Five Ways to Slow Down Your Wardrobe

I recently wrote a post about the importance of slowing down your wardrobe (which you can read here) but as passionate as I am about stamping out fast fashion I also know it can be quite difficult to know where to start. I decided to share my top five tips for starting a slower wardrobe.

Spending Ban:

This is the first thing to do, just stop buying clothes. You can start slowly if you find it too hard and ween yourself off for example, if you buy something new each week try not buying anything for two weeks, or for a month. I have given myself clothing bans regularly sometimes for three months and more recently for six. Once you start buying less and wearing more you start to realise just how much clothing you have and that you really don’t need one more pair of jeans from Zara.

Pull It All Out:

My next tip would be to pull all your clothes out of your wardrobe, cupboards, draws and dump it on the bed or the floor. Sift through what you’ve got, I think you’ll be surprised by the sheer volume of clothing I certainly was, and then make some piles. I made a pile of clothes I wear regularly and wanted to keep, a pile I don’t wear regularly but would really like to start wearing a pile of random stuff I never wore anymore. I gave away the last pile to a mix of charity shops, friends and homeless shelters hoping that the clothes I had bought could be used by someone else.

I then split the clothes in Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer putting the current season away in draws and hung up in the wardrobe whilst the other season went away. I find it’s a lot easy to see what you’ve got when you do this and I find myself less likely to go out and buy something when I can easily see what I’ve got to wear in my wardrobe. When you have so much stuff it’s impossible to see what you’ve got which often means you’re tempted to buy a new black top even though you’ve already got half a dozen hidden in a draw somewhere. I have found that by being able to see what I own in my wardrobe and by keeping the pieces I like I’ve been able to style all sorts of outfits I never would have done before. It can be fun finding old pieces and making them new again.

Make Do and Mend:

Before I started my journey to a slower wardrobe if I found a hole in something I would just throw it away and replace it now I am trying to have more of a make do and mend attitude especially as the pieces I buy tend to be better quality anyway and worth fixing. Instead of buying new try learning to stitch a hole up, sew a button on or go to a cobbler and get your shoes resoled. This also works when you lose weight, when my Dad lost lots of weight instead of buying a whole new wardrobe he took it to a seamstress and had all his trousers and shorts altered. I’ve thrown a lot of good clothes away in the past when all they’ve needed is a little tender loving care.

Buy Better:

If you do need to replace something or a new item of clothing try to buy good quality. I know it can seem very expensive at first but if you have that item for two or three years and wear it over and over then the cost evens out. Also try to buy pieces you know you will wear at least 30 times. If we buy pieces we know we will get lots of use out of we will ultimately by less. You can also go one step further and buy from ethical clothing brands like People Tree or Thought Clothing. Not only are this much better quality and built to last but are also fair trade, sustainable and try to minimise their impact on the planet as much as possible

Create Your Style:

Creating a unique style rather than following fashions and trends can really help to cut your fashion buying down. If you buy classic timeless pieces like striped tops, good jeans, a quality winter coat then you find you will have them for a while. It also becomes easier to mix and match your wardrobe creating more of a capsule look. It can be really fun creating a signature style and I’ve found you can have a lot less clothing in your wardrobe.

So, there is my five tips for beginning to slow down your wardrobe. I hope these helped and I’d love to hear any of your tips down in the comments below.