Sustainability has become an increasingly important topic within the clothing/fashion world over the last decade, for customers and brands alike. Discussions around fast fashion and environmental impact tend to be the focus of the conversation. It’s clear that people are concerned and that informs how they shop and what they expect from their shopping experience.
According to a McKinsey survey, 57% of people have made significant changes to their lifestyles to lessen their environmental impact. Changes they’ve made have included buying products that come in environmentally friendly packaging and recycling more. Looking to create a sustainable wardrobe for yourself is just another way to make some changes to your environmental impact.
Focusing on establishing your own sustainable wardrobe is probably one of the most accessible options for people, even if your wardrobe already has non-sustainable items in it. A sustainable wardrobe is typically going to consist of clothes that were made or obtained in environmentally or socially conscious ways.
Keeping your wardrobe sustainable might seem a bit intimidating, but, once you get started, it can come together pretty easily, especially if you start keeping sustainability in mind moving forward. Below, I’ve listed three ways to best get you started.
Buy From Sustainable Brands
When you’re looking to add new pieces to your wardrobe, make the conscious effort to shop with sustainable brands. This can involve doing a little research to see the efforts a brand is taking to become more sustainable, where their materials are coming from, and how their clothes are manufactured. That research will give you the basis to make informed decisions in regard to where and when you shop.
Fresh Clean Tees, for one, is all about transparency of sustainable efforts, including how the clothes are ethically manufactured, looking out for both workers and the environment. With a goal of continually working toward sustainability as a cornerstone, Fresh Clean Tees is actively moving toward zero-waste, refining quality control methods, and sharing updates on how the factories operate. Shopping with sustainable brands like Fresh Clean Tees is a simple, effective way to keep your wardrobe sustainable, from tees to socks.
Step Back From Fast Fashion
Trending pieces can certainly catch your eye. That’s usually what they’re trying to do after all! But when you’re looking at keeping your wardrobe more sustainable, taking a step back from immediately buying what’s popular at the moment can be an effective choice. It opens up space for you to look for high-quality, timeless pieces that have a lot of versatility. That’s not to say that trending pieces can’t be high quality or versatile, of course.
When you rethink the longevity of trending pieces, what you’re really doing is taking a little extra time to think through the additions you’re bringing into your wardrobe. If the piece you’re interested in will be a good addition to your wardrobe and offer you things like versatility (or other features that are important to you), you’re adding something to your wardrobe that is going to continually bring you value over time. You just have to be sure you’re shopping on behalf of longevity and not impulse.
Fix Up Older Pieces
We all know that taking care of our clothes can definitely help them last longer. This can be achieved through properly taking care of your clothes as best you can, like properly washing and storing them. But another way to extend the life of your clothes is to repair and recycle pieces when you can.
For example, say your favorite shirt from the Clean Seas Collection gets a rip that you don’t want. Instead of throwing out an otherwise perfectly good Eco Fresh Crew Neck, there are a few options you have.
- Mend the rip yourself. If you don’t know how to sew, there are some really easy-to-follow tutorials on YouTube.
- If sewing isn't quite your jam, look into finding a tailor. They’ll be able to mend and tailor clothes in your wardrobe as needed, helping to extend their life further.
- Think about reviving your clothes if you’re feeling especially crafty. You can cut clothes here and there to get a new shape or trim away severely frayed edges.
Fixing up older clothing items is a simple way to keep your favorite items around for a long time while also reducing the amount of clothing you might otherwise just throw out.
Hopefully, these three ideas help you get started on making your own wardrobe sustainable for the long(er) haul. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a daunting process. You can choose the ideas that make the most sense for you and take it one step and crew neck at a time.
— Paige Lyman
