In order to have a practical and fashionable wardrobe – you often do not need a lot of money. According to Greenpeace, the UK buys more clothes per person than any country in Europe. Moreover, 300,000 tonnes of clothes end up in landfill every year (with some of this clothing unworn or never sold)! Whilst I find these stats shocking, they are not surprising – especially due to the popularity of fast fashion and the want to keep on trend.
The following ideas will help you to reduce the amount you will spend on clothes, as well as potential benefits on the environment too:
Buy Second Hand
It has never been easier to buy second hand clothing, my personal way to sell my unwanted clothes has been through Vinted. It is great to know my unwanted clothes have a second life, rather than ending up in a recycle bin. From a sellers point, the app and website have been incredibly simple to use and as a buyer – there are many clothing options for you to search through, often at a lot better price compared to buying new.
As well as online options, there are also the many charity and vintage stores where you will be able to find a great price and new pieces of clothing.
Reduce Wastage
Before throwing another piece of your wardrobe away ask yourself – do you really need to dispose of it? Can you alter it in any way to make it useable?
If you really do not need the item of clothing any longer could you hand it into a charity store / collection or second hand store to give it a second life, or recycle it?
Care for your Clothes
Do you find you need to replace your clothes often as they are getting worn out or damaged? Often how you care for your clothes such as washing them, using a clothes dryer or hanging them up can damage them leading you to discard them. Reducing the temperature you wash clothes at not only has environmental benefits but also leads to less harm for your clothes.
Buy Fewer Items
Have you taken a look through your wardrobe and wondering how many of those items you really wear?
Often many people own many more clothing items than what they actually require. Spend some time going through your wardrobe and taking a look at all the items you own – maybe you have that jumper you were planning to buy online after all.
Take a look at the idea of a Capsule Wardrobe – which is the idea that you only need roughly 30 – 40 items that you can mix and match to create your outfits. Mix and match as much as you can, and often the simpler the design – the more often you can use the piece of item in many outfits.
Quality over Fast Fashion
The idea of a 50p t-shirt from Primark may sound appealing for your bank account, however it is often the case that the cheaper your clothes – the quality is often highly compromised.
Not only will removing fast fashion from your wardrobe provide you better quality clothes it is also a lot better for the environment due to the reduction in clothes waste. In the long run it could also save you money in the long run as you could have a reduction in the purchases of a poorer quality material.
Clothes Swap
Similar to a book swap, exchange your unwanted clothes with family / friends in return for their clothes. This will allow you to try out new clothes and outfits with out the need for purchasing any new ones.
Branded Items
Are you happy to pay a lot more to ensure that branded logo is shown on your clothes? Or would you rather save (often a lot of money) to buy something similar and without a logo on it?
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