slow fashion guide for every budget
- by Andreea Prodan
- in LIFESTYLE
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The slow fashion movement considers the process and resources required to make clothing. It involves buying less, better quality garments that will last for longer. One of the pillars of slow fashion is valuing the fair treatment of people, animals and the plant.
The movement emerged as a solution and in opposition to fast fashion. In itself a fairly new phenomena, fast fashion started around 20 years ago, when the industry witnessed a drastic change. It moved from domestically made garments and two seasons per year, to being made abroad in countries where people are poorly paid and treated, to buying fabrics that heavily pollute our waters and the planet. Nowadays there are as many as two mini seasons per week in fast fashion stores as H&M.
Know why you are making the change
Our will is only as strong as our why. This applies to anything in life and also to this. It is fairly easy to go back to our old ways of doing things if we don’t have enough reasons to seek change.
Research and knowledge helps stay rooted in my change and keep going. I first came across True Cost when doing some research on fabrics, and since then I cannot get out of head the young Bangladeshi woman who stated that people wear they blood and tears; or the vivid description of the Rana Plaza disaster where more than 1330 garment workers died when the building collapsed on them. Regenerating the planet and social rights are my why. Find out yours.
Research and knowledge helps stay rooted in my change and keep going. I first came across True Cost when doing some research on fabrics, and since then I cannot get out of head the young Bangladeshi woman who stated that people wear they blood and tears; or the vivid description of the Rana Plaza disaster where more than 1330 garment workers died when the building collapsed on them. Regenerating the planet and social rights are my why. Find out yours.
Remove temptation
If you have a tendency to shop frequently it may be helpful to know what triggers your habits. I have unsubscribed from almost all marketing emails from fast fashion brads and only left a few from slow fashion ethical brand. Your shopping habits may be triggered by window shopping, watching clothing hauls on YouTube, going to the mall or online shopping.
Whatever it might be ask yourself WHY DO YOU WANNA KEEP BUYING THINGS?
Get to the root of why do you feel the need to buy more & more
If we think about it, realistically, we don’t need that many clothes and yet we live in a culture that encourages us to keep buying more and more things.
I realised that a few years ago I would keep buying things out of my desire to fit in. Having clothes from certain brands mad eye feel like I would belong in a certain group or social status. It’s funny or better said sad that many of these brands do not even use high quality fabrics that could last a long time. Why would they if the goal is for you to keep coming back and buy some more?
I realised that a few years ago I would keep buying things out of my desire to fit in. Having clothes from certain brands mad eye feel like I would belong in a certain group or social status. It’s funny or better said sad that many of these brands do not even use high quality fabrics that could last a long time. Why would they if the goal is for you to keep coming back and buy some more?
Find your style
I used to go to a shop see what I liked and just buy it. If it was on sale it was even better. I wouldn’t take the time to read the label and see what fabric it was made of or to investigate who made the clothing. I didn’t even take the time to think if that piece of clothing would work with the other pieces I had at home.
I could end up with a lot of clothing that didn’t work together. I had a lot but I had nothing to wear. Now I tend to buy pieces that are classic, will last a lot time and work well with a variety of things. It doesn’t mean that you need to only wear neutral colours, but make sure that what you have in your closet is versatile.
I could end up with a lot of clothing that didn’t work together. I had a lot but I had nothing to wear. Now I tend to buy pieces that are classic, will last a lot time and work well with a variety of things. It doesn’t mean that you need to only wear neutral colours, but make sure that what you have in your closet is versatile.
Engage in clothing swapping
There are many sustainable options out there. You can choose to buy second hand pieces from charity shops, vintage shops, online on Vinted or Depop, and you could also try clothing swapping. It can seem like a foreign concept to some people, but it’s something I grew up. I never thought of it as sustainable (I guess it’s part of what my eastern European family thought me about sustainability) it was just something my family and everyone that I knew did and keeps doing. We give clothes a second, third or however many lives it can have.
This is how it works. You declutter of wardrobe and create a pile of clothes you no longer want. Instead of donating them to charity you take the bag with clothes to your cousin or best friends. They can pick what they like add the clothes they decluttered and give it to someone else. Or you can have clothing swapping party where each person brings their clothes and everyone picks what they like.
This is how it works. You declutter of wardrobe and create a pile of clothes you no longer want. Instead of donating them to charity you take the bag with clothes to your cousin or best friends. They can pick what they like add the clothes they decluttered and give it to someone else. Or you can have clothing swapping party where each person brings their clothes and everyone picks what they like.
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