How I Started To Buy Less
Having a genuine interest in fashion means it’s very easy to feel suddenly inspired and to start filling your wardrobe with brand new pieces. Whether it's the pressure to keep up with new trends or just the opportunity to express your style in new ways, it can be so difficult to turn away and not get caught up buying into all the latest trends. It's safe to say that most of us own more clothes than we need but still fall into the trap of buying more, whether it's for a special occasion, new season or simply because you're obsessed with denim midi skirts (guilty).
While I do still buy into new trends and love refreshing my wardrobe each season, over the past few years I've drastically cut down the amount that I buy. ASOS orders are no longer arriving several times a week (I was genuinely on a first name basis with both my delivery guy and woman in the local post office at one stage), Zara is not the only place I head to on a lunch break and my actual desire to constantly be buying new things has waned too. I'm no angel, but I have made some big improvements and if I can do it then anyone can.
Reducing your consumption of fast fashion and also your spending in general can feel like such an intimidating task. And let’s be honest, it can also feel kind of boring. I can honestly say though that now I’ve made these changes and have started to see a difference in the way I approach buying I’m much happier with my wardrobe. It’s full of the things I love and I know that I’m taking another small step to help reduce my carbon footprint. So if you aren’t quite sure where to begin here are some of the easy steps I took to reduce my consumerism.
Remove the temptation: Unsubscribe from all of those mailing lists, stop following every brand on Instagram and cancel those catalogue subscriptions (if anyone still has these…). This has without a doubt been one of the things that has had the most impact on my shopping. It not only cut down the amount I was buying but also my spending in general. So often I'd be logging onto ASOS just because they had 20% off and not because I really needed anything. It was great for ASOS but it wasn't so great for my bank balance, my ever growing wardrobe or the planet. Sure you might miss out on the occasional offer but you'll be spending less overall so it all balances out in the end.
Work out what you actually need: I like to do this at the start of each season but going through your wardrobe and working out what you actually need and where the gaps are is a great thing to do at any time. It’s a great way to streamline your wardrobe and really highlight what you actually need and not just what your favourite new trend is. It gives you much clearer goal when you go shopping and helps to curb those impulse purchases. No I didn't need a 4th pair of blue jeans but a denim skirt on the other hand could come in very useful!
Plan your purchases: So you know roughly what items you need, now it's time to plan what they'll look like. You can be as thorough as you like here but I've found when I really think about the fit, colour and style of an item and spend the time hunting it out it invariably stays in my wardrobe much longer. This is simply because I know that whatever I have bought fits in with my current wardrobe and that it really was filling a gap before I bought it.
Look after what you have: If you have the budget to spend a little more on better quality items then great, especially if these are more ethically sourced. But if you can't quite afford that it doesn't mean you can't still look after your clothes to make them last a bit longer. Simple things like washing all your whites together to keep them bright, re-dyeing black jeans, only ever folding knitwear, de-bobbling jumpers, protecting your shoes.... The list of ways to care for your clothes is endless but by following some of these I've managed to get even items from Primark to last me for years, seriously. Looking after what you already have helps to get your cost per wear down but also means everything is lasting you that little bit longer so you won’t need to replace everything so often.
Set yourself some boundaries: if you hate rules this may not be the tip for you but I found setting myself a budget for clothing really helped curb my spending. I also have some other rules like always making sure the item will create at least 5 different outfits in my current wardrobe. This way I know it will actually fit what I currently own and I will get more wear out of it. If it doesn't fit the budget and I can't make five outfits out of it then it's a big fat no. It's also another great way to prevent impulse purchasing.
Whether your motivation is to save money, live a more minimal life or to do your bit to stop contributing to fast fashion there's something so satisfying about actually buying less. It leaves you with a much more refined but better selection of clothes and you can start to avoid that horrible guilt of the clothes at the back of your closet that you swore you'd wear loads that have never seen the light of day. It’s easy to get caught up in the constant buying of new things, especially when you have a real love of fashion and experimenting with your personal style, and I’m certainly not perfect but I do think if we can all start to take smaller steps towards buying less then it can only be a good thing.