5 common mistakes you should avoid when creating your sustainable closet
Photo by Crew
Don’t we all want our lifestyle choices to have a good impact on the world? To go to bed at night knowing that todays consumption habit has increased circularity in your country, might have given workers their fair pay and no chemical pollution has happened to the environment? It is mostly what we think we have contributed to when we buy second hand items and/or fair trade or organic certified products.
However, sustainability is not that simple. When it comes to clothes one of the first conclusions we might find, when becoming aware of the social and environmental harm of the fashion industry, is that second hand is the best option and if we buy something new it should be environmentally friendly and ethically produced.
But what happens if we buy products that are good for the world but not suitable for us? What happens if we consume clothes that we just never really wear? Well, you could have saved the money for something more useful and the resources required for your consumption, could also have been spared.
Personally, I recall my sustainability journey very well. When I was ending my club-membership at the fast fashion brands and starting to switch to second hand. That was 10 years ago and I did plenty of mistakes I now want to share with you so you can avoid them and create a more sustainable closet for you, without all the hassle or waste of money.
It has to fit
This one might not come as a surprise, but let me tell you what easily happens. When fast fashion is not an option and clothes not as easily available, and you have started to enter the second hand shops, you will still hunt for your favourite items or brands. You might find pants from a brand you truly love, you are so happy about the discount you get and you really really want those pants. You know they are a little bit tight, or maybe a little bit loose, but you convince yourself that it is okay. You can still wear them. You will buy them with mixed feelings, so happy to have these new favorite pants, even though they don’t fit. They will have a lovely place in your closet but after being used once they will stay in your closet, because you never really felt comfortable in them. Don’t buy them.
Photo by Arturo Rey
2. You have to like it
This one might also be obvious. Of course we only buy what we like, don’t we? Well, when you start to have second hand or ethical clothing as your priority you will notice that the options are not that many, or there are plenty of clothes but maybe not according to what you want. You might have seen a commercial of a dress with plenty of colors and patterns that you truly like. You really want that dress and you go to ethically produced clothing companies for something similar. You find this dress, which is expensive, you think, 1900 SEK, but you convince yourself that the eco-friendly material, the GOTS certificate and the European production makes it all worth it. The dress doesn’t have the same patterns but it has colors so maybe you will start to like it? You buy it but seldom use it because you were never really in love in the first place. You just tried to replace another desire and it didn’t work. Don’t buy it!
3. Circular consumption is seldom solution based
All your white T-shirts are worn out and you can’t keep on walking around with something that are yellow under the arms and smells weird even though it’s washed. You need a new T-shirt. You go to second hand after second hand shop and can’t find a new T-shirt. They have patterns you don’t like on them, they are too big or they look to worn. You start to loose hope and you end up buying a new one at a fast fashion store anyway. What happens here is that circular products are not produced based on demand. Some stores might have a good selection based on trends, but not on needs. When you start to shop second hand, you need to learn the art of finding what you love to wear and what you wear a lot (items easily worn out) throughout the year and purchase when it is there. For example, you might find the most beautiful summer-dress in the winter, the winter-jacket in the summer or three new favorite jeans at once. Circular consumption requires a long-term thinking and strategy if you want to buy and focus on items you might need over time.
4. Get to know your style and preferences first
It does’t really matter how good you are at buying second hand or sustainably produced clothes if you don’t really wear them afterwards. And of course, all of us are allowed to do mistakes and cheaper second hand can be good way to experiment. You can always buy from a charity shop, wear it for the weekend and give it back if you like on Monday. As long as that works for you financially you are basically just donating money to a cause. But if you go for something newly produced, more resources are required. Even if it is organic cotton and it has been produced using as little chemicals and water as possible, it still takes a toll on planet earth, so make sure when you buy something new that you truly are going to use it. Personally I did the mistake of buying hoodies, T-shirts and blouses just because they were better produced, but I was never really in love and I easily got tired of them. Buy only what you truly like and love.
5. Wear what you already have and be proud
Don’t throw away the fast fashion clothes you already have in your closet! Don’t give away or sell what you actually like to wear. In the scene of sustainable fashion, no one knows if your H&M shirt is second hand or new, and don’t be ashamed if you did buy it new. What we truly need to do is to take care of the clothes that we already have and the ones that are already produced, so keep everything you already have and enjoy them. When it is time to update your closet with something else, that is the time you can think about how you can do it more sustainably. Be proud of what you have, take care of it until it is time for it to be reused by someone else.
Enjoy the journey to a closet that makes you feel good and where you do good without compromising with your style or the planet and its people.
Photo by Lucrezia Carnelos