We teamed up with styling expert and coach Bianca Stäglich from Stilfrage and asked her about her motto “sustainability starts in the wardrobe”. Here you can find her top tips on how to be more sustainable in the wardrobe.
To protect the environment, we all want to live more consciously and in harmony with it. But how does this work and how do we manage to integrate a more sustainable way of life into our everyday lives?
On June 5th, the official call for more environmental awareness was made again. But regardless of the World Environment Day, we can use every day to be conscious and act. Therefore, I have put together some tips for you and how it should be different, let’s start with your wardrobe.
1. Know your own style
Style has seen trends come and go. If you know which colours, cuts, and patterns suit you and you also know your type and body proportions, then bad purchases will be a thing of the past. You will save money and resources.
2. Focus on quality instead of quantity
Less is sometimes more. That’s when Vivienne Westwood hit the nail right on the head: “Buy less, choose well, make it last.” “Quality over quantity” is a common phrase I use in my style consultations. So you can enjoy beautiful clothes with great materials that flatter your skin and you will have many years of pleasure. Because we know that some trends always come back.
3. Treat your clothes well
Your clothes will thank you for careful handling with a long life span. It starts with good storage in the wardrobe and ends with the right cleaning.
My recommendation: empty out your wardrobe completely twice a year and clean the closet with a cloth and a vinegar-water mixture.
In the meantime, air out your clothes a little. Sometimes it does not need a wash.
And if it does, please use the appropriate detergent and possibly a laundry net. Check the spin cycle for your outerwear. 400 revolutions are perfectly sufficient (don’t worry, it won’t come out wet). Every time you spin too much, you release microplastic in synthetic fibres and the high friction not just pollutes the environment but also causes the good piece to lose quality.
And shoes are the most important part of an outfit, they are playing of course also a big part of the care ritual. A well-cared-for shoe will go with you around the world for many years.
4. Shop only favourite items
Before you buy a piece, critically ask yourself what you can combine with it and on what occasions you can wear it. If you’re not quite sure, sleep on it for a night and if you can answer it the next day and can’t get the piece out of your mind at all – go ahead and get it.
5. Look for sustainable basics
It starts with the basics in the wardrobe. These classics are always up to date and therefore it is worth investing in good t-shirts, sweaters & jeans. They can be combined very well with many individual trends. There are more and more new Fair Fashion labels every year, so you can build up your basic wardrobe sustainably.
6. Buy second hand – a good alternative
You can find individual and fancy items second hand, there you can make especially great bargains. This is good for your wallet and additionally, you save resources and you can do something good for the environment. And at really well-sorted shops you can even find really cool designer pieces that you can combine with new fair labels. It works the other way around too – sell your sorted out clothes in second-hand shops or at various online flea markets.
7. Rent clothes for special occasions instead of buying
There are new platforms, such as “rentrevolution”, where you can rent clothes. It’s a cool alternative – instead of buying something new, just rent it. For special occasions such as weddings, gala performances, or even the Oktoberfest, it’s always a good alternative. If it adds up, you will probably only wear these clothes once or twice a year. It is interesting to rent trends from 10 to 20 years ago. So you can try them out and see if they fit your style without having to buy anything new.
Following these tips, I would like to share with you my motto “Sustainability begins in the wardrobe”.
Good style and doing good while shopping can go hand in hand. Give Fair Fashion a chance, give our environment a chance.
