5 Ways To Shop A Sustainable Wardrobe
If you’ve spent the last few weeks ‘tidying’ up your house, I’m sure your closet wasn’t missed. Having a clean and organized closet is the first step I coach all my clients to do when their goal is to have a productive and styled wardrobe that delivers the look they want. You have to get rid of the clothes that aren’t meeting your needs. Weather they don’t fit, aren’t your style, or just plan don’t make you feel good when you wear them. They’ve gotta go! If you missed my blog post, How To Tidy Up Your Closet, you can read that here. I break down editing your wardrobe into 4 easy steps that anyone can do in a day!
The next step in taking control of your style, and your closet, is to make sure you are shopping for pieces that add value to your wardrobe! I don’t want you adding back into your closet apparel or accessories that are going to end up at the Goodwill in 6 months. The key to shopping a sustainable wardrobe is to buy things that you are actually going to keep! Sustainable doesn’t mean expensive clothes that are made from luxury goods. Sustainable means long lasting, as in you’re not shopping with emotions or in haste. You want to harness your purchase power and shop smart!
Here are 5 tips to shopping a wardrobe that you’ll keep!
1.Shop Clothes That Fit
I will talk about this all day long. In fact, I have been! I talk about buying clothes that fit in almost every blog post that has to do with creating a wardrobe that works. We all want to lose that last 5 pounds, but if you haven’t lost it yet then don’t buy that pair of pants in the smaller size thinking they might fit in a few weeks. If it doesn’t fit you NOW then you CAN’T BUY IT now! Go back to the store and buy the pants when you do lose the 5 pounds. If they’re sold out or gone buy then, guess what? There will be another pair of pants you like, I’m sure of it! If you are buying clothes that don’t fit, they may never fit, and they’ll end up in the donation bag. Clothes that fit are clothes you’ll keep!
2.Shop Clothes That YOU Like
I love going shopping with my friends just as much as the next girl. It’s fun to encourage each other to try things on that we might now otherwise, and to celebrate with each other when we find a winning piece in the fitting room. However, there have been too many times when that encouragement has turned into peer pressure. We get home with clothes we know we won’t wear but our bff convinced us that we looked so cute in it and had to have it! If you’re not sure the color looks good on you, if you think the pattern is too loud for your style, or if you really know you don’t have any place to wear it don’t buy it! No matter how many time the sales associate or your bff tell you that you should. Clothes YOU like, not others, are clothes you’ll keep!
3.Shop Your Essentials First
The number one trouble my clients have with their wardrobe is that they don’t know what to wear with what, or how to wear what they already have in their closet. I love helping my clients reimagine the possibilities of their wardrobe. While playing dress up the women I work with learn how to dress their body type, re-style their closet, and discover what their personal look is. It’s my greatest joy when I leave a In-Home Wardrobe Consultation and see my clients feel empowered and confident in their clothes. The biggest mistake I see in these women’s closets is that they don’t have the essentials they need to make their wardrobe as productive as they want. The struggle is real in figuring out how to mix and match your clothes and get the most versatile wear from your apparel when you don’t have your staples! Clothes that build a wardrobe, are clothes you’ll keep. [Download your copy of the Wardrobe Essentials Checklist here.]
4.Shop What’s Timeless
Before you think I’m a real buzz-kill I do love trend, and I do shop trend driven styles frequently. I love a cute pair of distressed denim, or jeans with a frayed hem. These details are in-style and when I wear them I feel like a cute mom who can still be cool every now and then! However, trend driven styles only make up 15% of my closet or less. These pieces are what I call ‘bonus buys’, I love them and they are a great tool in keeping my wardrobe fresh and giving me what I need to create new looks with my already established capsule wardrobe. The other 85% of my closet is the said capsule wardrobe, comprised of pieces that will never go out of style and I will always look good in! These are pieces with classic details, colors that compliment me, and fits that work for my body. Clothes that never go out of style are clothes that you’ll keep.
5.Shop Second Hand
This might not totally be in-line with the first 4 tips I listed for shopping a sustainable wardrobe, but there is no way I can outline this subject matter without mentioning this tip. Shopping second hand is one of the best ways you can contribute not only a sustainable wardrobe, but to a sustainable world. Think about how many bags of clothes in your lifetime you have either donated to a charitable cause or have given away. Now multiply that times every woman you know, and don’t know! We are all constantly ditching things we don’t want anymore to the local thrift store or consignment shop. I am a big supporter of second hand shopping, I even offer a personal shopping service at the Goodwill! [Learn more about personal shopping services here.] I have personally shopped second hand for many key pieces in my wardrobe, I even bought my wedding dress second hand! [It was only $60, but that’s a story for another day.] Clothes that are thrift are clothes that are kept out of the landfills.
I’d love to know you best strategy in keep your wardrobe sustainable! Leave a comment below and share with us your best tip. I covered some good ones, but I know there is more out there!