Becoming Aware of the Problem | Mindful Fashion
April 22, 2020
Photo by Giulia Bertelli on Unsplash
I couldn't really have a blog about living a more sustainable lifestyle without mentioning fashion, especially as that was always the main focus of my blog when I first started. Fashion, and having lots of clothes, were always dear to my heart, no matter the quality or how many times I wore each piece, as long as I had lots of them, I was happy. When I first started delving into the whole sustainability matter I read a lot about how the fashion industry was one of the planet's biggest threats, and my first step to help out was to stop buying anything with polyester&co, if a piece of clothing had even 2% of plastic I was staying away from it, nothing that wasn't linen, viscose, rayon, cotton, wool, etc wasn't coming into my home, but I was still buying from the same stores, every sale season I would buy more and more, so was I really helping at all?
Well, yes, I was no longer consuming as much because it's hard to find pieces that 100% fall into that category in high street stores, and I was no longer contributing to the synthetic-ridden clothes problem, but I was still supporting brands that weren't environmentally friendly, not to mention brands that had awful policies regarding workers and their conditions. My second step came after I saw a documentary about how clothes in Zara (and Inditex in general) are made, I was absolutely shocked to see how polluting the whole process is, just making a simple pair of jeans had horrible repercussions not only to the planet but also to the people making them. I stopped buying from Zara right there and then, it has been two years, and haven't felt tempted to go back, but I do still, occasionally, shop at high street stores, which is something I'm trying to stop altogether.
Becoming aware of the problem is the first step to fight said problem, so I don't feel as though I'm on level 1 of dealing with it, I've made other changes to the way I shop, which I'll talk about in another post, but I know there's still so much to learn and figure out. None of us need a whole new wardrobe every season, we don't need 10 new dresses for summer, and we certainly don't need to throw away perfectly good pieces just because it's trendy to do massive clearouts every other week. Even though not all of us can buy from fully sustainable and ethical stores, I know I can't, we can still have a mindful approach to fashion and the way we shop. I read an article on Business Leader that said "The fast fashion model has spiraled into a marketer’s dream. Consumer purchase behaviours are driven by short-term pleasure. We show off our wealth, style and personality but once this temporary fulfilment is over, it’s a vicious cycle to continuously satisfy our rational materialistic values, becoming a desire not a necessity." and this couldn't be closer to the truth, we need to stop living in a constant state of want and focus on what we truly need, and hopefully if consumer desires evolve, the industry will have to follow, this won't be a quick process, and not everyone will be up for it, some people will continue to prefer quantity over quality, but it's up to each one of us to make that change.
Each one of us needs to become aware as a consumer, making mindful decisions as to how we spend our money and how this will affect the people as a whole and the planet itself. Sure, conscious consumerism almost seems like a trend nowadays, but trends fade and what needs to remain is the core of the movement, it needs to be a lifestyle, not just something you dip your toes into for some Instagram likes. We need to break the cycle, the more we consume the more we demand, and the more we demand the more is overproduced, as long as we live our lives this way, the world will keep on hurting, and so will we.
There isn't a foolproof way to become a mindful consumer, but there are a few steps you can take to help you find your way:
Becoming aware of the problem is the first step to fight said problem, so I don't feel as though I'm on level 1 of dealing with it, I've made other changes to the way I shop, which I'll talk about in another post, but I know there's still so much to learn and figure out. None of us need a whole new wardrobe every season, we don't need 10 new dresses for summer, and we certainly don't need to throw away perfectly good pieces just because it's trendy to do massive clearouts every other week. Even though not all of us can buy from fully sustainable and ethical stores, I know I can't, we can still have a mindful approach to fashion and the way we shop. I read an article on Business Leader that said "The fast fashion model has spiraled into a marketer’s dream. Consumer purchase behaviours are driven by short-term pleasure. We show off our wealth, style and personality but once this temporary fulfilment is over, it’s a vicious cycle to continuously satisfy our rational materialistic values, becoming a desire not a necessity." and this couldn't be closer to the truth, we need to stop living in a constant state of want and focus on what we truly need, and hopefully if consumer desires evolve, the industry will have to follow, this won't be a quick process, and not everyone will be up for it, some people will continue to prefer quantity over quality, but it's up to each one of us to make that change.
Each one of us needs to become aware as a consumer, making mindful decisions as to how we spend our money and how this will affect the people as a whole and the planet itself. Sure, conscious consumerism almost seems like a trend nowadays, but trends fade and what needs to remain is the core of the movement, it needs to be a lifestyle, not just something you dip your toes into for some Instagram likes. We need to break the cycle, the more we consume the more we demand, and the more we demand the more is overproduced, as long as we live our lives this way, the world will keep on hurting, and so will we.
There isn't a foolproof way to become a mindful consumer, but there are a few steps you can take to help you find your way:
- Ask yourself if you really need that thing you're about to buy, how often will you use it? How was it made? Do you already have something similar? Can you borrow it from someone else? Asking questions is important, if it's something you need and know you'll use/wear for years and years to come, and if you know it was made to last and in a sustainable way, buy it. If you need it but will only use once or twice, maybe find someone that will let you borrow it, or will rent it to you, we don't need to buy a new dress for every wedding we're invited to.
- Get rid of your trend mentality, you don't need something new just because it's trendy, more often than not that trend will be over within a few months, and you'll be left with something you won't want to wear anymore. And while you're at it, get rid of the "retail therapy" mindset too, buying new things may feel good while you're doing it, I've been guilty of that myself, but the temporary mood boost will only result in a house filled with things we don't really need or want, and those things that made you so happy a few days ago will become waste. Fill that void with an activity that will be useful instead, learn to bake, teach yourself a new language, read a book, watch a movie or a show you love, have a cocktail..
- If trends are something that still call out your name, all you need to do is remember: all trends have been trendy before so, most likely, you can buy that item you've seen in every store and on every influencer's Instagram just by visiting your closest secondhand shop, or even by rummaging through your parents' or grandparent's closets. This winter I really wanted a baggy coat and needed something warmer to wear to university and my grandma was so happy to let me have a look in her closet and find something I loved and that she hadn't worn in over two decades, it can be a really great way to connect with your family too.
- Learn to value experiences, time and people instead of new things. Once I stopped spending money on dozes of clothing pieces every sale season that I didn't actually need, I was left with so much extra money I was actually able to travel (I wasn't spending thousands of euros each time, but all that money was put aside and every year I would go on a trip with my friends or my boyfriend) and I value those memories so much more than I would value those clothes.
- Take a look at Good On You, here you'll find ratings and reviews on ethical brands, and learn more about all the different stores and brands that care about our environment.
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