ELLE will tell you how to stay fashionable and at the same time cause minimal damage to the environment

Once a season, make a list of what you are going to wear

«Buy less. Choose well,» to quote Vivienne Westwood. This approach systematizes your wardrobe — it’s time. And two — it will protect you from spontaneous purchases. If you plan to buy new jeans and a scarf because it’s getting colder, then make a list of necessary things for autumn and follow it (it doesn’t matter where you buy clothes — online or offline). This way there will be less temptation to buy another sweater and this floral dress.

Give unnecessary things to those in need or for recycling

As experience shows, if you have not worn a thing for more than a year, it is unlikely that you will ever wear it again. Sort out unnecessary things and say goodbye to them in any of two ways. The first is to be recycled, for example, at H& M: they accept things in any condition, the main thing is that they are not made of leather, latex and metal. The second option is to give things to those in need, for example, homeless people in a «Night shelter»: a charity organization especially needs warm clothes and shoes.

Buy things from other people

And sell your own! According to experts, by 2022, the used clothing market will grow from twenty billion to forty, and in ten years it will completely overtake the mass market. In Moscow, there is a Second Friend Store and various Facebook groups for this, for example, undress. Among the international platforms, I would like to highlight The Real Real and the Rebag project specializing in luxury bags.

Arrange swaps

You can make it a tradition to gather for a swap party (a party with an exchange of things): bake a pie, call your girlfriends and exchange, for example, dresses that you don’t wear. You can’t earn money on this, but it will be at least fun, and the opportunity to update your wardrobe without spending a ruble is always pleasing.

Be interested in the things you wear or plan to buy

The most entertaining way to do this is through applications that support sustainable fashion. In Good on you, you can find out how your chosen brand of clothing affects the planet. And in the My EP& L application, developed by the Kering conglomerate, you need to set the parameters of clothing or shoes (composition and region of production) to see how much natural resources were spent on the production of a particular thing.

Don’t focus on trends

Because most of the time their task boils down to one thing — to force us to buy new things every season.

Don’t go into the store to cheer yourself up. This is especially true of the mass market: if it seems to you that buying a new floral dress, of which you already have a dozen in your wardrobe, will cheer you up, then it only seems to you. Most likely, the next day the joy of buying will disappear somewhere, and plus it will turn out that it is unbearably hot in summer in a polyester outfit. Wouldn’t it be better to spend these two thousand rubles, for example, on a Bookmate and Netflix subscription?

Galkina Alyona

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