Living from season to season when it comes to fashion choices? Perhaps it’s time you rethink fashion and go a little slow. The coronavirus pandemic has effectively shown us the need to change our lifestyles and the way we have been impacting the environment. However, it has also shown us the wonders that little changes in our lifestyle can do to our overall well-being. And trust me when I say this: fashion detox is not too different from body detox! While both require some effort, they make you feel way better and lighter once fully adopted.
Think of slow and sustainable fashion as the sartorial equivalent of a balanced diet: vital, healthy, and good for both you and the environment. Now, that’s a good pitch, right? Read to find out how you can go slow and more sustainable with your fashion choices.
Do Away With ‘I Have Nothing To Wear’ Attitude
So many of us have so much wear and yet we somehow circle back to the old “I have nothing to wear” every other day. And while capitalism might have given this narrative an adorable touch, it is anything but endearing! An easy way to do away with this practice is to always remain prepared. For instance, prepare your office look a day in advance so that the next day when you get up and start getting ready, you don’t feel like you are out of clothes or nice combinations.
Look Over The Trends
Blindly following season after season is the easiest way to get yourself entangled in the vicious cycle of consumerism. However, while sustainability and slow fashion ask you to do away with ephemeral trends, they also give you the opportunity to develop an individualistic style that relies on classics that don’t need to be discarded owing to hackneyed trends. In fact, it is a very good method of doing away with the “I have nothing to wear attitude.”
Thus, aim for a capsule wardrobe that is all about versatile classics that you can mix and match and keep repeating for years. Here’s an easy guide that’ll help you build a capsule wardrobe while staying vocal for local:
Knowledge Is The Key
Now, while you might go out shopping with the intent of buying sustainable, slow fashion, it might not get translated into action owing to your compromised understanding of the same. This is why it is very important that you develop a thorough understanding of sustainable eco-positive fabrics, brands that use the same, and brands that are just putting up a pretense. Read about the brands that you seek to buy from, understand their supply chain, read about how they serve the artisans, as well as about their carbon footprint. Find out about hemp and recyclable fabrics that are good for you as well as the environment
Invest In Trans-Seasonal Clothing
Go for more and more wardrobe staples that can take you through changing seasons. For instance, while denims might be a tad too much for Indian summers, trousers can easily serve the purpose for both summers and winters. Similarly, shirts and tops that can be easily layered up or layered down as per the season.
From Hanging Your Clothes To Washing Them, Everything Counts
Take care of your clothes for it is the easiest way to make them last. Learn about the right way of storing your cottons and silks. Also, think of it as a holistic exercise. Thus, buying sustainable clothing but then hanging them on plastic hangers is extremely counterproductive. Be very vigilant about what goes into the entire circle. Similarly, the less harsh the washing procedure, the more environment as well as fabric-friendly it would be.
Purge
Once you feel you have outgrown your clothes or simply worn them enough, instead of discarding them, hand them over to someone else. This way your clothes will only get discarded after completing a full cycle, thus living up to the very essence of slow fashion.
Do Away With ‘Sustainable Is Not Stylish’ Mindset
Okay, firstly, style is a highly relative idea and varies from one person to another. However, for long people have been equating the idea of sustainability with “boring,” blame capitalism and the headless consumerism that governs the millennial soul. However, you really need to experience the joys of soft, ethereal mulmuls and lines to realise just how beautiful and chic sustainable and eco-positive fabrics happen to be in themselves. Also, from I love Pero to Doodlage, there happen to be so many brands that are acing the design aesthetics in this department as well.
Lastly, always remember that there’s nothing as stylish as sustainability!
Featured Image: Instagram
