Before becoming an essentialist, I’d been going on unintentional shopping sprees at least twice a year. Most of the time I would buy a complete outfit that looks good when I try it in dressing rooms, but don’t actually wear it in public. Other times I would buy an outfit for a certain trip, and never wear it again.
As a result, my closet was always overflowing with unworn clothes, never again to see the light of day. This would lead me to get rid of clothes I’d barely worn once. I would either sell them in a yard sale or give them away without maximising their use.
As I learned more about sustainability, I realised that my behaviour was neither practical nor sustainable for either my wallet or the environment.
I wasn’t maximising the use of my clothing.
In fact, I was, regretfully, one of those responsible for throwing 85 percent of their clothes each year.
Make Your Wardrobe Sustainable
Once I realised that my spending behaviour had to stop, I decided to renew my mindset when it came to clothing.
I had to make a choice. Stop discarding, start reusing.
A study in Norway concluded that the average lifespan of a garment is 5.4 years, so I wanted to make sure that I max out my clothes’ life cycle before giving up on them.
30 Wears
Livia Firth, co-founder of the sustainable consulting company Eco-Age, started #30Wears on Instagram.
The campaign aims to encourage all of us to wear clothing pieces repeatedly.
When we purchase clothing, we often get swept away in the moment, and forget to think about whether or not it’s a practical and sustainable buy.
According to Firth, we should concentrate on asking why we’re buying that piece and how long we’re going to keep it. If it’s going to be in our wardrobes for a long time, and we expect to wear it more than 30 times, then the purchase is sustainable.
Purchase Sustainable, Quality Clothing
But what if it doesn’t last 30 wears?
I urge you to shop quality clothing next time, then. After all, it can’t be helped. If you’re buying cheap fashion, you’re getting cheap quality, and you’re not getting the value for your money.
Shopping around for sustainable clothing may be pricier, but it will surely save you more money in the long run.
The Giving Fashion blog explains the math.
If you buy a $30 dress from a fast fashion brand, and only wear it five times in three years, which is the average lifetime of fast fashion clothes, its cost per year is $6.
Whereas, if you spend $90 on a high-quality dress you can commit to and wear at least 30 times in the span of 5.4 years or more, its cost per year is only $3 or less.
There you have it!
When you purchase new clothing, don’t forget to be mindful, and ask the important questions.
Plus, the key to longer-lasting clothes is in how you take care of them. I still wear my black dress from Topshop from seven years ago, and it still hasn’t reached its 30 wears!
Why is the Growth of Fast Fashion Unsustainable?
I love how you bring this issue to light 🙂 personally I tend to wear things out when I purchase them. I’m pretty sure that the last pair of trousers I brought has been worn at least once every 3 days for over a year. You can always buy second hand clothing too and clear out your wardrobe of items that you don’t wear and sell them to someone else who might wear them more if you nolonger have use for them.
Thanks Bumbles, yeah I don’t believe I’ve bought any new jeans now for well over a year. In fact I did an extreme clear out recently and gave away a lot of items to my local charity shop. I hope someone else will get the use out of them that I haven’t
Great example of how we don’t think how many times we wear things and how it’s actually More expensive sometimes to buy fast fashion.
I would add though that how and why we buy clothes is very important to think as well. If we go to The shops with a certain piece in our heads we’re More likely to not buy things on a whim.
Good read 😃