wear as you will only want to wear it once anyway
This process may not be perfect, but it does give the clothing a last chance of life in one form or another as it will otherwise just end up in landfill where it will take around 200+ years to decompose.
Being more conscious about the clothes you buy and the way you care for your clothes in the long run can make a bigger impact than you think. Through doing a bit of research and being more mindful into the brands you are buying or the way you buy your clothes can make you wardrobe way more sustainable than the average persons in this day and age.
You don’t necessarily have to shop in secondhand shops or not buy any new clothing at all. If you know the best quality materials and you know when a piece of clothing has fine craftsmanship, then you can shop in a sustainable manner knowing that those pieces of clothing are going to last for years to come.
Will you be making a change to the way you approach your fashion choices?