Spoiler alert: Shopping is not the solution.
Shopping is the problem…and not just environmentally!
Shopping in an ill informed and emotional way only leads to more overwhelm and even less to actually wear.
The number one thing we can do to ‘build’ a more sustainable wardrobe and combat the overwhelm is to stop shopping and wear what we already have.
Ok...wear what we have! That sounds simple enough, right? But we all really struggle with this!
Wearing what we have goes against everything we have been taught about how to view clothes.
Clothes can give us status, make us feel powerful, approachable, deserving.
They can also make us feel inadequate, wrong and ashamed.
Clothes hold so much power in our society and through years of exposure to the capitalism and consumerism that our economy is built upon we now collectively believe that new is better and wearing items once is a symbol of wealth and success.
The culture of ‘wearing things once’ leads to an insatiable desire and drive to hunt for the new. To never be satisfied and appreciate what we have, but always consuming more.
So what is the solution? Here are my top 3 places to start:
Start by tracking what you do actually wear. This will give you a more accurate understanding of your personal style and your preferences. Start by taking a photo every day and go from there.
Try to support small businesses through choosing to use local tailors and alteration artists to update your clothes to fit your lifestyle and needs.
Curate seasonal capsules from clothes you already own. This means you only have seasonally appropriate clothes immediately available to you which lessens the overwhelm when you get dressed.
You can hear more about my insights on capsule wardrobes and all things sustainable style by listening the the podcast episode I recorded with Reloved Radio HERE
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