THE ART OF OUTFIT REPEATING

I hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy at this time (cant tell you how many times I have written that this month).I dont know about you but after the initial 4 days of tears, meltdown and panicking about toilet roll, I have found myself to adapt incredibly easily to a life of hibernating. I almost wish we could do this every year for a month (without a deadly virus) and everyone could get a month off work and see their families and reconnect. There has been something very wholesome about this time, everyone is really appreciating and celebrating each other. For once, the NHS is getting the attention, recognition and love it always should have- we really are so lucky.

I feel huge amounts of gratitude and privilege to be safe under a roof, with access to free healthcare if I need it. How lucky of me to be enjoying this time out, I feel selfish and useless, but I have endless gratitude to every working to keep this country functioning. Thank you.

In aid of Fashion Revolution week, I wanted to kick off the new chapter of my blog focusing on breaking bad fashion habits. I am gradually transitioning to a lifestyle of second-hand consumption, trying to build my life up with pre loved items and buy as little stuff new as I can.

From the age of 10 I have been running into town spending my small amount of money in Claire’s accessories and on disposable fashion…. which soon turned me into a fashion slave many years later lol. I love fashion and always have. Looking back on my teen years, as I move into my twenties, there are a lot of things I’d like to change, but the biggest was my selfish consumerism.

I was the WORST for buying new outfits for every event. Every night out required a new badly made Missguided top. Every party required a Boohoo dress for under a tenner. Every spare minute was spend endlessly scrolling through fast fashion apps, applying discount codes, insisting on next day delivery even when I was in no rush for the product. What a waste.

It was only when I started specialising my degree towards sustainability, that I realised how harmful my habits were. Louise Crewe compares fast fashion to addiction, where consumers are reliant on their next ‘quick fix’ and become restless waiting for their next purchase. The industry has created a greedy endless cycle of consumption where we as consumers are never satisfied. We want everything instantly, for the lowest cost and expect great quality garments in return. The more you read that, the more eye opening the situation is.

We are in a fashion epidemic, our consumption and greed is killing our planet. For once, can we PLEASE act to mitigate the effects …instead of waiting til its too late. Just trust the academics, scientists and experts that are telling you to change the way you live. The planet can’t keep up with us anymore.

I blame influencer culture for a lot of it. Influencers are paid to tell us about products we don’t need, and make us feel inadequate if we don’t have it. New outfits in every post and blatant amounts of over consumption/waste. My screen is constantly bombarded with discount codes, deals and free delivery promo. It gives me a headache to be honest with you.

I want to start using social media to promote a different lifestyle. I am by no means a zero waste girl and I don’t want to seem preachy. I see it as me doing the hard bit of researching and reading and then relay it back; in easy life hacks and little changes towards a greener path.

I want to break the stigma of being an outfit repeater. When did it become such a taboo to wear the same thing again and again?? I catch myself not wearing things sometimes as I always wear them and think people will notice. What even is that. Why do I do that. Who cares – I look great in it, it really suits me, that’s why I wear it a lot- why wouldn’t I?

I’m trying to manifest this word into a more positive meaning. It reminds me of when people in 2006  used to say “does my bum look big in this” like it was a bad thing to have a great bum. Well now I’m going to be complimenting people on their outfit repeating. I like that you wear the same things a lot, you should! We need to collectively stop shaming people for acting sustainably and making the most of their garments. Repeat after me “I WANT TO BE AN OUTFIT REPEATER!”.

Livia Firth (aka queen of sustainable fashion and co-founder of Eco age) put a picture on Instagram this week of her wearing a pair of trousers in 2001, next to her in lockdown in the same leopard print pair. This is probably the first time I have seen anyone with money encouraging you to re-wear your clothes…but what a lovely change!

I think it stems from years of seeing bottomless wardrobes in film, TV and celebrity culture. Friends is a classic example- it follows 6 relatively normal people with an average income in New York, wearing a new outfit every scene. You rarely see any of them in the same thing again, same goes for more contemporary shows like Love Island for example.  We are being brainwashed into thinking we need to constantly consume and have a new outfit for every occasion.

We have identified the problem, now what?

Here are some of my tips for having a fresh wardrobe without having to buy anything new.

Get familiar with swapping.

Clothes swaps are such a simple yet effective idea. Sharing your fabric history with friends is one of the most fun and ethical ways you can change your habits. Bring a bag of clothes round to someone house, have some wine and try on each others unwanted bits.

It really is true that one mans rubbish is another mans treasure. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with a garment, you are just sick of the sight of it…but don’t use that as an excuse to buy something new to replace it. SWAP.

We had out first clothes swap this year in my tiny uni living room (if I can host one in there then so can you!) It was so lovely seeing my friends rummaging through each others ikea bags of clothes, it felt so wholesome AND we all got a new wardrobe by the end of it! I also love that every time I wear something from our clothes swap it instantly reminds me of the person who it belonged to before. It is equally as nice seeing one of your friends rocking something you were fed up with and extending its life.

Borrow !!!!

Another taboo fashion topic is borrowing things. I don’t know why people are so protective of their clothes as if they designed them personally. Borrowing clothes for occasions is the biggest money saver. We all have formal dresses and suits which only come out for weddings and parties. Your friend has a wedding? Why not tell her she is welcome to look at your little collection of dresses?
We all feel pressure when it comes to outfit repeating at occasions like weddings. Truth be told nobody there will remember what anyone was wearing as they are either too pissed or they’re busy looking at the bridesmaids anyway! Lets stop this toxic culture of buying new high-end outfits for occasions and ask around!
 Help each other and the planet.

Delete and unfollow fast fashion apps on social media

This is a really quick and easy step to minimise the temptation. I used to fill my evenings with scrolling on clothes websites and ordering endless shit just to qualify for free delivery. Once you delete these apps, unsubscribe from emails and unfollow their social media you feel slightly free. Obviously, I still see a lot of marketing and promotion, but its less constant.

I also unfollowed a lot of influencers who weren’t making me feel happy with my life. I am so incredibly lucky with my life but following people who are living a totally different life (with a totally different income) makes you forget how lucky you are …and instead find yourself try to keep up with them. They get paid to promote stuff and make you feel inadequate with what you have. Do not fall for it. It is their job and they would not have an income without us funding it from using their promo codes.

Get familiar with second-hand consumption sites

You may feel a bit lost or unsure of where you would shop without fast fashion at your fingertips. Next time there is a product you want- I ask for you to search for it first on depop or eBay before buying it new! I do it for everything now. Makeup, perfume, skincare, fitness. Not just clothes but anything! There is a high chance someone out there is selling an unwanted gift or a product they have used once which they didn’t like.

Most recently I wanted some products for my skin to help breakouts, a lot of the suggestions were quite expensive brands such as Liz Earle and Neils Yard etc. I went on depop in the end and to search for a face wash by La Roche-Posay (which sells for about £24 usually). I got the face wash and moisturiser for £12, brand new and had been used once. How satisfying and easy is that?

Another really cool company I discovered recently is Thrift+. They effectively run an online thrift store for charity. You send off your old (but good condition) garments for free, that you no longer want and select your charity- they do the rest. They take a third but the rest goes to your personalised charity. They take good pictures in a studio and price the garments properly getting maximum money for them. 

Take your time

Try and detach from the idea of needing everything instantly. Our fascination with having everything on our doorstep by the time we wake up is wild. I still can’t get my head around it myself. You order something off a massive website at 10pm and get it by 11am when the postie comes. WHAT EVEN IS THAT.

If you think ahead and plan you can ask friends, check depop and at last resort buy something that will last you. But we need to stop demanding next day delivery if you don’t need it!!! Makes the employees and delivery drivers life so much more stressful. Adding pressure to the supply chain by wanting things instantly is selfish and I am vowing to stop doing it (aside from the obvious environmental impacts of wanting everything instantly).  Corona has taught me that if its not essential I should not be in a rush for it.

I will leave some of the positive Instagram accounts I love that promote circular fashion and de stigmatize second-hand consumption.

Here is to outfit repeating, clothes swapping, borrowing and being more patient with the planet!

Instagrams- @catcallboyzfashion, @liviafirth, @sustain_it, @oxfamonlineshop, @lovenotlandfill, @fifisclosetuk, @we_are_thrift, @evagoesthrifting, @fash_rev, @robertastylelee.