FINDING THE PERSONAL JOY IN BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE WARDROBE
by Maisie Spofford
If the word ‘sustainability’ was a girl in the club, she’d be the one dressed in a black faux-leather skirt and knee-high boots scanning the crowd from behind dark tinted glasses. RE: Hard to approach. With its strong consonant sounds, the word sustainability sounds self-assured and weighty, yet in practice it is as shimmery and insubstantial as a 90s party dress (looking at you, Kate Moss). The term begets questions. What are we sustaining? How sustainable should we be? Will my metal straw prevent climate disaster? All these questions about sustainability end in concerns for the environment and conserving its ever-depleting resources.
Personally, thinking about sustainability from this perspective terrifies me, as I imagine the last of humanity leaving a burning Earth in a spaceship piloted by Elon Musk. That’s why rather than framing sustainability as a dire collective action problem centering the environment, I prefer to think about it as a creative personal challenge that has not only global impact, but individual rewards.
Sustainability in fashion means being intentional about how you shop and where. While shopping sustainably may impose limits that are unattractive to some, I believe limits inspire creativity. Anyone with one hundred pounds can order a haul from SHEIN and wear each piece a few times before the feeble stitches rip or the latest micro-trend is deemed out-of-style. However, it takes creativity and passion to invest those hundred pounds in one item instead. It takes research and decision making to prioritize buying a piece you truly love. And in the long run, the investment piece is a more valuable use of your money and a more sustainable choice because it will last long and be a piece you are proud to wear.
Each item that I spend money on is something I see circulating throughout my wardrobe for years to come. One of the first ‘sustainable’ (in quotations because no brand is perfectly sustainable) pieces I bought was a pair of Work Pants from Big Bud Press, a US-based brand that makes colorful, durable cotton twill pieces that will last a lifetime. The limited-edition pants I purchased are blue and adorned with groovy daisies, and from their arrival they instantly held heavy priority in my wardrobe rotation.
The interesting effect I saw from this purchase was how that one pair of pants began to affect my personal style. I began to wear pieces with bolder colors and patterns; for example, styling my floral pants with a bright orange top and statement earrings. Shopping more intentionally and within the limits of a ‘sustainable’ mindset has allowed me to express myself more authentically through clothing.
A different kind of ‘investment’ I have put into my closet is the investment of time. In October 2020, I began knitting my own clothing. The first sweater I made took two months to complete. While a sweater can easily be purchased at any store, the sweater I made myself brings me more joy than anything store bought. Hand-making an item allows for creativity and customization, enabling you to make a piece that truly expresses you through color, pattern, texture, etc. The sheer amount of time invested in the handmade pieces of my wardrobe and their unique personal quality makes me feel proud to wear them countless times.
Being passionate about my clothing is the number one way I practice sustainability in my closet. A sustainable wardrobe has many different appearances. A wardrobe does not have to be completely secondhand to be sustainable. Nor is a wardrobe full of clothing made from natural or recycled fibers necessarily the most sustainable closet. The most sustainable closet is the one full of pieces that you love and feel passionate about wearing for years to come.
Comments
Post a Comment