Thank you Katie Booth Photography for the photos!
One of my big goals this year was to get my closet under control. If you’ve been keeping up with my other posts, I talked about finally getting rid of a ton of clothes (seriously, like 5-6 thredUP bags and 2-3 trash bags for donation!) and some of the mental health issues behind my shopping habits. 2019 is the year of personal growth and leading through vulnerability, y’all.
“Getting my closet under control” means a lot to me. It means getting rid of the things I don’t wear, limiting the things I purchase, and feeling better about the things I own. Basically, it’s a pretty loaded statement in my mind.
I watched The True Cost for the first time in my Junior year of college. It’s a documentary about the inner workings of the fashion industry including what it’s doing to the workers and what it’s doing to the environment. It was the first time I realized “getting my closet under control” began to actually mean more to me. All of the sudden, I could see the consequences of a whole slew of people with my same shopping habits. As someone who cares deeply for others, it meant that if I wanted to live by my values, changing my habits was about more than just me.
So, while I actively work to change my thoughts and actions around purchasing clothes, I’m also working on curating a much more sustainable closet by changing a few key things. We all have to start somewhere, right?
I’m being more mindful with my purchases.
After purchasing my first pair of Gucci princetown loafers, I quickly became hooked on designer shoes. Not the best habit, but it did make me take a long hard look at my purchases.
I wear those loafers easily 3-5 times each week. I wear them to work, I wear them out and about, and I wear them with my casual outfits on the weekends. They are by far my favorite pair of shoes. Now, I don’t buy designer shoes every single month, but if I’m going to spend a pretty penny on a pair of shoes, I have to watch my spending on other items. It’s all about budgeting.
Now, before I purchase anything, I think long and hard about how often I will actually wear that item, what I will wear it with, and where I will where it. What will be my ultimate cost-per-wear for that item? Sure, a $20 shirt sounds like a good deal until you only wear it twice. An $800 pair of shoes all the sudden looks a lot better when you wear them 100 days a year over the course of 5 years.
I’m paying more attention to the brands I’m buying.
I used to shop at any brand, especially those heavily involved in the fast fashion industry. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, I just didn’t know better. Now that my clothing budget is different and I’m buying less, I can actually afford those ethical brands that I used to write off as “too expensive.”
The dress I’m wearing in this post is from Reformation, a brand that focuses on the impact of their manufacturing. There are plenty of brands out there focusing on having a better global impact, you just need to do a bit more research.
I’m extending the life of my clothes.
The easiest way to have a more sustainable closet is to simply extend the life of your clothes. Most donated clothes don’t even get donated; they just end up getting sent to landfills or sent back other countries. That was a fact that absolutely blew my mind. There are, of course, some charities that do a far better job of handling donations, but you simply can’t count on your donated clothing having another life in the hands of someone else.
Now, I purchase with the intent of wearing items until they can’t be worn anymore. I don’t buy things “for the season” or “for an occasion.”
I’m buying used.
The other easy way to extend the life of a piece of clothing? Buy it used. I purchase a lot of my wardrobe from thredUP. It’s a win-win because you can score a major discount on some pretty awesome brands and have a positive impact on the environment at the same time. The Madewell denim jacket I’m wearing is one of my all-time favorite thredUP finds and I’ve been wearing it religiously for years. I still can’t believe I snagged it for under $30.
You can even get $0 off your first purchase if you sign up using my link. If you have more questions, you can check out any of my posts about them (like here, here, here, here, and here)! Like I said, the site is a real win-win.
I’m renting.
When I said I wasn’t buying things for an occasion anymore, I wasn’t kidding. I now either check out my already large dress section of my own closet for dresses I haven’t worn in a while or rent an occasion dress! Let’s be honest with ourselves for a minute – we always buy new clothes for every little thing only to wear them once or twice. We keep things in our closet for the right “occasion” and still choose to get something new.
Renting (I use Rent the Runway) is wallet-friendly and you still get that added bonus of feeling like you got a dress just for an event. I’m still new to this process, but I’m definitely on board.
I’m recycling.
Now, what do I do with the clothing that I actually don’t want anymore? After you get past the initial grief stages of losing those wardrobe pieces, they’ve got to go somewhere.
You can read all about how I cleaned out my closet (and how I made those hard decisions), but sometimes it’s hard to actually know where to send those items.
- Barely used bras – women’s shelters are always in need of these
- Good quality tee shirts or non-name brand items – donated to local charities (they do a better job at handling donations) or charities that aren’t Goodwill; I recommend Catholic charities, Boys and Girls club, and most women’s shelters
- Blankets – ok, this isn’t a closet item, but a lot of local vets or animal shelters will take these off your hands
- Name brand items – send those babies into thredUP or try your hand at reselling on Poshmark!
- Designer items – I highly recommend designer specific resale sites like Fashionphile or The RealReal
