How becoming a conscious consumer can change our life
I’ve recently read a very interesting book by Elizabeth L. Cline, it’s called Overdressed, The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion. I’m sure it can be interesting for you and I hope it will make more and more people conscious of their fashion choices.
The author, a former consumer of cheap fashion, was inspired by her wardrobe, packed with never-worn clothes or clothes that had got damaged after the first wash, to investigate the international fashion industry that supplies very cheap garments. Her analysis considers the environmental, social, economic, as well as the psychological consequences of this phenomenon.
I’ve chosen to summarise the main points and the most interesting - at least for me - aspects of the book (so that if you have no time to read it, you can get inspired anyway 😀):
- As consumers we are trapped into a dangerous consumption-waste cycle that keeps us unsatisfied: we buy low-quality products to then feel the need to buy again and start an endless vicious cycle.
- The exasperate search for the latest trend affects our mind and turns us into slaves of our own wardrobe. The endless chase for a new purchase generates compulsive behaviours, stress, loss of personality and style.
- Our clothes could have a meaning for us and could have a long life if we created a relationship with what we wear instead of chasing the latest trend.
- In the past we used to take care of our clothes, they stayed with us for our entire life. We used to swap them, mend them, give them to younger brothers, cousins, friends and they represented an opportunity to cultivate relationships.
- Our clothes have a social meaning as well as social implications: the lower their price, the lower the salary of the workers that made them and the worse their working conditions.
- Cheap clothes have a devastating environmental impact. They are made of synthetic polluting materials (currently, polyester represents more than 40% of textile fibres and its production has almost doubled in the last 15 years), production (dyeing and printing in particular, tanning for leather) damage the environment (the majority of fibres is processed with chemicals to make them softer, more resistant and wrinkle-free). Moreover, since their life is very short, they quickly become waste.
- The environmental impact of the fashion industry is underestimated. Even plastic can be recycled, but its production is polluting. Half of our wardrobe is made of plastic: polyester is a plastic derivate. Furthermore, blends of synthetic fibres (polyester-viscose, wool-nylon etc.) are not recyclable.
- Cotton farming needs 10.000 tons of herbicide per year. Every year, the textile industry uses 145 millions tons of coal and 7/8 trillions of litres of water.
- Every year, on average, Americans throw away 31 kg of clothes per head, all these clothes could be reused or recycled.
- An American woman owns, on average, 7 pairs of jeans, but only uses 4.
- Companies are not the only one to blame for the social and environmental consequences of cheap fashion, we must be aware of our choices too: we must invest in long-lasting garments putting quality – and not quantity - first.
I’d like to clarify that the purpose of the book, and of my post, is not that of telling you that you shouldn’t buy clothes and live a life of poverty (I love fashion too!). The aim is to help you be a more conscious fashion consumer. For this reason, I’d like to share with you the three principles that the author suggests to apply when we want to give ourselves a (fashion) treat.
1. Buy something you really love.
2. Don’t buy too much (wait for a week before buying something you like, often the desire fades in a couple of hours).
3. Use as much as you can what you already have (modify, mend, use your creativity).
Since I started doing research on this topic, I’ve discovered several people who enjoy creating a #capsulewardrobe or #minimalistwardrobe, I recommend following these hashtags on Instagram, or the pages of theminimalistwardrobe, bemorewithless (this one by Courtney Carver who invented the #333challenge: how to live for 3 months with 33 fashion items), madamezehn, scandinaviastylist, just to mention some.
I’d also recommend the following websites:
http://refashionista.net/category/refashions/ Julian Owens shows how she re-used, re-cycled and gave a new life to old garments.
http://refashionco-op.blogspot.com/ on this page you can find the works of those people who modified and transformed some clothes to give them a second chance.
https://www.theminimalists.com/ this page is not about fashion, but these two guys are champions of minimalism and they were the ones who inspired me to reconsider my life and my wardrobe to make them more essentials and sustainable. I really recommend watching their documentary Minimalism.
I hope you are a bit more curious now, and I hope I’ve made you consider, at least for a moment, the possibility to become a more conscious consumer. Buying less makes us more creative because it compels us to use the resources we have. Personally, changing towards a more minimalist lifestyle, has given me a sense of lightness, I now feel I am master of my life, money and it's also fun!
I hope you’ll enjoy the book!
