Shop more and consume less: Updating your Summer wardrobe

Shop more and consume less: Updating your Summer wardrobe the eco way

April 9, 2009 by Clare Saxon 

It
is all too easy to buy into trends on the High Street when the sun
comes out because it’s all so damn cheap and pretty. But there are some
simple and ever so easy ways of updating your look without giving in
and consuming new proucts. Penelope Fleming-Fido gives those of us who still aren’t sure where to start, a basic break down about giving our wardrobe an ethical make-over.

Penelope writes: Summer is literally just around
the corner and women’s magazines are already full of articles such as
‘25 Summer Wardrobe Essentials’ with the glossy pages full of hot
trends and ‘must buys’. But must we? Looking through the latest Summery
magazines I have found that the average ‘essential’ spend is over a
not-very-recession-friendly £500.

That’s £500 for this year’s fashion. Things that next year the same
magazines will be describing as on the way down and passé. The earth
has a finite amount of resources, yet so many articles are aimed at
making us consume more, and everything must be bigger and better than
before.

The truth is, things that are described as being ‘bang on trend’ are
the same things that become embarrassing when you look back at photos
of yourself in the past. I am sure you are familiar with the phrase, ‘I
can’t believe I ever went out in that!’ I know I am. But the ‘OTM’
fashions never have actually represented the majority of clothes that
we wear every day. Most people’s wardrobes are full of clothes that
were never really ‘in’ and consequently never go ‘out’ of fashion.
Jeans? T-shirts? I’ve got some that I bought five or more years ago,
and I still wear them. Guess what? No one has pointed and laughed
(well, not yet…).

Buying clothes is, and should be, fun and wearing things you haven’t
worn a million times before can make you feel better about yourself.
And actually, it’s possible to buy brand new clothing without (a)
depleting the world’s resources, (b) being a slave to fashion, or (c)
spending a fortune. It’s all about buying ethical, classic, quality
clothing that suits your personal style and body shape.

If it’s the act of shopping that turns you on, why not take a trip
round the local charity shops? There are lots of good quality clothes
to be found, and sometimes it’s possible to pick up a designer bargain
that will make even your most fashion conscious friends green with
envy. If the thought of sifting through piles of the more mundane
clothing on offer in some charity shops makes you feel pale however,
there’s a great boom in more upmarket second hand stores. Admittedly,
more upmarket often means more expensive, but it’s still as cheap as
buying something from a high street brand, and decidedly less
exploitative than some of those. And you can wear the clothes with
pride, in the knowledge that you’re wearing something stylish which has
neither cost the earth in price nor in sustainability.

If it’s simply the fact of having different clothes that makes you
happy, however, get together with some friends for a clothes swapping
event. Bring some of those impulse buy skirts that never really suited
you, that top you’ve never felt the same about since the day someone
asked you when the baby was due and the sandals that give you blisters.
Your trash will be someone else’s treasure, and vice versa. Make the
night an occasion with music and a bottle or two of wine and you’ll
wonder why you ever bothered with the high street. What’s more, after
saving so much cash, you can splurge on one or two ethical fashion buys
that will set your summer ablaze.

From Green My Style - http://www.greenmystyle.com/shop-more-and-consume-less-updating-your-sum...